UCLA
Loyola Marymount
Women's Tennis Falls to Loyola Marymount in Opener
January 26, 2022 | Women's Tennis
LOS ANGELES – The No. 4 UCLA women's tennis team suffered its first-ever loss to Loyola Marymount Wednesday afternoon, dropping the first four singles decisions en route to a 4-3 season-opening loss at Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The Bruins captured the doubles point with wins across all three courts, but the Lions (2-1) took five singles first sets and rode those leads to a 4-1 score. Elysia Bolton and Abbey Forbes tacked on three-set victories for UCLA after the match was decided.
Three Bruins earned first-career dual-match wins in doubles play. Freshmen Ava Catanzarite and Elise Wagle played alongside Abbey Forbes and Elysia Bolton, respectively, and the pairs surrendered just three games between them. Catanzarite and Forbes beat Veronica Miroshnichenko and Eva Marie Voracek, 6-1, while Bolton and Wagle knocked off the 18th-ranked combination of Isabella Tcherkes-Zade and Wiktoria Rutkowska by a 6-2 score.
With the first point decided, the final match was played out. Junior Caroline Goldberg, making her debut in a dual match teamed with Sasha Vagramov on Court 3. The pair ultimately went to a tiebreaker with Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik and outlasted the Lions in an exciting finish, 7-6(5).
In singles play, though, LMU took hold of momentum and never gave it back. Shirokova evened the score with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Goldberg on Court 6 and the other back courts followed.
Catanzarite and Wagle had similar singles contests in their dual-match debuts, ultimately falling by identical 6-3, 7-5 scores. Catanzarite was able to seize the lead from Tcherkes-Zade down the home stretch of the second set on Court 5, but Tcherkes-Zade proved too much. Rogozinska-Dzik took a similar route against Wagle before giving the Lions a 3-1 advantage.
The match was decided on Court 3, where No. 123 Rutkowska was victorious in a pivotal first-set tiebreaker and held No. 49 Vagramov off in the second for the 7-6(6), 6-4 decider.
Bolton overcame a lost first set versus Miroshnichenko on the top court, but bounced back to take six of seven second-set games. A back-and-forth third eventually shifted in the favor of Bolton, who held on for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win.
No. 68 Forbes saw Voracek knot their Court 2 match at a set apiece with a tiebreaker win. A first-to-10-points deciding third set was all Forbes, who closed out a 7-5, 6-7(3), 1-0(2) victory.
UCLA will have a chance to bounce back Friday with the start of ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Bruins take on Cal Poly at 1 p.m. PT Friday, following a morning match between Denver and Washington (10 a.m.). Saturday starts with the consolation tilt at 10 a.m. and concludes with a matchup of Friday's winners.
Tennis Match Results
Loyola Marymount vs UCLA
1/26/2022 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)
Loyola Marymount 4, #4 UCLA 3
Singles competition
1. Elysia Bolton (UCLA) def. V. Miroshnichenko (LMU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. #68 Abbey Forbes (UCLA) def. Eva Marie Voracek (LMU) 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 1-0 (10-2)
3. #123 Wiktoria Rutkowska (LMU) def. #49 Sasha Vagramov (UCLA) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
4. S. Rogozinska-Dzik (LMU) def. Elise Wagle (UCLA) 6-3, 7-5
5. I. Tcherkes-Zade (LMU) def. Ava Catanzarite (UCLA) 6-3, 7-5
6. Ulyana Shirokova (LMU) def. Caroline Goldberg (UCLA) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Elysia Bolton/Elise Wagle (UCLA) def. #18 I. Tcherkes-Zade/Wiktoria Rutkowska (LMU) 6-2
2. Ava Catanzarite/Abbey Forbes (UCLA) def. V. Miroshnichenko/Eva Marie Voracek (LMU) 6-1
3. Caroline Goldberg/Sasha Vagramov (UCLA) def. S. Rogozinska-Dzik/Ulyana Shirokova (LMU) 7-6 (7-5)
Match Notes:
Loyola Marymount 2-1
UCLA 0-1; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,5,4,3,1,2)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
6,5,4,3,1,2
Players Mentioned
