UCLA
USC
No. 5 UCLA Hosts UC Santa Barbara, No. 32 USC
February 27, 2019 | Women's Tennis
ON SERVE
UCLA returns home for the first time in nearly a month, winners of five of six matches played during its time away from Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins are set for non-conference tilts on back-to-back days, Thursday, Feb. 28 against UC Santa Barbara and Friday, March 1 against No. 32 USC. Both matches are set for 1:30 p.m. starts. Pac-12 Networks will provide live television coverage of Friday's rivalry match, with J.B. Long and Corina Morariu on the call. Live stats will be available throughout the week at uclalivestats.com.
LAST WEEK
The Bruins hit Northern California for non-conference matches at Saint Mary's and California and left with a 2-0 record. On Friday, Feb. 22, UCLA blanked Saint Mary's in a match that lasted just over an hour at the Timothy Korth Tennis Complex. Doubles tandems Jada Hart-Taylor Johnson and No. 38 Abi Altick-Alaina Miller each posted a 6-0 win to get on the board and Miller, Johnson and Gabby Andrews ran off straight-set singles wins to lock up the overall victory. The next day, Cal secured the doubles point by way of a tiebreaker on the top court to set the tone at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Golden Bears went on to tally three first-set wins in singles play, ensuing at least one Bruin would have win in three sets. In the end, the day's final contest went the distance and the heroics belonged to Altick. The sophomore, who trailed No. 69 Anna Bright 1-6, 1-4 at one point, took the next five games and momentum into the final frame. The match was fittingly completed with the help of a tiebreaker, which Altick seized 7-5.
UCLA VS. UC SANTA BARBARA, USC
UCLA holds a 33-0 all-time record against UC Santa Barbara. In the teams' 2018 dual-match opener, the Gauchos picked up the doubles point before the Bruins rallied back in singles action. Andrews, Hart, Ayan Broomfield and Terri Fleming turned in straight-set victories in the 4-2 win. The Bruins have faced no opponent more than the Trojans and possess a 53-50 mark against their crosstown rivals. In the last meeting, April 21, 2018 at LATC, UCLA did not drop a set in its completed matches and rolled to a 4-0 win. Hart defeated Rianna Valdes 6-3, 6-2 in a battle of ranked players on Court 2 to clinch the regular season's final match.
BRUINS IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA remained at No. 5 in in the Oracle ITA team rankings, announced Tuesday. The Bruins were elevated to the top five last week, marking their first appearance since the final installment of the 2015 season. Six UCLA players appeared in the latest individual rankings, announced Wednesday, Feb. 20. Bolton leads the way at No. 11 on the singles list, while Broomfield is No. 112. The pairing of Andrews-Broomfield checks in at No. 14 in the doubles rankings, while Bolton-Hart appear at No. 14 and Altick-Miller No. 38. The team also sits at No. 5 in the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25 Rankings, updated Wednesday, Feb. 20.
STANDOUT SENIORS
Seniors Andrews, Broomfield and Miller constitute the core of the UCLA roster and bring with them different journeys to Westwood. Miller joined the Bruins as a freshman in 2015 and has racked 131 wins across singles and doubles competitions. Andrews achieved All-America status for her singles and doubles accomplishments at Tyler Junior College before transferring to UCLA as a sophomore in 2016. Broomfield was named ACC Freshman of the Year and twice received All-ACC honors before transferring to UCLA as a junior in 2017.
BOLTON NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR JAN. 28-FEB. 3
Bolton was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 28-Feb. 3, the conference announced. UCLA improved to 4-0 thanks in large part to Bolton's efforts, as the Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. native clinched Bruin road wins at Oklahoma State (Feb. 2) and Tulsa (Feb. 3). In addition to Bolton's singles successes, the first-year player teamed with Hart for a pair of doubles triumphs. The first win secured the doubles point, propelling the Bruins to victory over the No. 9 Cowgirls. The award represents the first of Bolton's career and 23rd all time for the UCLA women's tennis program.
2017-18 IN REVIEW
It was a stellar all-around 2017-18 campaign for the Bruins, who went 23-6 and reached the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championships before seeing their journey come to an end in a 4-3 shootout versus Georgia Tech. UCLA lost just one Pac-12 match during the regular season and won 11 contests in a row before falling to eventual NCAA champion Stanford in a hard-fought title match at the Pac-12 Championships. Ena Shibahara starred individually, earning recognition as ITA Southwest Region Player to Watch, Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year and an All-Pac-12 First-Team member. Shibahara, Hart and Fleming received All-America accolades from the ITA. Hart, Fleming, Altick and Miller joined Shibahara in garnering All-Pac-12 honors.
WHO'S GONE?
Shibahara, who went 27-10 in singles play and 28-4 in doubles action in 2017-18, has departed to pursue a professional career. All 21 of her dual-match singles decisions came on the top court. The steady Fleming has graduated. She went 16-14 in singles play and a team-best 14-8 in dual-match doubles play. Kristin Wiley is gone after a 4-5 singles showing and a 3-3 doubles effort, while Kelly Shaffer rounds out the list of departees.
WHO'S BACK?
All-American and two-time All-Pac-12 Second Teamer Hart is back after filling the No. 2 singles spot for a vast majority of the 2017-18 dual-match season. The redshirt junior was also one half of the top doubles tandem. Seniors Andrews, Broomfield and Miller also bring experience and 2017-18 success. Andrews-Broomfield went 10-4 from the No. 2 doubles slot, while Broomfield went 17-11 across three singles courts. Miller lost just once in her final 19 singles matches and failed to lose any of her final 19 doubles contests. Altick is back after a standout debut season. The Monroe, La. native registered a team-high 30 singles wins. Sophomore Sophie Bendetti is also back.
WHO'S NEW?
Two of the nation's top recruits join the fold in Bolton and Johnson. Bolton, a Blue-Chip prospect according to TennisRecruting.net, was ranked No. 4 in the nation by the website at the time of her signing. Nationally, the USTA had the right-hander slotted at No. 13 in its Girls' 18 doubles rankings, as well. In September, Bolton made a run to the quarterfinal round at the US Open Junior Tennis Championships in both the singles and doubles competitions. Johnson spent 2017 and 2018 atop the TennisRecruiting.net rankings. In 2017, she teamed with Claire Liu to claim the doubles title at the USTA Girls' 18 National Championships in San Diego. The 5-10 left-hander participated in all four Grand Slam junior tournaments, notching quarterfinal-round berths in each doubles draw. LaFrance is a veteran of the ITF circuit, notching nine doubles championships with five partners across four continents.
KATZ FAMILY SCOREBOARD
UCLA tennis and the UCLA Athletic Department debuted the Katz Family Scoreboard Wednesday, Jan. 9 in front of donors and special invited guests at LATC. The ceremony culminated in a ribbon cutting by the Katz Family, Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero, women's tennis head coach Stella Sampras Webster and men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Each, along with Sr. Associate Athletic Director, External Relations Josh Rebholz, made remarks highlighting the meaning of the Katz Family's generous donation and the opportunities the scoreboard will provide the tennis programs. The Katz Family Scoreboard's Daktronics display, measuring 18 feet high and 31.2 feet wide, is among the largest LED video screens in collegiate tennis. Stationed at the east end of LATC's main stadium courts, the board has a 13HD pixel pitch capable of switching between content playback mode and video mode using Show Control. RGB LED lights, meanwhile, will allow for a multitude of graphics possibilities. Also new to the match-day experience is a custom JBL speaker system set to improve audio on the front courts while introducing sound to the back courts.
ALUMNAE SPOTLIGHT
Jennifer Brady was part of UCLA's 2014 NCAA championship-winning team and her winning ways have continued into the professional ranks. Brady had a breakout 2017 and showed she was no fluke in 2018, reaching the singles second round of each Grand Slam tournament. She broke onto the pro scene at the 2017 Australian Open, winning all three of her qualifying matches before notching three more victories in the main draw. Brady went on to reach the fourth round at the 2017 US Open, as well. She also had doubles success, advancing to the third round of the 2018 French Open and the semifinal round of the 2019 Australian Open. Brady, a Boca Raton, Fla. native, has been ranked as high as No. 60 (Oct. 16, 2017) in the WTA singles rankings and she recently climbed to a career-best No. 49 (Feb. 18, 2019) on the doubles list.
HEAD COACH STELLA SAMPRAS WEBSTER
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 23rd season at the helm of the UCLA women's tennis program, holding an impressive overall record of 425-159 (.728). Sampras Webster has guided the Bruins to NCAA team championships in 2008 and 2014, the first two in program history. The 2012 ITA National Coach of the Year, Stella Sampras Webster is also responsible for helping the Bruins to their first Pac-10 Championship in 2008. For her efforts, she was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year at the end of the season. In all, Sampras Webster's teams have finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships in 19 of her 22 seasons in Westwood. UCLA has also finished in the top five nationally on 13 occasions. The 2000 ITA West Region Coach of the Year, Sampras Webster has recruited and coached some of the top players in collegiate tennis.
Players Mentioned
