UCLA
Stanford
#2 UCLA Topped 4-2 by #1 Stanford in Pac-12 Final
April 28, 2018 | Women's Tennis
OJAI, Calif. โ #2 UCLA came up just short in its bid for a Pac-12 Championship in Saturday's tournament final at Libbey Park, dropping a 4-2 decision to #1 Stanford.
The loss, which snapped an 11-match winning streak for the Bruins, dropped the team's record to 20-5. The Cardinal meanwhile improved to 18-3 and secured the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA, ranked No. 13 in the nation entering the week, learns its own fate in the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, May 1 at 2:00 p.m. PT.
The Bruins took an early lead in the match with a hard-fought win in doubles.
On court three, the duo of Alaina Miller/Ena Shibahara secured an early win for the Bruins with a 6-3 result. Shibahara sealed the decision on that court with an emphatic ace past the Stanford duo of Lord/Shin.
UCLA's Andrews/Broomfield pairing did well to shake off four match points on court two, including three in the ninth game to stay alive and make the score 5-4, but couldn't hold off the Cardinal duo of Lampl/Yee on their fifth match point, which secured a tying 6-4 result.
A top-10 matchup on court one between sixth-ranked Fleming/Hart and Stanford's second-ranked pairing of Arbuthnott/Gordon ended up being the decider and unsurprisingly turned out to be the most dramatic matchup of all, with UCLA's top duo bouncing back from an 0-2 deficit, breaking serve at 5-6, and forcing a do-or-die tiebreaker.
Even the tiebreaker was full of ebbs and flows, with five ties and four lead changes over the 16-point showdown.
Hart was especially good for the Bruins in the middle points, including a forehand return winner to set up match point for UCLA at 6-4.
Stanford would respond by winning the next three points in a row to line up their own match point, but it was all UCLA from there on out. At 7-6, Stanford hit way long on a long rally to tie it up at 7-7, and them Fleming sealed it with volley winners from the front court on the final two points.
Hart and Fleming win a dramatic tiebreaker to clinch the doubles point for UCLA! pic.twitter.com/NHb2qfN5LI
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) April 28, 2018
Things started off well enough for UCLA in singles, as the Bruins won first sets on courts one, three, and four. However, Stanford won all six second sets which put UCLA on its back heels.
Hart, the No. 30-ranked singles player in the nation, was the first to cede a decision, falling 1-6, 5-7 on court two to No. 68 Melissa Lord.
On court six, No. 109 Emma Higuchi topped UCLA's No. 117 Alaina Miller in a second set tiebreak for a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win, handing Miller her first singles loss since Feb. 10, a span of 12 matches.
Shibahara briefly allowed UCLA to level the score again at 2-2, recovering from a second set defeat to complete a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory. ย
Ena Shibahara evens the score at 2-2 with a clutch 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 win on court one! #GoBruins
โ UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) April 28, 2018
(Match point is on the right side of this split screen) pic.twitter.com/hgOmHDpC0M
Moments after Shibahara's point, Stanford took the lead for good as Caroline Lampl, the No. 94 singles player, bested UCLA senior Terri Fleming in a third set tiebreaker for a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3) result.
Emily Arbuthnott finished off the match for Stanford with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win on court four.
SATURDAY RESULTS:
No. 1 Stanford 4, No. 2 UCLA 2 (LIBBEY)
DOUBLES:
1. Terri Fleming/Jada Hart, UCLA def. Emily Arbuthnott/Michaela Gordon, STAN โ 7-6 (9-7)
2. Caroline Lampl/Kimberly Yee, STAN def. Gabby Andrews/Ayan Broomfield, UCLA โ 6-4
3. Alaina Miller/Ena Shibahara, UCLA def. Melissa Lord/Janice Shin, STAN โ 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES:
1. Ena Shibahara, UCLA def. Michaela Gordon, STAN โ 2-1 (6-2, 1-6, 6-4)
2. Melissa Lord, STAN def. Jada Hart, UCLA โ 2-0 (6-1, 7-5)
3. Carolina Lampl, STAN def. Terri Fleming, UCLA โ 2-1 (3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4))
4. Emily Arbuthnott, STAN def. Abi Altick, UCLA โ 2-1 (4-6, 6-1, 6-2)
5. Janice Shin, STAN vs. Ayan Broomfield, UCLA โ 7-5, 6-6 Abandoned
6. Emma Higuchi, STAN def. Alaina Miller, UCLA โ 2-0 (6-4, 7-6 (5))
Order of finish: 2, 6, 1, 3, 4
Players Mentioned
