UCLA
San Diego
Tennis Teams Hit the Road for San Diego, Tulsa
February 09, 2017 | Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis
Women's
With its home opener finally in the books, No. 20 UCLA hits the road again, this time down to San Diego for a Sunday match against the University of San Diego at the Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center. Play will begin at 12:00 p.m., PT.
The No. 20 Bruins had their Friday, Feb. 3 home opener washed into a Saturday doubleheader, but that did not stop the Bruins from capturing their first two wins at the Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts. The team swept through both Saint Mary's, 5-0, and UC Santa Barbara, 4-0, to move to 4-1 on the season.
Against the Gaels in the early match, the Bruin doubles team of Terri Fleming and Alaina Miller sent the competition to singles with its clinching win on Court 2. Gabby Andrews eventually gave UCLA its clinching point in singles play, while Ena Shibahara added a fifth point for good measure. In the finished matches between the teams, the Bruins did not drop a single set to the Gaels.
In the nightcap, the Bruins and Gauchos traded doubles wins to put the clinching point on Court 3. There, Andrews and Kristin Wiley completed a 6-4 decision over UCSB's team of Jaimee Gilbertson and Natalie Da Silveira. Straight-set singles wins by Jada Hart on Court 4, Fleming on Court 2 and finally Shibahara on Court 1, gave UCLA a 4-0 victory.
Shibahara's undefeated weekend gave the freshman her first Pac-12 honor, as she was named the conference's Player of the Week on Monday. She also saw her ITA/Oracle Division I National Women's Singles Ranking rise to No. 3. Joining her is Jada Hart, who sits at No. 91 in the polls. In the doubles rankings, the aforementioned duo is No. 12, while Hart and Fleming are No. 38.
The Bruins remain No. 20 in the Oracle/ITA team rankings, while they checked in at No. 16 in the inaugural USTA College Tennis Top 25 team rankings on Tuesday.
The Bruins hold a 16-0 all-time record versus San Diego, including a 4-0 win over the Toreros at Los Angeles Tennis Center on Jan. 24, 2014. That win came as a part of the 2014 ITA Kick-Off Weekend event. San Diego is 2-2 on the early season, and 1-1 at home.
Men's
Following a split at the Pac-12 SEC Showdown in Gainesville, Fla., the Bruins will continue their string of road matches when they take on Tulsa at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The teams will face off Monday, Feb. 13, at 4:00 p.m., PT.
Coming off his second consecutive Pac-12 Player of the Week honor, Martin Redlicki will look to continue his hot play in Tulsa. The junior, who rose to No. 73 in this week's Oracle/ITA Division I National Men's Singles Rankings, has yet to lose a singles match this season. Included in that stretch is his performance in the Pac-12/SEC Showdown, where he recorded straight-set wins versus nationally-ranked Emil Reinberg of Georgia and Chase Perez-Blanco of Florida. The win over Reinberg also clinched the overall victory versus the previously fifth-ranked Bulldogs.
Also making an appearance in this week's Oracle/ITA rankings is the doubles pair of Redlicki and Evan Zhu. The duo, which clinched two doubles points with wins over No. 54 Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb of Georgia and No. 3 Johannes Ingildsen and Alfredo Perez of Florida, made the greatest leap of any previously unranked doubles team, coming in at No. 16 this week.
Other Bruins included in this week's Oracle/ITA rankings are Gage Brymer (No. 19) and Maxime Cressy (No. 112). As a team, UCLA is tied at No. 7 in the latest installment. Also, in this week's inaugural USTA College Tennis Top 25 team rankings, the Bruins hold a No. 7 ranking.
In Tulsa, the Bruins will face a team that is currently 4-4. While the Hurricane has dropped three matches in a row, it holds a home record of 3-1, including a 4-3 upset over then-No. 6 Texas. UCLA holds a 2-0 all-time record versus Tulsa, with both wins coming since 2013.
Players Mentioned
