UCLA
Arizona State
Bruins Top ASU 4-1, Clinch Berth into Pac-12 Final
April 27, 2018 | Women's Tennis
OJAI, Calif. – The second-seeded UCLA women's tennis team shook off a rare doubles loss in Friday's Pac-12 semifinal matchup vs. #3 Arizona State at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club, recovering with a strong performance in singles to seal a 4-1 win and a berth into the Pac-12 Final.
With the victory, UCLA is set to face #1 Stanford for the championship on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. The match will be televised live by Pac-12 Network Los Angeles.
"Everyone did a great job of locking in and getting good starts in each singles match," said UCLA head coach Stella Sampras Webster. "I knew that ASU was going to make a run – they're a good, well-coached team – so I knew it wasn't going to be over until the last point. I'm really happy for the team and excited that our players get an opportunity to play for a conference championship tomorrow."
The Bruins (20-4) jumped out to a hot start in singles play, taking five of the six opening sets including a goose egg on court four for Abi Altick, strong 6-1 wins for 13th-ranked singles player Ena Shibahara on court one and Terri Fleming on court three, and a 6-2 victory for No. 117 Alaina Miller on court six.
Altick, the 59th ranked singles player nationally, kept up the heat in the second set, racing out to a 5-0 lead and narrowly missing out on a double 6-0 scoreline. Instead, she had to settle for the 6-0, 6-1 win that knotted the score for UCLA at 1-1.
Abi Altick knots it at 1-1 for UCLA and narrowly misses out on a double goose egg with a 6-0, 6-1 win on court four pic.twitter.com/snBca3F0Jn
— UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) April 27, 2018
Not long after that, Miller finished off her opponent, Tereza Kolarova on court six with a 6-2, 6-3 decision.
Right after Altick, Alaina Miller puts UCLA up 2-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 victory on court six. pic.twitter.com/Fj0KtNneJy
— UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) April 27, 2018
That result would put the Bruins up for good, but the rest of the afternoon was not without its drama.
The Sun Devils (16-7) went on to force third sets on courts one and three. Coupled with ASU leading on court five and Jada Hart edging out but not dominating Ilze Hattingh on court two, it made for a nail-biting finish on the odd courts.
After Hattingh got as close as 4-3 on two, Hart put her foot on the gas pedal and finished her off to pick up the 6-4, 6-4 win and put UCLA on the doorstep of victory.
Jada Hart puts the Bruins a step away from victory with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 win on court two pic.twitter.com/1YkEJ12kyU
— UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) April 27, 2018
After Hart's victory, UCLA seemed to get a collective shot in the arm, as Shibahara and Fleming both jumped in front of their opponent in the third set, going up 5-2 and 5-4 respectively.
Shibahara was eventually the one to clinch the match. Serving with the score 5-3, she put herself in strong position with an ace off the opening serve. On her first match point, Shibahara closed it out with a soft volley off a backhand from opponent Lauryn John-Baptiste.
Shibahara sends the Bruins to the #Pac12Tennis final!!! pic.twitter.com/Ncspk6Rg5b
— UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) April 27, 2018
UCLA dropped decisions on courts one and two in doubles, just the second time in the last 18 contests that the Bruins haven't converted the doubles point. The Bruins improved to 3-2 this season when losing the doubles point.
No. 2 UCLA 4, No. 3 Arizona State 1 (OVAC)
DOUBLES:
1. Ilze Hattingh/Lauryn John-Baptiste, ASU def. Terri Fleming/Jada Hart, UCLA – 6-2
2. Tereza Kolarova/Savannah Slaysman, ASU def. Gabby Andrews/Ayan Broomfield, UCLA – 6-4
3. Alaina Miller/Ena Shibahara, UCLA def. Nicole Fossa Huergo/Sasa Klanecek, ASU – 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
SINGLES:
1. Ena Shibahara, UCLA def. Lauryn John-Baptiste, ASU – 2-1 (6-1, 0-6, 6-3)
2. Jada Hart, UCLA def. Ilze Hattingh, ASU – 2-0 (6-4, 6-4)
3. Nicole Fossa Huergo, ASU vs. Terri Fleming, UCLA – 1-6, 6-2, 6-5 Abandoned
4. Abi Altick, UCLA def. Savannah Slaysman, ASU – 2-0 (6-0, 6-1)
5. Sasa Klanecek, ASU vs. Ayan Broomfield, UCLA – 7-5, 5-5 Abandoned
6. Alaina Miller, UCLA def. Tereza Kolarova, ASU – 2-0 (6-2, 6-3)
Order of finish: 4, 6, 2, 1
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
4,6,2,1
Players Mentioned
