University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bolton, Forbes Earn ITA Regional Honors
May 18, 2020 | Women's Tennis
TEMPE, Ariz. โ Elysia Bolton and Abbey Forbes of the UCLA women's tennis team collected ITA Southwest Regional Awards for the 2019-20 season, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Monday.
Sophomore Bolton was selected the region's Player to Watch, while freshman Forbes was tabbed Rookie of the Year. The Player to Watch award honors a returning student-athlete who is expected to have an outstanding collegiate season next year, while the Rookie of the Year award honors a first-year student-athlete who made significant contributions to her team in the areas of leadership, sportsmanship and performance.
National awards will be announced Monday, May 25 during a special virtual ceremony on the ITA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.
Bolton, who was named the region's Rookie of the Year in 2019, posted a stellar second season for the 12-1 Bruins. She held the top position in UCLA's singles lineup for a majority of the campaign and finished atop the doubles lineup and the national rankings with partner Jada Hart. The pair won the Oracle/ITA National Fall Championships and rode the fall success to an 18-3 overall record. Bolton/Hart lost just once during the dual-match season and earned consecutive wins against No. 15 Victoria Allen/Petra Hule of Florida State (6-3 โ Feb. 8), No. 25 Emily Arbuthnott/Angelica Blake of Stanford (6-1 โ Feb. 9) and No. 6 Sara Daavettila/Alexa Graham of North Carolina (6-2 โ Feb. 10) en route to an ITA National Team Indoor Championship All-Tournament selection.
Bolton also reached a career-high No. 9 in the Oracle/ITA singles rankings, going 11-5 over the course of the shortened season. The Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. native was named Pac-12 Player of the Week after defeating No. 15 Mariia Kozyreva of Saint Mary's, 6-4, 6-3, and notched back-to-back wins over No. 13 Haley Giavara of California (6-7 [5], 6-2, 6-2 โ Feb. 21) and No. 25 Angela Kulikov of USC (6-3, 6-2 โ Feb. 28).
In Bolton's two seasons, she has a 39-19 singles record and a 50-13 doubles mark. She earned ITA All-America recognition at the conclusion of each season.
Also an All-American was Forbes, who went 23-3 in singles play and suffered just one of those losses during the dual-match season. She reached No. 5 in the Oracle/ITA singles rankings thanks in large part to a 10-2 record versus nationally-ranked opponents. Forbes defeated teammate and ninth-ranked Hart, 7-6 (3), 6-2, to claim the singles title at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships, and also registered notable fall wins over No. 12 Cameron Morra of North Carolina, 6-3 6-1, No. 17 Anna Turati of Texas, 6-4, 7-5, and No. 31 Paola Exposito Diaz-Delgado of VCU, 6-1, 6-1. Forbes earned the Pac-12 Player of the Week award beating No. 50 Julia Rosenqvist of Cal, 7-5, 6-4, and clinching the doubles point with partner Taylor Johnson.
Forbes teamed with partner Annette Goulak to take the ITA Southwest Regional Championships doubles title, as well, and finished her debut season with an 11-4 doubles mark that also included decisions with Johnson.
The UCLA women's tennis program has now garnered three of the last four ITA Southwest Region Rookie of the Year awards, as Ena Shibahara (2017) and Bolton (2019) were previously honored.
Players Mentioned
