Terri Fleming (L) and Jada Hart will look to top the Rebels on Thursday (photo: Arionne Thomas)
Photo by: Arionne Thomas
Bruins Tackle No. 5 Ole Miss in NCAA Round of 16
May 15, 2018 | Women's Tennis
UCLA Heads to Winston-Salem for Round of 16
This week, No. 12-seeded UCLA heads to the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, N.C. for the final rounds of the NCAA Tournament, starting with the Round ofย 16 on Thursday against No. 5-seeded and No. 6-ranked Ole Miss (22-6) at 4:00 p.m. PT. Should the Bruins advance, they would play in the quarterfinals on Saturday, the semifinals on Monday, and the final on Tuesday.ย
How Sweet It Is
UCLA's berth into the Round of 16 is nothing new for the program. This is the Bruins' 17th trip to the Sweet 16 in the modern format of the NCAA Tournament (since 1999, 20 seasons) and UCLA's 33rd overall in 37 years of the NCAA Tournament. The team has advanced to the quarterfinals 23 times in its 32 prior Sweet 16 matchups (72%).ย
UCLA Breezes Through Los Angeles Regional
The Bruins advanced to the Round of 16 after decisively winning both its matches in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, held at Los Angeles Tennis Center on the campus of UCLA. The Bruins opened with a 4-0 blanking of unranked Fresno State (moving UCLA's record to 20-0 in modern era NCAA openers) on Friday. Morning rain delayed the start of UCLA's Second Round matchup vs. No. 25 Baylor by almost three hours, but the Bruins were still ready to play, recording a 4-0 win. The results were eerily similar, as both contests had the Bruins win the doubles point and then clinch the match with victories on courts six, one, and four, in that order.ย
Bruins in the Postseason
By virtue of its at-large selection this season, UCLA has now made the NCAA Tournament 37 consecutive times dating back to the inaugural year of the tourney in 1982. UCLA is one of just three programs in the nation to have appeared in every NCAA women's tennis tournament. The Bruins have now received hosting duties 16 times in 20 seasons of the current format (since 1999), winning the Regional and advancing to the Round of 16 in all but one of those campaigns. All-time, UCLA possesses an 89 -34 (.724) record in the NCAA Tournament, fourth-best in the country. The Bruins have taken home two National Championships (2008, 2014), both under current head coach Stella Sampras Webster.ย
UCLA Represented in NCAA Singles & Doubles Champs
The Bruins will be sending three players to the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships, which take place after the team championships. No. 9-ranked singles player Ena Shibahara and No. 33 Jada Hart will vie for the singles title, while the seventh-ranked duo of Hart and Terri Fleming will compete in the doubles tournament. UCLA has one women's singles champion all-time (1995, Keri Phebus) and six doubles championships. Sampras Webster won the 1988 doubles title alongside partner Allyson Cooper.ย
Shibahara Named Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year
On May 8, UCLA's Ena Shibahara was named the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, becoming the second Bruin (Robin Anderson, 2014-15) and fourth athlete ever to repeat as the league's player of the year. She entered the postseason as the No. 9 ranked singles player in the country.ย
Five Bruins Earn All-Pac-12 Status
Besides Shibahara's PotY honor, four other Bruins were honored by the Pac-12, giving UCLA a program-record-tying five all-league picks. Jada Hart was a Second Team choice, while Terri Fleming, Abi Altick, and Alaina Miller received honorable mentions.
Bruins vs. Rebels
Playing on opposite sides of the country, UCLA and Ole Miss have only squared off four times in women's tennis, battlng to a 2-2 series draw all-time. Coincidentally, UCLA and Ole Miss played earlier this season on Feb. 10, in the ITA Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wis., with the Rebels narrowly winning, 4-3. UCLA has won both postseason matchups vs. Ole Miss, most recently a 4-0 sweep at LATC in the Second Round of the 2014 Tournament en route to the National Championship. UCLA also defeated the Rebels in the First Round of the 1991 Tournament. Ole Miss is making its 21st appearance in the NCAA Tournament and ninth in the Round of 16.ย
Pac-12 Championships Review
UCLA finished runner-up at the 2018 Pac-12 Championships, topping No. 30 Oregon State and No. 35 Arizona State to advance to the final, where they met No. 16 Stanford and fell 4-2. The Bruins had to outlast Oregon in the opening round, with the Ducks winning three of the first five singles matches to tie it at 3-3 and leave the outcome in the hands of Broomfield on court five; she ultimately pulled off a 7-5, 6-4 win to help UCLA advance. UCLA shook off a rare doubles loss to ASU in the semis, dominating singles play en route to a 4-1 win. The script flipped for UCLA against Stanford, with the Bruins earning a hard-fought win in doubles but then struggling in singles, as the Cardinal won the second set on all six courts to make the road back tough for UCLA. Shibahara was the lone Bruin to win her singles matchup, a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win over No. 16-ranked singles player Michaela Gordon, the second-highest-ranked singles player she has defeated this season in dual play.ย
Hot Down the Stretch
UCLA played some of its best tennis of the year down the stretch run, winning a season-best 11 straight leading up to the Pac-12 Championships Final, including eight wins over ranked teams. That streak was the longest for the program since the National Championship season of 2014. Overall, the Bruins are 13-1 in their last 14 contests.
Hart's Got Heart
Nobody was a bigger contributor to UCLA's late-season success than sophomore Jada Hart, who was a back-to-back Pac-12 Player of the Week nominee (she won the award on Apr. 24) in the last two weeks of the regular season. In that span, she was 4-0 in both singles and doubles while providing the clinching wins against USC and Arizona.ย
Miller's Mad March
The month of March belonged to Alaina Miller, who won all six of her singles matches and teamed with Shibahara to do the same in doubles. Miller won 72 of 86 singles games and posted four 6-0 sets over the course of the month. Dating back to Feb. 23, she is 13-1 in singles play and 16-0 in doubles action.
Altick's Arrival
Freshman Abi Altick has won 14 of her last 18 decisions in singles play, dating back to Feb. 9. She is 16-5 on the dual-match season and leads the Bruins with 30 total wins.
UCLA in the ITA Rankings
After the Pac-12 Championships, UCLA dropped a spot in ย the most recent ITA poll, to No. 14. Four Bruins are ranked among Oracle/ITA's Top 125 singles players, announced May 3. Shibahara is tops among them, as the sophomore sits at No. 9, her first time in the top-10 since Mar. 6, 2018. Hart comes in at No. 33, Altick is at No. 67, and Miller is currently ranked 121st. The doubles list features four Bruin tandems. The team of Hart and Fleming checks in at No. 7 to lead the way. Hart-Shibahara comes in at No. 22, while Andrews-Hart is No. 39 and Andrews-Broomfield is No. 64. The Bruins are the top-ranked program among Pac-12 schools, and one of two in the Top 25 (Stanford โ No. 15). Oregon (No. 33),Arizona State (37), Washington (43), Washington State (44), and USC (50) are also ranked.ย
Doubles Domination
UCLA has thrived in doubles play in 2018, winning the doubles point 22 times in 27 dual matches. The Bruins were especially hot down the stretch, having won the doubles point in 20 of the final 22 matches of the year, including five straight to close the regular season. Over that 22-match stretch, UCLA's three doubles duos combined to go 42-13, including a 20-5 mark in Pac-12 play.ย
Shibahara Excels on Court One
Ena Shibahara, the preseason top-ranked singles player in the country, has hit her stride on court one, losing just once in her last 13 matches. UCLA is 15-2 during the dual-match season when Shibahara wins her matchup. Shibahara had quite the month to remember in April. ย Against No. 10 Pepperdine on Apr. 18, she and Miller won a tiebreaker on court three to clinch the doubles point, then she pulled off a 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 decision on court one in singles to cap off a come-from-behind 4-3 win for UCLA. Shibahara went on to win each of her singles matchups at the Pac-12 Championships, including a 2-1 win over Stanford's No. 16 Michaela Gordon, who had previously defeated Shibahara on Mar. 9.ย
Awards Season
UCLA is the only school to have three Pac-12 Player of the Week awards this season. Four others (Stanford, Washington State, Arizona State, and California) have had two recipients. Besides Hart's honor two weeks ago, Shibahara was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of March 19-25, topping ranked opponent Michaela Bayerlova of Washington State, 6-3, 6-4, to clinch the Bruins' win over the previously-16-1 Cougars. Earlier, Hart was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 13. Bruins have accounted for 22 all-time weekly awards. Hart leads active Bruins with four career awards while Shibahara has three.ย
???????Sampras Webster Wins No. 400
The Bruins' two ITA Kick-Off wins in Kentucky represented a milestone for long-time UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster. Already the winningest coach in program history, the victories represented Nos. 399 and 400 for Sampras Webster, who now holds a record of 419-157 (.727). She has led the Bruins to two NCAA Championships in her 21 completed seasons. Her teams have also tallied four runner-up finishes. Prior to becoming head coach, Sampras Webster played four seasons at UCLA under predecessor Bill Zaima. Those teams recorded four straight NCAA top-three finishes, while she was named an All-American each of those seasons. Sampras Webster was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame in October.
Fall Ball Recap
Shibahara got the fall schedule started with a run to the final round of Oracle ITA Masters in September, where she finished as the runner-up in a talented field. At the Cal Fall Invitational later that month, Fleming defeated Altick for the ITA Blue singles championship, while Andrews and Wiley picked up the ITA Gold consolation title. Hart-Shibahara, meanwhile, was awarded the doubles consolation championship at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships and Andrews-Hart won the doubles title at the ITA Regional Championships. In November, Altick made a run to the final round of the Jack Kramer Collegiate Tournament, where she fell in three sets. Bruins also swept the singles (Shibahara) and doubles (Hart-Shibahara) titles at the Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas.
Over 100 Gather For Reunion
More than 100 current and former UCLA women's tennis players and coaches convened March 16-18 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the program's first NCAA Championship and the life of legendary coach Bill Zaima. Included among that group were members of some of Zaima's first teams from nearly five decades ago. The group was able to see new and updated on-campus facilities, take part in a gala banquet and celebration at the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame and watch the current Bruins defeat Oregon, among other activities.
This week, No. 12-seeded UCLA heads to the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, N.C. for the final rounds of the NCAA Tournament, starting with the Round ofย 16 on Thursday against No. 5-seeded and No. 6-ranked Ole Miss (22-6) at 4:00 p.m. PT. Should the Bruins advance, they would play in the quarterfinals on Saturday, the semifinals on Monday, and the final on Tuesday.ย
How Sweet It Is
UCLA's berth into the Round of 16 is nothing new for the program. This is the Bruins' 17th trip to the Sweet 16 in the modern format of the NCAA Tournament (since 1999, 20 seasons) and UCLA's 33rd overall in 37 years of the NCAA Tournament. The team has advanced to the quarterfinals 23 times in its 32 prior Sweet 16 matchups (72%).ย
UCLA Breezes Through Los Angeles Regional
The Bruins advanced to the Round of 16 after decisively winning both its matches in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, held at Los Angeles Tennis Center on the campus of UCLA. The Bruins opened with a 4-0 blanking of unranked Fresno State (moving UCLA's record to 20-0 in modern era NCAA openers) on Friday. Morning rain delayed the start of UCLA's Second Round matchup vs. No. 25 Baylor by almost three hours, but the Bruins were still ready to play, recording a 4-0 win. The results were eerily similar, as both contests had the Bruins win the doubles point and then clinch the match with victories on courts six, one, and four, in that order.ย
Bruins in the Postseason
By virtue of its at-large selection this season, UCLA has now made the NCAA Tournament 37 consecutive times dating back to the inaugural year of the tourney in 1982. UCLA is one of just three programs in the nation to have appeared in every NCAA women's tennis tournament. The Bruins have now received hosting duties 16 times in 20 seasons of the current format (since 1999), winning the Regional and advancing to the Round of 16 in all but one of those campaigns. All-time, UCLA possesses an 89 -34 (.724) record in the NCAA Tournament, fourth-best in the country. The Bruins have taken home two National Championships (2008, 2014), both under current head coach Stella Sampras Webster.ย
UCLA Represented in NCAA Singles & Doubles Champs
The Bruins will be sending three players to the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships, which take place after the team championships. No. 9-ranked singles player Ena Shibahara and No. 33 Jada Hart will vie for the singles title, while the seventh-ranked duo of Hart and Terri Fleming will compete in the doubles tournament. UCLA has one women's singles champion all-time (1995, Keri Phebus) and six doubles championships. Sampras Webster won the 1988 doubles title alongside partner Allyson Cooper.ย
Shibahara Named Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year
On May 8, UCLA's Ena Shibahara was named the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, becoming the second Bruin (Robin Anderson, 2014-15) and fourth athlete ever to repeat as the league's player of the year. She entered the postseason as the No. 9 ranked singles player in the country.ย
Five Bruins Earn All-Pac-12 Status
Besides Shibahara's PotY honor, four other Bruins were honored by the Pac-12, giving UCLA a program-record-tying five all-league picks. Jada Hart was a Second Team choice, while Terri Fleming, Abi Altick, and Alaina Miller received honorable mentions.
Bruins vs. Rebels
Playing on opposite sides of the country, UCLA and Ole Miss have only squared off four times in women's tennis, battlng to a 2-2 series draw all-time. Coincidentally, UCLA and Ole Miss played earlier this season on Feb. 10, in the ITA Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wis., with the Rebels narrowly winning, 4-3. UCLA has won both postseason matchups vs. Ole Miss, most recently a 4-0 sweep at LATC in the Second Round of the 2014 Tournament en route to the National Championship. UCLA also defeated the Rebels in the First Round of the 1991 Tournament. Ole Miss is making its 21st appearance in the NCAA Tournament and ninth in the Round of 16.ย
Pac-12 Championships Review
UCLA finished runner-up at the 2018 Pac-12 Championships, topping No. 30 Oregon State and No. 35 Arizona State to advance to the final, where they met No. 16 Stanford and fell 4-2. The Bruins had to outlast Oregon in the opening round, with the Ducks winning three of the first five singles matches to tie it at 3-3 and leave the outcome in the hands of Broomfield on court five; she ultimately pulled off a 7-5, 6-4 win to help UCLA advance. UCLA shook off a rare doubles loss to ASU in the semis, dominating singles play en route to a 4-1 win. The script flipped for UCLA against Stanford, with the Bruins earning a hard-fought win in doubles but then struggling in singles, as the Cardinal won the second set on all six courts to make the road back tough for UCLA. Shibahara was the lone Bruin to win her singles matchup, a 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win over No. 16-ranked singles player Michaela Gordon, the second-highest-ranked singles player she has defeated this season in dual play.ย
Hot Down the Stretch
UCLA played some of its best tennis of the year down the stretch run, winning a season-best 11 straight leading up to the Pac-12 Championships Final, including eight wins over ranked teams. That streak was the longest for the program since the National Championship season of 2014. Overall, the Bruins are 13-1 in their last 14 contests.
Hart's Got Heart
Nobody was a bigger contributor to UCLA's late-season success than sophomore Jada Hart, who was a back-to-back Pac-12 Player of the Week nominee (she won the award on Apr. 24) in the last two weeks of the regular season. In that span, she was 4-0 in both singles and doubles while providing the clinching wins against USC and Arizona.ย
Miller's Mad March
The month of March belonged to Alaina Miller, who won all six of her singles matches and teamed with Shibahara to do the same in doubles. Miller won 72 of 86 singles games and posted four 6-0 sets over the course of the month. Dating back to Feb. 23, she is 13-1 in singles play and 16-0 in doubles action.
Altick's Arrival
Freshman Abi Altick has won 14 of her last 18 decisions in singles play, dating back to Feb. 9. She is 16-5 on the dual-match season and leads the Bruins with 30 total wins.
UCLA in the ITA Rankings
After the Pac-12 Championships, UCLA dropped a spot in ย the most recent ITA poll, to No. 14. Four Bruins are ranked among Oracle/ITA's Top 125 singles players, announced May 3. Shibahara is tops among them, as the sophomore sits at No. 9, her first time in the top-10 since Mar. 6, 2018. Hart comes in at No. 33, Altick is at No. 67, and Miller is currently ranked 121st. The doubles list features four Bruin tandems. The team of Hart and Fleming checks in at No. 7 to lead the way. Hart-Shibahara comes in at No. 22, while Andrews-Hart is No. 39 and Andrews-Broomfield is No. 64. The Bruins are the top-ranked program among Pac-12 schools, and one of two in the Top 25 (Stanford โ No. 15). Oregon (No. 33),Arizona State (37), Washington (43), Washington State (44), and USC (50) are also ranked.ย
Doubles Domination
UCLA has thrived in doubles play in 2018, winning the doubles point 22 times in 27 dual matches. The Bruins were especially hot down the stretch, having won the doubles point in 20 of the final 22 matches of the year, including five straight to close the regular season. Over that 22-match stretch, UCLA's three doubles duos combined to go 42-13, including a 20-5 mark in Pac-12 play.ย
Shibahara Excels on Court One
Ena Shibahara, the preseason top-ranked singles player in the country, has hit her stride on court one, losing just once in her last 13 matches. UCLA is 15-2 during the dual-match season when Shibahara wins her matchup. Shibahara had quite the month to remember in April. ย Against No. 10 Pepperdine on Apr. 18, she and Miller won a tiebreaker on court three to clinch the doubles point, then she pulled off a 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 decision on court one in singles to cap off a come-from-behind 4-3 win for UCLA. Shibahara went on to win each of her singles matchups at the Pac-12 Championships, including a 2-1 win over Stanford's No. 16 Michaela Gordon, who had previously defeated Shibahara on Mar. 9.ย
Awards Season
UCLA is the only school to have three Pac-12 Player of the Week awards this season. Four others (Stanford, Washington State, Arizona State, and California) have had two recipients. Besides Hart's honor two weeks ago, Shibahara was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of March 19-25, topping ranked opponent Michaela Bayerlova of Washington State, 6-3, 6-4, to clinch the Bruins' win over the previously-16-1 Cougars. Earlier, Hart was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 13. Bruins have accounted for 22 all-time weekly awards. Hart leads active Bruins with four career awards while Shibahara has three.ย
???????Sampras Webster Wins No. 400
The Bruins' two ITA Kick-Off wins in Kentucky represented a milestone for long-time UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster. Already the winningest coach in program history, the victories represented Nos. 399 and 400 for Sampras Webster, who now holds a record of 419-157 (.727). She has led the Bruins to two NCAA Championships in her 21 completed seasons. Her teams have also tallied four runner-up finishes. Prior to becoming head coach, Sampras Webster played four seasons at UCLA under predecessor Bill Zaima. Those teams recorded four straight NCAA top-three finishes, while she was named an All-American each of those seasons. Sampras Webster was inducted into the Southern California Tennis Association Hall of Fame in October.
Fall Ball Recap
Shibahara got the fall schedule started with a run to the final round of Oracle ITA Masters in September, where she finished as the runner-up in a talented field. At the Cal Fall Invitational later that month, Fleming defeated Altick for the ITA Blue singles championship, while Andrews and Wiley picked up the ITA Gold consolation title. Hart-Shibahara, meanwhile, was awarded the doubles consolation championship at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships and Andrews-Hart won the doubles title at the ITA Regional Championships. In November, Altick made a run to the final round of the Jack Kramer Collegiate Tournament, where she fell in three sets. Bruins also swept the singles (Shibahara) and doubles (Hart-Shibahara) titles at the Freeman Memorial Championships in Las Vegas.
Over 100 Gather For Reunion
More than 100 current and former UCLA women's tennis players and coaches convened March 16-18 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the program's first NCAA Championship and the life of legendary coach Bill Zaima. Included among that group were members of some of Zaima's first teams from nearly five decades ago. The group was able to see new and updated on-campus facilities, take part in a gala banquet and celebration at the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame and watch the current Bruins defeat Oregon, among other activities.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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