UCLA
Ole Miss
UCLA Defeats Ole Miss 4-1, Moves On to NCAA Quarters
May 17, 2018 | Women's Tennis
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. โ The No. 12-seeded UCLA women's tennis team defeated No. 5-seed Ole Miss by a score of 4-1 in the NCAA Round of 16 on Thursday night at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex, advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals round for the first time since the 2015 season.
With the win, UCLA's 14th in the last 15 matches, the Bruins (23-5)ย are now set to face No. 4 seed Georgia Tech (24-5) on Saturday, May 19 at 1:00 p.m. PT with a trip to the final four at stake.
UCLA jumped out a 3-0 lead relatively quickly, claiming the doubles point before receiving quick and decisive wins on courts two and five from Jada Hart and Ayan Broomfield, respectively.
However, the Rebels (22-7) began to push back after that, pushing the remaining four matches to third sets. Junior Alaina Miller, on court six, ended up finishing the match over three-and-a-half hours after its commencement.
"I figured that even though we won the doubles point, the match was far from over," said UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster. "Every team is so tough and crazy things happen in this tournament, and we had to earn it, so I'm really happy for our team that we were able to close it out."
The doubles portion of the match was all UCLA, with all three Bruin pairings leading for the majority if their matchups.
Miller and partner Ena Shibahara were the first ones to reach the finish line, grabbing a 6-4 win on court three to secure their 18th consecutive doubles victory.
Seconds later, Broomfield and Gabby Andrews clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory of their own on court two. The sole unfinished matchup, featuring UCLA's No. 7-ranked pair of Hart and Terri Fleming on court one, was 5-3 in UCLA's favor when the doubles point was called.
And moments later, Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield clinch the doubles point for UCLA on court two! pic.twitter.com/xvYwHQVnlZ
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) May 17, 2018
Once singles started, UCLA dropped the first game onย five of six courts, but that belied what turned out to be a very strong start for the Bruins. After that early lull, UCLA recovered to win all but one opening set, putting the Bruins in a strong position for a sweep.
Broomfield would go on to put UCLA up 2-0, steamrolling Natalie Suk on court five 6-2, 6-0. After losing the first game, Broomfield won eight of the last nine against her opponent to extend her unbeaten streak to seven straight matchups.
Ayan Broomfield makes it 2-0 for UCLA with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win on court five. pic.twitter.com/jYhjtOiLFI
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) May 18, 2018
Hart, the No. 33 ranked singles player followed up soon thereafter with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over No. 79 Sabina Macalova on court two, putting UCLA up 3-0.
Hart with the big serve up the middle, giving the Bruins a 3-0 lead after a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Machalova pic.twitter.com/SD5KOOvgDS
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) May 18, 2018
The Bruins would have to dig deep after that, with Ole Miss forcing third sets on courts one, three, and four to stave off elimination.
Recovering from a first-set loss, Miller eventually rebounded with a hard-fought 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 win on court six. With the result, Miller has lost just once in her last 17 singles matches.
Miller does it! Laini holds and the Bruins are into the #NCAATennis quarterfinals!!! pic.twitter.com/BT3IuF3rdE
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) May 18, 2018
The two matches that went unfinished were two of the more dramatic tilts of the evening.
On court one, Shibahara (the No. 9 singles player in the country) faced off against No. 7 Arianna Hartono in a battle of top-10 players. Each of the first two sets came down to a tiebreaker, with each player taking one, while the third set was tied at 2-2 at the time of suspension.
Then on court three, Fleming battled back and forth with Tea Jandric, dominating a first set tiebreak 7-3, dropping the middle game, and then building a 3-2 lead in the third set before the match was called.
UCLA is a 3-3 all-time against Georgia Tech. The two programs last faced off on Jan. 29, 2017 at the ITA National Indoors Qualifying Tournament, with GT taking a 4-2 win.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,2,4,6
Players Mentioned
