OJAI, Calif. – The Pac-12 Women's Tennis Championships are underway in Ojai and four Bruins hit the courts on Thursday for singles action. Seniors Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips were joined in the Championship Singles Draw by freshman Alaina Miller, while sophomore Maia Magill competed in the Singles Invitational Draw.
In the Championship Draw, Miller dropped her first-round match to No. 8 seed Desirae Krawczyk of ASU, 6-4, 6-4. McPhillips and third-seeded Harrison both won their round of 32 matches. McPhillips downed Stacey Fung of Washington in straights to advance to the round of 16, where she met crosstown foe and fourth-seeded Giuliana Olmos of USC. In Harrison's first-round match against Cal's Denise Starr, she battled back from a 5-1 deficit to win the first set, 7-6(4). Down 5-2 in the second set, Harrison rallied to win four straight games. Starr then held to knot the score at 6-6. Harrison took the tiebreaker, 7-4, to win the match.
In the round of 16, McPhillips fell to Olmos in straight sets while Harrison rallied from another first-set deficit to dispatch ASU's Kassidy Jump in straights. Down 5-2 in the first, Harrison won five straight games to take the set. The Bruin went on to win another five straight games to take a 5-0 lead in the second set. Jump responded with two wins, but Harrison held to take the match and punch her ticket to the quarterfinals.
Cat comes back from a first set deficit (again)... trailing 5-2, Cat wins 5 games in a row, taking the first set 7-5 pic.twitter.com/1d0iDtnADT
— UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) April 22, 2016
In the Invitational Draw, Magill cruised past USC's Kristen Venter, 6-3, 6-1, to advance to the round of 16. There, Magill outlasted Washington's Kenadi Hance in a tight three-setter. After taking the first set, 6-4, Magill dropped the second, 6-2. In the third, the Bruin responded with a 6-2 win of her own to advance to the quarterfinals.
Doubles action kicks off on Friday morning, followed by singles play in the afternoon. The third-seeded duo of Harrison and McPhillips face Arizona's Devin Chypyha and Inge Hendrikx at 10:15 am in the Championship Draw. In the Invitational Draw, two Bruin pairs take to the courts. Miller and Terri Fleming face Oregon's Paloma Gomez and Marlou Kluiving at 9 am, while Magill and Kristin Wiley take on USC's Venter and Paige Keating at 10:15 am.
For updates, follow UCLA Women's Tennis on Twitter.
Pac-12 Championships
Apr 21-24 at Ojai, Calif.
| Singles competition | |
| Championship Singles | |
| 32 | #28 Desirae Krawczyk (ASU) def. Alaina Miller (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4 |
| 32 | Kyle McPhillips (UCLA) def. Stacey Fung (WASH) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 32 | #17 Catherine Harrison (UCLA) def. #79 Denise Starr (CAL) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) |
| 16 | #24 Giuliana Olmos (USC) def. Kyle McPhillips (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4 |
| 16 | #17 Catherine Harrison (UCLA) def. #119 Kassidy Jump (ASU) 7-5, 6-2 |
| Singles Invitational | |
| 32 | Maia Magill (UCLA) def. Kristen Venter (USC) 6-3, 6-1 |
| 16 | Maia Magill (UCLA) def. Kenadi Hance (WASH) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 |