Women's Tennis Visits USC Friday to Determine Pac-12 Champion

MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time: Friday, April 19/1:30 PM PT
Live Stream: USCTrojans.com
Live Stats: USCTrojans.com
Series vs. USC: UCLA leads 61-52
Last Meeting vs. USC: UCLA won 5-2 on March 1

THIS WEEK
First-place rivals meet Friday at David X. Marks Tennis Stadium to determine a Pac-12 champion. No. 10 UCLA (16-4, 8-1 Pac-12) enters its matchup with No. 11 USC (17-6, 8-1) a winner in 14 of 15 contests, while the Trojans have won five of six. First serve is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PT. The conference standings currently show the Bruins tied with California and USC, while Stanford sits one game back in the win column after a rainout. The Northern California rivals also meet Friday at 1:30 p.m.

FOLLOW LIVE
Point-by-point scores and live video from USC's David X. Marks Tennis Stadium can be found through USCTrojans.com.

LAST TIME OUT
The Bruins earned two wins last week, prevailing on the road against No. 7 Pepperdine (April 11) before taking down Oregon at home in their return to Pac-12 play (April 13). Elise Wagle delivered the deciding point of a thrilling 4-3 triumph at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, completing her team's comeback from a 3-2 deficit. She not only sealed the overall result in three sets, but helped take down No. 2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen to clinch the doubles point. Kimmi Hance also went the distance to win, while Ahmani Guichard won in straight sets. Then, in its home finale, UCLA beat the Ducks 5-0 at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Each of the top four singles courts was claimed by a Bruin. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer clinched the victory, completing a two-win day. Oregon pushed for the doubles point, but was stopped short by Tian and Wagle – each of whom also prevailed twice.

UCLA VS. USC
UCLA is 61-52 against USC. On March 1, the Bruins beat their crosstown rivals in non-conference play at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Each of UCLA's top three singles players – Tian Fangran, Kimmi Hance and Bianca Fernandez – was victorious against a top-60 foe. Tian clinched the overall win. Ahmani Guichard also prevailed for the Bruins, joining Hance in recording a two-win day. The Trojans' points came by way of singles victories from Eryn Cayetano and Naomi Cheong.

IN THE RANKINGS
Thanks in part to its win at No. 7 Pepperdine, UCLA was elevated Tuesday to a season-high showing of No. 10 in the ITA team rankings. The Bruins have won 14 of their past 15 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 include Kimmi Hance (career-high No. 21), Tian Fangran (39) and Bianca Fernandez (72). Each defeated a top-60 player in the Bruins' non-conference victory against USC March 1. Fernandez, Hance and Tian have each knocked off five nationally-ranked singles opponents. The doubles combination of Tian and Elise Wagle rose to No. 17 after taking down No. 2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen of Pepperdine, while Hance and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer checked in at No. 76. Tian's doubles placement is a career best.

WAGLE JOINS PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK CLUB
Elise Wagle was named Pac-12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the week of April 8-14, the conference announced Tuesday. The award is Wagle's first of her career and the Bruins' league-high seventh of 2024. Wagle had a day to remember in Malibu, Calif., beating No. 94 Anna Campana 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-3 for the final point of UCLA's thrilling 4-3 victory against No. 7 Pepperdine (April 11). Wagle fended off two match points en route to her win, completing a career day in celebration with teammates. Earlier, she teamed with Tian Fangran to clinch the doubles point by taking down No. 2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen in a 6-3 result. Broadus and Tjen entered the match 12-0 in dual-match play and 23-1 overall. Wagle and Tian secured the initial point for their team two days later, as well, outlasting Oregon's Jo-Yee Chan and Sophie Luescher 7-5 on the last court in action (April 13). Wagle finished her perfect week by tacking on a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Chan. The Bruins' seven Pac-12 Player of the Week awards this season represent the most by a Pac-12 program since USC had nine in 2013. UCLA has 45 total in program history.

FERNANDEZ EARNS FIRST PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Bianca Fernandez earned her first career Pac-12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week award April 9, the conference announced. The honor was presented for the week of April 1-7, when the Bruins went 3-0 and outscored their opponents by a 12-1 margin. Fernandez was victorious in each of her six individual matches played. Her week of singles play began with a 6-0, 6-0 display against CSUN's Victoria Santibañez Luna (April 3) and she also downed Keila Barksdale of Utah in straight sets (April 5) before outlasting Mila Stanojevic 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 to prevent Colorado from pulling level at 2-2 (April 7). The all-freshman combination of Fernandez and Ahmani Guichard went undefeated in doubles play, giving up more than two games just once. Utes Barksdale and Sara Akid were a deuce point away from 5-5 in cold and windy conditions, but the UCLA pair was able to prevail.

HANCE VOTED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On the heels of her heroic singles win at Stanford, Kimmi Hance was named Pac-12 Player of the Week by the conference April 2. 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 and UCLA had its first win against the Cardinal since 2021. The 4-3 result on fifth-ranked Stanford's home court was sealed with a backhand down the line past No. 13 Connie Ma, who had won 12 straight matches in straight sets entering play. Hance fought off two Ma match points, going on to win the marathon match by a 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(5) score. That capped a perfect day for Hance, who also teamed with Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer to beat No. 67 Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina 7-6(6) and secure a doubles point that ultimately proved the difference. For good measure, Hance took down No. 38 Hannah Viller Moeller of California 7-6(4), 6-3 on the road one day earlier. The Pac-12 Player of the Week award represents Hance's third of her career. She previously won twice during the 2023 dual-match campaign.

TIAN NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR FOURTH TIME THIS SEASON
Tian Fangran was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of March 11-17, giving her three straight awards and four overall this season. The defending NCAA singles champion's 6-0, 6-0 performance against Arizona State's Chelsea Fontenel came in a 4-0 team triumph. The next day, Tian beat No. 123 Reece Carter of Arizona 6-3, 6-2 and UCLA prevailed 6-1. Each of Tian's singles wins came before the overall result was clinched. Tian and Elise Wagle also beat Sun Devils Fontenel and Patricija Spaka 6-1 in doubles play after a Bruin team was forced to retire. Tian/Wagle had its match abandoned leading 5-4 versus the top-court Wildcats. Tian is now a five-time Pac-12 Player of the Week award winner for her career.

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.

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 519-190 (.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.