Women's Tennis Starts Postseason Play Friday

Friday, April 24

Columbus, Ohio

8:30 AM PT

UCLA

No. 5 seed Washington or No. 12 seed Penn State

Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer

Photo by: CARY QIAN

Women's Tennis Starts Postseason Play Friday

April 21, 2026 | Women's Tennis

B1G Tournament Central

Fourth-seeded UCLA is set to begin its postseason journey Friday at Auer Tennis Complex in Columbus, Ohio, site of the 2026 Big Ten Women's Tennis Tournament. The Bruins (15-6, 9-4) open up against the winner of Thursday's matchup between No. 5 seed Washington (18-4, 9-4) and No. 12 seed Penn State (14-10, 5-8). UCLA's quarterfinal-round matchup starts at 8:30 a.m. PT. Play continues through Sunday's championship match. B1G+ will provide live video of the event (subscription required) and live results will be available HERE.

2026 BIG TEN WOMEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Thursday, April 23
Match 1: #8 Illinois vs. #9 Nebraska 6 a.m. PT
Match 2: #5 Washington vs. #12 Penn State 8:30 a.m. PT
Match 3: #7 Maryland vs. #10 Northwestern 11 a.m. PT
Match 4: #6 Wisconsin vs. #11 Iowa 1:30 p.m. PT

Friday, April 24
Match 5: #1 Ohio State vs. Winner Match 1 6 a.m. PT (Quarterfinal)
Match 6: #4 UCLA vs. Winner Match 2 8:30 a.m. PT (Quarterfinal)
Match 7: #2 USC vs. Winner Match 3 11 a.m. PT (Quarterfinal)
Match 8: #3 Michigan vs. Winner Match 4 1:30 p.m. PT (Quarterfinal

Saturday, April 25
Match 9: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6 8 a.m. PT (Semifinal)
Match 10: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8 11 a.m. PT (Semifinal)

Sunday, April 26
Match 11: Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10 9 a.m. PT (Championship Match)

SERIES HISTORY
Series vs. Washington: UCLA leads 34-6
Most Recent vs. Washington: UCLA won 4-2 on April 5 (Recap)
Series vs. Penn State: UCLA leads 2-0
Most Recent vs. Penn State: UCLA won 4-0 on March 15 (Recap)

LAST TIME OUT
UCLA finished out the regular season with a sweep against Big Ten Conference foes Indiana (April 17 – 4-1) and Purdue (April 18 – 4-0), outscoring them by an 8-1 margin at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Freshman Kayla Chung secured her first dual singles victory in clinching fashion versus Indiana. Olivia Center and Mayu Crossley also won on the singles courts. The Hoosiers were held without a game in finished doubles matches. Fittingly, the Senior Day result over Purdue was clinched by fourth-year standout Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer on Court 1. Center and Crossley also earned singles wins again. All three singles winners were also triumphant in doubles play.

IN THE RANKINGS
Team (April 21): No. 19 UCLA
Singles (April 21): No. 18 Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, No. 51 Mayu Crossley
Doubles (April 21): No. 33 Olivia Center/Kate Fakih

OH ME, OH MAYU
Freshman Mayu Crossley, who started her UCLA career by qualifying for the November 2025 NCAA singles tournament, was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week five times. No other player won the award more than three times in 2026. She has been ranked as high as 37th nationally for her singles play, going 17-3 in dual play (almost exclusively on Court 2) and 20-8 dating back to individual play. Both win totals lead the Bruins. Fifteen of Crossley's dual singles victories have come in straight sets. She has gone 4-1 against nationally-ranked players during dual play, beating three top-20 counterparts. Crossley also leads the team with 11 dual doubles wins and 14 total going back to the fall.

LUTKEMEYER NAMED 2026 HURD AWARD FINALIST
Senior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer was named on March 8 a 2026 finalist for the prestigious Universal Tennis Foundation Hurd Awards. The announcement was made by the Universal Tennis Foundation during Tennis Channel's live coverage of the BNP Paribas Open. As one of two finalists (one American female and one American male), Lutkemeyer receives a $40,000 grant that supports her transition from college to international competition. One American female and one American male are selected Hurd Award champions and awarded $100,000 grants. Distribution of grants will begin upon completion of the NCAA season in May 2026.

MORE 2025-26 AWARDS
Crossley Named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for Fifth Time – March 25
Crossley Collects Fourth Big Ten Freshman of the Week Award – March 4
Lutkemeyer Earns Repeat Big Ten Player of the Week Honor – March 4
Crossley Named Big Ten Freshman of the Week – Feb. 25
Lutkemeyer Earns Big Ten Player of the Week Award – Feb. 25
Crossley Earns Sweep of Big Ten Weekly Awards – Feb. 4
Guichard Named a Big Ten Women's Tennis Player to Watch – Jan. 5
Crossley Earns Big Ten Freshman of the Week Award – Nov. 17, 2025
Guichard Voted Big Ten Player of the Week to Start New Season – Sept. 24, 2025

MILESTONE WATCH
Senior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer reached 150 wins across singles and doubles matches (now 80 singles, 80 doubles) for her career in the Bruins' 4-1 win at Michigan State (March 22). She reached the mark alongside doubles partner Mayu Crossley, as the pair beat Oriana Parkins-Godwin/Issey Purser 6-2 on Court 2. Junior Ahmani Guichard, meanwhile, claimed her 100th career win (now 45 singles, 65 doubles) in UCLA's 4-3 win at Pepperdine (Feb. 20). Guichard/Lutkemeyer took down Alexia Harmon/Chantal Sauvant 6-1 on Court 2 in doubles to accomplish the feat.

FALL RECAP
The Bruins completed the individual portion of their 2025-26 schedule with a number of standout performances to show for it. Ahmani Guichard had a well-rounded run through the fall, posting team highs of six singles wins (6-3) and five doubles victories (5-2). Freshman Mayu Crossley qualified for the NCAA Championship singles tournament, earning her spot by reaching the ITA West Sectional Championships semifinal round. Kate Fakih had a team-best two ranked singles wins, knocking off a pair of top-50 counterparts at the ITA All-American Championships. She also teamed with Guichard to claim the ITA West Sectionals doubles consolation title. Fakih (5-4) and freshman Kayla Chung (5-2) won five singles matches each.

2024-25 IN REVIEW
Unseeded despite winning nine of its final 10 matches going into NCAA Championship play, UCLA (18-9, 10-3 in Big Ten play) made the tournament's round of 16 by outlasting host and 15th-seeded Vanderbilt in a 4-3 thriller. There were also a number of individual highlights for the Bruins, who saw Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer take a big step forward. She received All-Big Ten First Team recognition and was named the ITA Southwest Region Player to Watch after taking over the top singles court. Olivia Center and Kate Fakih (ITA Southwest Region Rookie of the Year) teamed for a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship doubles tournament, earning the freshmen All-America honors.

WHO'S BACK?
Kate Fakih and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer each bring more than 50 combined singles and doubles wins back from the 2024-25 UCLA roster. The sophomore doubles connection of Fakih and Olivia Center, who also returns, logged a team-best 31-9 record and reached the NCAA Championship doubles final during its debut season. The pair recorded 13 ranked wins and each was tabbed an All-American. Fakih coupled that showing with a 28-11 singles mark to lead the Bruins. Lutkemeyer's breakout junior campaign saw her go 27-10 in singles matches and 29-10 in doubles contests. She found her home on the top singles court and beat a team-leading 13 ranked players. Ahmani Guichard, another returner, was Lutkemeyer's most frequent doubles partner and a stalwart contributor to the singles lineup. Bianca Fernandez also brings multiple completed dual-match results back into the fold.

WHO'S NEW?
Freshmen Kayla Chung, Mayu Crossley and Rona Rugara debut for the Bruins in 2025-26. Chung's (Stanton, Calif. / The Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School) résumé includes the Girls' 16 doubles championship at the 2023 Easter Bowl in Indian Well, Calif. alongside Alanis Hamilton. The pair also registered runner-up finishes at the 2023 Billie Jean King National Championships in San Diego and at the 2023 FILA International Junior Championships in Indian Wells. Crossley (Tokyo, Japan / Grandview Preparatory School [FL]) participated in each Grand Slam, playing singles and doubles at each, as a junior. She also achieved a career-high ITF junior ranking of No. 5 in 2023. Rugara (Johannesburg, South Africa / Florida Virtual School) picked up nine ITF junior titles from 2023-25. She also teamed with Roxy Bredenkamp to capture the women's doubles title at the 2025 Mbombela Open in Mbombela, South Africa.

SHIBAHARA SHINING
Ena Shibahara, who played for UCLA during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, has starred in doubles tournaments throughout her professional career and saw her career-high singles ranking rise from No. 503 in 2024 to No. 116 in 2025. She made her Grand Slam singles debut at the 2024 US Open, reaching the main draw as a qualifier before taking down Australia's Daria Saville in three sets. Shibahara advanced through singles qualifying again at the 2025 US Open and nearly accomplished the same feat at Wimbledon. She made her first WTA Tour singles quarterfinal at the 2025 ATX Open, beating then-No. 76 Kimberly Birrell of Australia to get there. Shibahara earned her first Grand Slam championship in 2022, teaming with Wesley Koolhof to seize the mixed doubles title at Roland-Garros. Shibahara made her first major women's doubles final round alongside Shuko Aoyama at the 2023 Australian Open. Shibahara/Aoyama was the last pair standing at the 2023 National Bank Open in Toronto, giving each player her second WTA 1000 championship. Shibahara climbed to a career-best No. 4 position in the WTA's doubles rankings in March 2022 and currently sits at No. 67.

A STELLAR 30 YEARS FOR STELLA
The 2025-26 season represents Stella Sampras Webster's 30th as head coach of the UCLA women's tennis program. The second-longest-tenured active head coach at UCLA behind men's tennis head coach Billy Martin, Sampras Webster has compiled an impressive overall record of 557-207 (.729) at the helm of her alma mater. Sampras Webster collected the 500th win of her illustrious career when the Bruins defeated UC San Diego on April 18, 2023. She has guided UCLA to NCAA championships in 2014 and 2008, the first two in program history, and all three of its conference titles: 2024, 2021 and 2008 while in the Pac-12. Sampras Webster's teams have finished top-10 nationally in 23 of her 28 completed seasons and in the top five 16 times. Four NCAA individual championships have been won under her watch: Tian Fangran in 2023, Gabby Andrews/Ayan Broomfield in 2019, Tracy Lin/Riza Zalameda in 2008 and Daniela Bercek/Lauren Fisher in 2004. Sampras Webster is a four-time Wilson ITA Southwest Regional Coach of the Year – in 2024, 2021, 2012 and 2000 – and earned the national award in 2012. She was a four-time All-America honoree during her playing days at UCLA and as a freshman won the 1988 NCAA doubles title alongside Allyson Cooper. Following her professional career, Sampras Webster spent four seasons (1993-96) on the staff of friend and mentor Bill Zaima before taking the reins. Sampras Webster was inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.