Shibahara Headlines UCLA's Five All-Pac-12 Honorees
May 08, 2018 | Women's Tennis
LOS ANGELES โ Sophomore Ena Shibahara was named the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year and four of her teammates earned all-league status as the league office revealed the 2018 Pac-12 Women's Tennis All-Conference Team.
Shibahara, also an All-Pac-12 First Team choice, was joined by teammates Jada Hart (second team), Abi Altick (honorable mention), Terri Fleming (honorable mention), and Alaina Miller (honorable mention).
UCLA's five all-conference choices tied a program record, set in 2015. Shibahara also became just the second Bruin (Robin Anderson, 2014-15) and fourth athlete ever to repeat as the league's player of the year.
Shibahara, the No. 9 ranked singles player in the country, enters the NCAA Tournament with a 23-8 overall record including a 13-5 mark in dual play. She really rounded out her game in the latter part of the season, winning 11 of her final 13 singles decisions and teaming up with Miller to craft a still-active 16-match winning streak in doubles.
The Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. native had 10 wins over ITA top-50 players, including a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 triumph over No. 16 Michaela Gordon of Stanford in the Pac-12 Championships Final.
Playing mostly on court two, Hart was one of UCLA's most reliable competitors over the course of the season. The sophomore enters the weekend with a singles record of 25-10 (14-6 in dual) while she and Fleming are one of the most feared tandems in NCAA tennis, entering NCAA Tourney play ranked No. 7 in the country. The No. 33-ranked singles player in the nation, she won a pair of Pac-12 Player of the Week Awards this season, giving her four in her career. ย It was the second consecutive year that Hart was named All-Pac-12 Second Team.
Her doubles partner, Fleming, garnered her second career All-Pac-12 honorable mention on Tuesday. The senior, who has been ranked as high as No. 73 in singles and No. 6 in doubles, fashioned a 16-13 singles record and a 19-10 doubles record, playing almost exclusively on courts three and one, respectively. She enters the weekend with 123 career wins in singles and doubles combined.ย
One of the top freshmen in the Pac-12 Conference, Altick announced her presence with authority in 2018, winning a UCLA-high 28 matches in 37 decisions, including a 14-5 mark in the dual match portion of the season. The Monroe, La. native has been ranked as high as No. 31 in singles.
Last but not least, Miller dominated her competition as a junior, posting a 14-2 dual match record. Her .875 winning percentage in those matches was the best on the team. She has lost just once in her last 15 singles matchups and sports a 16-match unbeaten streak in doubles alongside partner Ena Shibahara. ย
The Bruins, who received the No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament, will host a four-team regional with a field including No. 25 Baylor, No. 36 NC State, and unranked Fresno State this weekend at Los Angeles Tennis Center. UCLA faces FSU in the First Round at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. Should they advance, they will face the Baylor/NC State winner at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday in the Regional Final.
Having five Bruins honored as a part of the @pac12 All-Conference team ties a program best (2015) #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/soa5Xr74Zp
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) May 8, 2018
| All-Pac-12 | |||
| First Team | |||
| Michaela Bayerlova | Washington State | Fr. | Krumbach, Germany |
| Stacey Fung | Washington | Jr. | Vancouver, Canada |
| Michaela Gordon | Stanford | Fr. | Saratoga, Calif. |
| Julia Rosenqvist | California | Fr. | Onsala, Sweden |
| Gabby Smith | USC | Sr. | Henderson, Nev. |
| Ena Shibahara | UCLA | So. | Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. |
| Second Team | |||
| Lauryn John-Baptiste | Arizona State | Fr. | London, England |
| Anna Bright | California | Fr. | Boca Raton, Fl. |
| Jada Hart | UCLA | R-So. | Colton, Calif. |
| Melissa Lord | Stanford | Jr. | Bloomfield, Conn. |
| Alyssa Tobita | Oregon | Sr. | Mililani, Hawaii |
| Vanessa Wong | Washington | Fr. | Toronto, Ontario |
Honorable Mention:ย Abby Altick, UCLA; Emily Arbuthnott, STAN; Terri Fleming, UCLA; Nicole Fossa-Huergo, ASU; Ilze Hattingh, ASU; Olivia Hauger, CAL; Emma Higuchi, STAN; Caroline Lampl, STAN; Alaina Miller, UCLA; Daniela Nasser, ORE; Alexia Petrovic, UTAH; Shweta Sangwan, ORE; Janice Shin, STAN; Rianna Valdes, USC.