UCLA
Georgia Tech
UCLA's Season Ended by Georgia Tech in NCAA Quarters
May 19, 2018 | Women's Tennis
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. โ The No. 12-seeded UCLA women's tennis team had its season ended in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday evening, as No. 4 Georgia Tech overcame a 3-1 deficit to hand the Bruins a 4-3 loss.
The contest was drama filled from practically start to finish.
UCLA opened up with a tight win in doubles, then had the singles portion of the match derailed by multiple rain delays.
The first lasted just under an hour. After the rain stopped and crews with leaf blowers dried the courts, play resumed for about 10 minutes before the rain picked back up another suspension was called for.
After a few minutes, the decision was made to move the match to Wake Forest's indoor facility. Play resumed in earnest about 10:35 p.m. ET, over 90 minutes after the original delay.
Undeterred by the weather drama, redshirt sophomore and No. 33-ranked singles player Jada Hart picked up right where she left off on court two, winning her first three indoor games to finish off a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of No. 60 Kenya Jones, which put the Bruins in the lead at 2-1.
2-1 Bruins! Hart takes down Jones 6-1, 6-3 as UCLA reclaims the lead over Georgia Tech pic.twitter.com/MLc3ITs7Cz
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) May 20, 2018
Then on court six, junior Alaina Miller put the Bruins in a great position with a 6-3, 6-4 win to put UCLA one victory away from the NCAA Semifinals. The triumph meant that Miller closed the season with one loss in her final 18 singles matches.
Laini! Miller defeats Flores 6-3, 6-4 as Bruins now lead 3-1!! pic.twitter.com/fRo5mNEuG2
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) May 20, 2018
Georgia Tech began to punch back after Miller's win. The Jackets faced a tough task, needing third set wins on courts one and four and a defeat of the tenacious Ayan Broomfield on court five.
The Yellow Jackets crossed the first item off the list with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win for No. 14 Paige Hourigan over UCLA's No. 9 Ena Shibahara.
GT then tied the contest up as Nami Otsuka won a second set tiebreak to wrap up a 7-5, 7-6 (2) court five victory.
That left it all up to No. 67 Abi Altick and No. 125 Ida Jarlskogย on court four. The two had split the first two sets, with Jarlskog pulling out a tiebreak in the first set and Altick routing her opponent 6-0 in the middle frame.
Jarlskog held serve to open the third, going up 1-0. A pivotal moment came in the next game, with Jarlskog converting on deuce point to break Altick and go up 2-0. Later, she converted on another deuce point to take a 4-2 lead.
Altick and Jarlskog would trade the next two games, but Jarlskog ultimately finished it off at 5-3, ending it with a 7-6 (6), 0-6, 6-3 win and sending her team to the Final Four.
Similar to singles, doubles was a tight, back-and-forth affair.
UCLA got off on a strong note as Miller/Shibahara won 6-4 on court three, delivering their 19th consecutive doubles victory to close out the season.
Hourigan/Jones, the No. 1 ranked doubles tandem in the country, countered for Georgia Tech with a 6-4 win of their own over UCLA's No. 7-ranked pairing of Fleming/Hart.
No. 64 Gabby Andrews/Broomfield came through for UCLA on court two, bringing home the doubles point with a convincing 6-2 triumph over GT's No. 48 pairing of Jarlskog/Flores.
Bruins take a 1-0 lead heading into singles! pic.twitter.com/YXfaG8VWLS
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) May 19, 2018
Though UCLA has been eliminated from the NCAA Team Championships, a trio of players will continue to compete in the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships.
Shibahara and Hart will both represent the Bruins on the singles side, while Hart and Terry Fleming will do battle in the doubles completion.
What a year for UCLA and so much to be proud of #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/itYBLfqk8B
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) May 20, 2018
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,6,1,5,4
Players Mentioned
