Women's Tennis Starts NCAA Play on Home Courts Friday

MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time: Friday, May 3/1:00 PM PT
    Saturday, May 4/12:00 PM PT*
Live Stream: UCLABruins.com
Live Stats: UCLABruins.com
Series vs. San Diego State: UCLA leads 26-7
Last Meeting vs. SDSU: UCLA won 4-0 on May 12, 2006
* - if necessary

NCAA Tournament Appearances: 42nd
Overall Won-Lost Record: 96-39
Appearances Seeded Eighth: Third
Round of 16 Appearances (Last): 37 (2023)
Quarterfinal Round Appearances (Last): 26 (2021)
Semifinal Round Appearances (Last): 15 (2015)
Final Round Appearances (Last): 9 (2015)
NCAA Championships: 2 (2008, 2014)

THIS WEEK
The eighth-seeded UCLA women's tennis team starts NCAA Championships play Friday on its home courts. Los Angeles Tennis Center will be the site of three matches in two days, starting when Texas Tech (19-8) takes on Denver (17-6) at 10 a.m. PT. The Bruins (18-5) meet San Diego State (16-6) in the afternoon contest, beginning at 1 p.m. The winners advance to Saturday's second round, with first serve slated for 12 p.m. and a super-regional spot on the line.

FOLLOW LIVE
Day-of ticket sales for NCAA Championships first- and second-round matches on UCLA's campus will be located at the Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom box office. Prices are $5 for adults and $3 for youth (ages 3-16). There is also a $3 group rate. Seating is general admission. Tickets are also available now on UCLABruins.com. Fans unable to attend home UCLA women's tennis matches in person can still follow live. Point-by-point scores and live video will be available for all matches played at Los Angeles Tennis Center through UCLABruins.com.

UCLA IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCLA is one of two women's tennis programs (Stanford) to qualify for the NCAA Championships each year since the tournament format was adopted, stretching the run to 42 seasons with its latest selection. Head coach Stella Sampras Webster's teams have claimed each of the program's NCAA titles during that time, taking the top spots in 2008 and 2014. The Bruins improved their program's all-time record in NCAA play to 96-39 in 2023. UCLA and San Diego State have met twice in NCAA action, with the Bruins prevailing both times.

THREE BRUINS EARN SPOTS IN NCAA INDIVIDUALS
The NCAA Championships singles and doubles fields, announced Tuesday, feature three Bruins. Listed in both draws is defending singles champion Tian Fangran. Seven of Tian's 16 singles wins have come against nationally-ranked players, boosting her own ITA ranking to No. 35. Her first NCAA doubles appearance will come alongside Elise Wagle. The pair is 9-3 overall and has prevailed in five straight decisions. That streak includes results over No. 2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen of Pepperdine (April 11), No. 18 Eryn Cayetano/Emma Charney of USC (April 19) and No. 52 Connie Ma/Alexandra Yepifanova of Stanford (March 31). Wagle has now qualified for the year-end national tournament three times with three different partners. Kimmi Hance, who reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 21 April 16, won eight consecutive singles decisions from March 1-April 11. Her three-set win opposite No. 13 Connie Ma clinched a 4-3 team victory at Stanford (March 31). Hance has also taken down No. 14 Lisa Zaar of Pepperdine (April 11), No. 24 Emma Charney of USC (March 1) and No. 38 Hannah Viller Moeller of California (March 30), among other ranked opponents. Bianca Fernandez is the 10th alternate on the singles side, while the combination of Hance and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer is seventh in doubles.

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 remained Thursday at its season-high showing of No. 8 in the ITA team rankings. The Bruins have won 15 of their past 17 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. 27), Tian Fangran (32) and Bianca Fernandez (73). Each defeated a top-60 player in the Bruins' non-conference victory against USC March 1. Tian has beaten seven 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. 13. The pair took down No. 2 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen of Pepperdine and No. 18 Parker Fry and Grace Piper in two of its past three completed contests. Hance and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer checked in at a season-high No. 42. 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.

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 521-191 (.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.