Shibahara, Hart Each Win in NCAA Singles Openers
May 23, 2018 | Women's Tennis
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – UCLA's Ena Shibahara and Jada Hart each advanced in their opening round singles matchups on Wednesday as play opened in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships.
Shibahara, the two-time reigning Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year and No. 7 seed in the singles tournament, cruised past opponent Christina Rosca of Vanderbilt with a 6-2, 6-1 decision. With the victory, she is now poised to take on Marianna Petrei of Idaho, who defeated Winthrop's Lauren Proctor 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.
Hart, the No. 33-ranked singles player, fared well in her 9:00 a.m. ET matchup, taking down Alle Sanford of North Carolina in straight sets (7-5, 7-5) to advance to the second round, where she will face Pepperdine's Luisa Stefani, who upset No. 1 seed Bianca Turati 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5).
Hart, alongside partner Terri Fleming, defeated Stefani (and partner Mayar Sherif) on Apr. 18 at Pepperdine. In singles, Shibahara took down Stefani 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 to complete a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the then-No. 10 Waves.
Fleming and Hart open up competition in doubles play tomorrow, May 24, against Syracuse's duo of Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez. First serve is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. PT.
