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Women's Tennis Trio Selected to Compete in NCAA Individuals

May 3, 2022
Elise Wagle (right) and Elysia Bolton (Photo: Scott Chandler)

INDIANAPOLIS – Elysia Bolton, Abbey Forbes and Elise Wagle garnered at-large berths in the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships singles and doubles tournaments, the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Subcommittee announced Tuesday.

Bolton and Forbes earned spots in the 64-player singles draw, while the combination of Bolton and Wagle made the 32-team doubles field.

The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 23-28 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Illinois, after the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 20-22. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will serve as host.

All matches shall be the best-of-three sets. No-ad scoring and a seven-point tiebreaker (first to seven points, must win by two points) at six-games-all will be used for all matches. In doubles, a 10-point match tiebreaker will be played in lieu of a third set.

Bolton has logged a 10-5 singles record, including a 8-4 mark in dual matches. In her April 15 meeting with No. 6 Eryn Cayetano of USC, Bolton rallied from a 2-6, 1-5 deficit to seize a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win. She's also knocked off No. 34 Marlee Zein of Florida (6-4, 6-4 – Jan. 14) and No. 51 Jessica Alsola of California (6-3, 6-2 – Feb. 21). Bolton is slotted at No. 58 in the ITA rankings.

Forbes, who is ranked No. 25 by the ITA, will be making her second appearance in the tournament. She advanced to the quarterfinal round in 2021. This season, she possesses a 13-4 singles record. Forbes is 11-2 in dual matches, with all but one decision coming on the top court. She holds five wins versus nationally-ranked foes, with notable triumphs over No. 5 Eryn Cayetano of USC (6-4, 7-5 – Feb. 25), No. 11 Shiori Fukuda of Pepperdine (6-3, 6-4 – April 6) and No. 91 Michaela Bayerlova of Washington State (6-1, 6-4 – April 2). Forbes was tabbed the Pac-12 Player of the Week after her victory against Cayetano, which also clinched a team win.

Bolton and Wagle were elevated to No. 28 in the ITA rankings after they teamed to beat No. 62 Michaela Bayerlova/Maxine Murphy of Washington State (6-0 – April 21) and Angelica Blake/Connie Ma of Stanford (6-2 – April 22). Bolton and Wagle have also beaten No. 11 Victoria Flores/Lisa Zaar of Pepperdine (6-3 – Jan. 15) and No. 18 Wiktoria Rutkowska/Isabella Tcherkes-Zade of Loyola Marymount (6-2 – Jan. 26). The Bruins enter NCAA tournament play with wins in eight of their last nine matches and an overall record of 12-3.