UCLA
Northern Arizona
Women's Tennis, LATC Set for Weekend NCAA Matches
May 02, 2019 | Women's Tennis
ON SERVE
The seventh-seeded UCLA women's tennis team will host NCAA Championships action at Los Angeles Tennis Center, with matches set to begin Saturday. The Bruins will face off against Northern Arizona at 12 p.m., PT, in the second half of a doubleheader. LSU will take on San Diego in the morning match, beginning at 9 a.m. The winners will meet Sunday at 1 p.m. The UCLA men's tennis team is hosting matches at LATC Friday and Saturday. Tickets will be available at the door at costs of $10 for adults and $8 for students and youths (ages 3-16). UCLA students will be admitted free of charge when the Bruins are participating.
LAST WEEK
UCLA notched two wins at the Pac-12 Championships in Ojai, Calif. before having its run ended in the final round. The second-seeded Bruins defeated No. 10 Arizona 4-0 without dropping a set in Thursday's quarterfinal round. Jada Hart clinched the win on the top court, following winning efforts by Gabby Andrews and Elysia Bolton that kept momentum on UCLA's side after it took the doubles point. Friday, the Bruins endured a frantic comeback by No. 3 Washington, holding on for a 4-3 victory. Ayan Broomfield provided the heroics for UCLA, winning six of seven games in her deciding third set on Court 3. The Bruins raced out to a 3-0 lead behind the doubles point and singles victories by Andrews and Abi Altick. Their run would end Saturday against top-ranked Stanford, however. The Bruins earned the doubles point for an early lead, but were bested on the singles courts. Emily Arbuthnott clinched the overall win in three sets. It was a big day for Andrews, who won her singles match after clinching the doubles point with Broomfield for UCLA.
UCLA IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCLA women's tennis is one of two programs (Stanford) to qualify for the NCAA Championships each year since the tournament format was adopted, stretching the run to 38 seasons with its latest selection. The Bruins claimed each of the program's NCAA titles during that time, taking the top spot in 2008 and 2014. UCLA has now held the No. 7 seed six times, more than any other spot in the field. The program's first NCAA championship came as a No. 7 seed and it also posted a runner-up finish out of that position in 2015. The Bruins hold an all-time record of 87-35 in NCAA play, though have never faced NAU, LSU or USD during that time.
QUARTET SELECTED FOR NCAA SINGLES, DOUBLES
Andrews, Bolton, Broomfield and Hart have been selected to participate in the singles and doubles competitions at the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships in Orlando, Fla., the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Subcommittee announced Tuesday. Bolton and Hart received at-large selections to the singles field, while the pairs of Andrews-Broomfield and Bolton-Hart were selected to the doubles draw via at-large pick. Andrews-Broomfield is the No. 4 seed for the doubles tournament and earned All-America status as a result. Competitions will take place May 20-25 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. The University of Central Florida and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission will serve as hosts.
ALTICK EARNS FIRST-CAREER PAC-12 POTW HONOR
Altick was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of April 15-21, the conference announced Tuesday. The honor marks the first of her career. In addition to her deciding singles win, the Monroe, La. native teamed with Alaina Miller to defeat 90th-ranked Constance Branstine and Estella Jaeger by a 6-2 score in doubles play.
PAC-12 BEST: UCLA women's tennis has captured 25 weekly awards in the program's history and a league-best-tying three this season. Bolton (Feb. 5) and Jada Hart (April 2) previously won in 2019. UCLA's Keegan Smith received the men's award Tuesday, marking the eighth time that Bruins have swept the honors and second this year (April 2 โ Hart, Maxime Cressy).
PRESSURE MAKES HER 'TICK
High-tension situations have repeatedly found Altick during the dual-match season and she has made the most of her opportunities. The sophomore leads the team with five match-clinching victories, including two in 4-3 UCLA wins. With all eyes on Court 4, Altick defeated 69th-ranked Anna Bright of No. 24 Cal 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in a non-conference match at the Hellman Tennis Complex on Feb. 24. She also topped Marie Van Aelst of Arizona 6-3, 7-5 in UCLA's narrow conference win over the Wildcats on March 9. Playing on Court 3, Altick clinched the decision at 4-2 before the day's final match was played out.
STANDOUT SENIORS
Seniors Andrews, Broomfield and Alaina 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 up 141 wins across singles and doubles competitions. Andrews achieved All-America status for her singles and doubles accomplishments at Tyler Junior College before joining the Bruins as a sophomore in 2016. Broomfield was named ACC Freshman of the Year and twice received All-ACC honors at Clemson before transferring to UCLA as a junior in 2017.
BRUINS IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA remained in the top 10 of the Oracle/ITA team rankings, moving up to No. 7 in Wednesday's installment. The Bruins spent two previous weeks at No. 5 (Feb. 20, 26), marking their first appearances in the top five since the final release of the 2015 season. They have spent 14 of 15 weeks in the top 10. Seven UCLA players, meanwhile, appeared in the latest individual rankings. Bolton leads the way at No. 32 on the singles list and is followed by Hart at No. 45 and Altick at No. 120. The pairing of Andrews-Broomfield remained in the top five of the doubles rankings at No. 5, while Bolton-Hart matched its career-best showing at No. 11. Altick-Miller is slotted at No. 59, while Altick-Johnson debuted at No. 82. The team sits at No. 12 in the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25 Rankings, updated Wednesday.
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.
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. 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.
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 two Grand Slam tournaments. 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 has also had doubles success, advancing to the third round of the 2018 French Open and the semifinal round of the 2019 Australian Open. On Sunday, Brady helped the United States to a 3-2 win against Switzerland at the Fed Cup World Group playoffs in San Antonio. The 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. 48 (April 15, 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 438-165 (.726). 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
