Top-Seeded Women's Tennis to Start Pac-12 Championships Play Thursday

MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time: Thursday, April 25/12:00 PM PT
    Friday, April 26/12:00 PM PT*
    Saturday, April 27/2:00 PM PT*
Television (Saturday): Pac-12 Network
Talent (Saturday): Gill Gross (play-by-play)
    Corina Morariu (analyst)
Live Scoring: Tempuz Stream (YouTube)
* - if necessary

2024 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wednesday, April 24
Match 1: #8 Utah 4, #9 Colorado 1
Match 2: #7 Arizona vs. #10 Oregon 12:00 PM
Match 3: #6 Washington vs. #11 Washington State 3:00 PM

Thursday, April 25
Match 4: #4 California vs. No. 5 Arizona State 9:00 AM
Match 5: #1 UCLA vs. #8 Utah 12:00 PM
Match 6: #2 Stanford vs. Winner Match 2 3:00 PM
Match 7: #3 USC vs. Winner Match 3 6:00 PM

Friday, April 26
Match 8: Winner Match 4 vs. Winner Match 5 12:00 PM
Match 9: Winner Match 6 vs. Winner Match 7 3:00 PM

Saturday, April 27
Match 10: Winner Match 8 vs. Winner Match 9 2:00 PM

THIS WEEK
The top-seeded and eighth-ranked UCLA women's tennis team starts Pac-12 Championships play Thursday, when it meets No. 8-seed Utah at Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, Calif. First serve in the quarterfinal-round matchup is scheduled for 12 p.m. PT. The Bruins (17-4) captured the third Pac-12 title in program history April 19, when they beat crosstown rival USC. The Utes (12-10) earned their spot in the quarterfinals by defeating ninth-seeded Colorado 4-1 Wednesday.

FOLLOW LIVE
Tickets for the 2024 Pac-12 Championships at The Ojai are available at TheOjai.net. Live results for all matches at the Pac-12 Championships will be accessible through Tempuz Stream on YouTube. Pac-12 Network is set to air Saturday's final round, beginning at 2 p.m., PT, with Gil Gross and Corina Morariu on the call.

UCLA AT THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCLA is in search of its first title at the Pac-12 Championships since the team format was adopted in 2017. The Bruins were finalists in 2018, 2019 and 2021. The 2020 event was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, fifth-seeded UCLA was eliminated by No. 4-seed Washington in a 4-0 quarterfinal-round result at Weil Tennis Academy. The Bruins were moving toward straight-set wins on the first and fifth singles courts when the decision was clinched. Astrid Olsen, Melissa Sakar and clincher Jennifer Kerr were victorious for the Huskies in singles play.

PAC-12 REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPIONS
In a match that ultimately determined the outright Pac-12 women's tennis regular-season champion, 10th-ranked UCLA beat crosstown rival and No. 11 USC 4-2 April 19 at David X. Marks Tennis Stadium. The Pac-12 title represents UCLA's third all time. The 2021 and 2008 Bruins also accomplished the feat. Elise Wagle again provided the heroics for UCLA. The junior, who clinched her team's 4-3 win at Pepperdine April 11, outlasted Eryn Cayetano 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 to decide another victory. Wagle and Tian Fangran each prevailed twice, teaming up to clinch the doubles point. Ahmani Guichard was also triumphant for the Bruins in singles play. Emma Charney and Grace Piper were responsible for the Trojans' points.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA was elevated Tuesday to a season-high showing of No. 8 in the ITA team rankings. The Bruins have won 15 of their past 16 matches. They were slotted at No. 36 in the Feb. 27 installment. There were once again five UCLA entries in the latest individual rankings, also announced Tuesday. The singles list includes Kimmi Hance (No. 25), Tian Fangran (35) and Bianca Fernandez (65). Each defeated a top-60 player in the Bruins' non-conference victory against USC March 1. Tian has beaten six nationally-ranked opponents, while Fernandez and Hance have each dispatched five. The doubles combination of Tian and Elise Wagle rose to a season-best No. 14 after taking down No. 2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen of Pepperdine and No. 18 Parker Fry and Grace Piper in two of their past three contests, while Hance and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer checked in at No. 50. Those are career-best doubles placements for Lutkemeyer and Tian.

PROGRAM-RECORD SEVEN PAC-12 HONORS TALLIED
A quartet of Bruins accounted for seven Pac-12 Player of the Week awards during the 2024 regular-season, setting a program record that represents the most since USC had nine in 2013. Elise Wagle's first and UCLA's third in a row came for the week of April 8-14, during which she beat No. 94 Anna Campana 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-3 for the final point of the Bruins' thrilling 4-3 victory against No. 7 Pepperdine (April 11). Bianca Fernandez logged her first the previous week, when UCLA went 3-0 and outscored its opponents by a 12-1 margin. She was victorious in each of her six individual matches played. Kimmi Hance's third of her career came April 2 on the heels of her heroic singles win at Stanford (March 31). More than four and a half hours after the dual match began, Hance was left standing triumphant over the Pac-12's highest-ranked player, Connie Ma, and UCLA had its first win against the Cardinal since 2021. Tian Fangran was recognized for the week of March 11-17, giving the sophomore three straight awards, four this season and five overall in her career.

FALL RECAP
Bruins appeared at three tournaments during the fall. Freshman Ahmani Guichard made her debut on a national scale, logging two of her team-high six fall singles wins at the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Elise Wagle each recorded three singles victories at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships in San Diego. Guichard and Lutkemeyer teamed to collect two wins at ITA Regionals and added another during Thunderbird Invitational play in Tempe, Ariz. Guichard added two more singles wins in the desert.

T IS FOR TITLE
Freshman Tian Fangran completed a sparkling run through the 2023 NCAA Championships singles tournament at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., defeating Layne Sleeth of Oklahoma 6-4, 6-2 for the second NCAA singles title in program history. The No. 9-16-seeded Tian joined UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer Keri Phebus as the only Bruins to lift the trophy at the season-ending event. En route to the title, Tian won six matches without dropping a single set. She completed her debut college season with a singles record of 30-7, including a 17-6 mark against nationally-ranked opponents. The NCAA singles championship represents the first in the career of head coach Stella Sampras Webster, who was on staff as an assistant coach under Bill Zaima when Phebus collected hers.

2022-23 IN REVIEW
The 2022-23 UCLA women's tennis team advanced to the super-regional round of the NCAA Championships, upsetting host and No. 6-seed Duke to get there. The Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit and Sasha Vagramov provided the heroics. UCLA went 15-8 for the season. Kimmi Hance (doubles), Tian Fangran (singles) and Elise Wagle (doubles) each received All-America recognition. Hance/Wagle qualified for the NCAA doubles draw, while Tian claimed the second NCAA singles title in program history. Tian was also a finalist for the Honda Sport Award for Tennis and voted ITA Rookie of the Year and Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. Hance/Wagle was the Pac-12's Doubles Team of the Year. Tian earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team, Hance made the Second Team and Wagle was an Honorable Mention pick.

BRUINS ON TOUR
Ena Shibahara earned her first Grand Slam championship in 2022, teaming with Wesley Koolhof to seize the mixed doubles title at Roland-Garros. She 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 entered 2024 at No. 14. Catherine Harrison also had a standout 2022, competing at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. She reached the singles second round at the All England Club and earned a main-draw win in doubles at each event. Harrison added the Australian Open to her résumé in 2023 and made a return trip earlier this year. She also collected her first WTA title in 2022, partnering with Sabrina Santamaria to prevail at the Monterrey Open in Mexico. Harrison posted career-high WTA rankings of 214 singles and 69 doubles in 2022. Robin Anderson also had a stellar 2022, making career-high appearances of 137 singles and 181 doubles. She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2022 Australian Open. Jennifer Brady achieved the highest singles ranking of any former UCLA standout when she climbed to No. 13 in 2021. Elysia Bolton (167) and Jada Hart (296) earned the highest doubles rankings of their careers thus far in 2023.

STELLA'S STERLING RÉSUMÉ
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 28th season at the helm of the UCLA women's tennis program, compiling an impressive overall record of 520-190 (.732). She is the second-longest-tenured active coach at UCLA, behind men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Sampras Webster collected the 500th win of her illustrious career when the Bruins defeated UC San Diego on April 18, 2023. She has guided her alma mater to NCAA championships in 2008 and 2014, the first two in program history. Sampras Webster's teams have finished top-10 nationally in 22 of her 26 completed seasons and in the top five 15 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.