UCLA
USC
Women's Tennis Visits Crosstown Rival USC Wednesday
March 14, 2023 | Women's Tennis
Coming off a 4-3 victory against No. 4 Ohio State, the UCLA women's tennis team is next tasked with beating crosstown rival USC on the road Wednesday. First serve from David X. Marks Tennis Stadium is scheduled for 5 p.m. PT. The non-conference match was previously scheduled for Feb. 24 and 27 before being postponed due to rain both times.
FOLLOW LIVE
Fans unable to attend the match at USC's David X. Marks Tennis Stadium can still follow live. Live streaming and up-to-the-minute results will be available HERE.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA earned a marquee victory Sunday at Los Angeles Tennis Center, defeating No. 4 Ohio State in a 4-3 thriller after late wins by Fangran Tian and Sasha Vagramov. Vagramov sealed the result seconds after Tian pulled the Bruins level. Both matches were three-set affairs. UCLA collected the doubles point and retook the lead when Ava Catanzarite prevailed in the day's second completed contest. Shelly Bereznyak, Lucia Marzal and Sydni Ratliff were triumphant for the Buckeyes. The top-five victory represents UCLA's first since Feb. 7, 2021, when it knocked off No. 5 Pepperdine at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Stillwater, Okla.
UCLA VS. USC
UCLA women's tennis is 58-52 in the history of its rivalry with USC. In the most recent meeting (April 15, 2022), the No. 15 Bruins mounted a furious comeback against the No. 19 Trojans, but were ultimately outlasted by a 4-3 score at David X. Marks Tennis Stadium. The loss marked the first in conference play for UCLA since April 12, 2019 at Washington State. USC raced out to a 3-0 lead, only to have the Bruins bounce back to pull even. Salma Ewing clinched the victory on the top court. Elysia Bolton, Kimmi Hance and Vanessa Ong were each triumphant on the singles courts for UCLA. Trailing by a 2-6, 1-5 margin, Bolton recovered to win in three sets. Each of the three doubles matches was closely contested, with a tiebreaker needed on two courts.
SCOUTING THE TROJANS
USC is listed at No. 42 in the latest ITA Computerized Team Rankings, sporting a record of 7-4. Individually, four Trojans were recognized in the singles and doubles rankings. Madison Sieg leads the way at No. 4 on the singles list, backed up by No. 39 Eryn Cayetano and No. 61 Snow Han. Han and Naomi Cheong team to form the No. 24 doubles tandem.
VAGRAMOV NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On the heels of her team's 4-3 victory against No. 4 Ohio State, Sasha Vagramov was named Pac-12 Player of the Week in an announcement by the conference Tuesday. The award was presented for the week of March 6-12. Vagramov was on court as the Bruins secured the first and final points of their thrilling 4-3 victory against the Buckeyes Sunday at Los Angeles Tennis Center. With all eyes on the fourth singles court, the senior won a deuce point to lift her past Isabelle Boulais for a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 result and set off a celebration. Vagramov also paired with Vanessa Ong to defeat Kolie Allen and Danielle Willson 6-4 on Court 3, clinching the doubles point. UCLA has garnered 37 all-time weekly accolades from the conference. Vagramov has now been on the receiving end of two of them. She was previously voted Pac-12 Player of the Week Feb. 11, 2020.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA was elevated from No. 64 to No. 32 in the most recent ITA Computerized Team Rankings, released Tuesday. The rise came after the Bruins defeated No. 4 Ohio State Sunday. The latest ITA National Singles and Doubles Rankings came out March 7 and feature four Bruins. Leading the way on the singles list is Fangran Tian, at No. 63. Ava Catanzarite is listed at No. 76, while Kimmi Hance checked in at No. 95. The tandem of Hance and Elise Wagle is now at No. 10 for doubles, thanks in part to its ITA Southwest Regional Championships title run. The pair beat current No. 1 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen of Pepperdine in the final.
CLINCH WATCH
Ava Catanzarite (Loyola Marymount), Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (CSUN) and Fangran Tian (vs. Rice), Sasha Vagramov (Ohio State) and Elise Wagle (at Washington State) have each clinched one win this season.
FALL RECAP
Bruins made appearances at six events, including two national ones, during the fall. There were two championship performances, as Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle teamed to win the ITA Southwest Regional Championships doubles title in San Diego, while the combination of Vanessa Ong and Sasha Vagramov took the Dennis Rizza Classic top prize in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, who was the top singles performer at the Women of Troy Invitational, collected a team-high 11 singles wins. Hance, Ava Catanzarite and Fangran Tian each beat three nationally-ranked opponents. Hance also made the singles final round at the ITA Southwest Regionals.
2021-22 IN REVIEW
The 2021-22 UCLA women's tennis team went 13-7, finishing second in the Pac-12 with a 7-1 record. The Bruins advanced past Arkansas in the NCAA Championships first round, but were outlasted by host Oklahoma State in a 4-2 second-round decision. Elysia Bolton and Abbey Forbes qualified for the NCAA singles draw, while the duo of Bolton and Elise Wagle made the doubles draw. Bolton advanced to the singles second round. Forbes (First Team), Bolton (Second Team) and Kimmi Hance (Honorable Mention) received All-Conference honors from the Pac-12. Forbes was also tabbed the ITA Southwest Region's recipient of the Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship award.
WHO'S NEW?
v Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Fangran Tian make up UCLA's freshman class. Lutkemeyer (Irvine, Calif.), a Blue Chip recruit according to TennisRecruiting.net, was the No. 1 player in her class during 2020 and 2021. She took the singles championship at the 2021 PTT Newport Beach, Calif. Women's $25K Hard 2 event. On the junior level, Lutkemeyer collected the Girls' 16 singles crown at the 2018 USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif. Tian (Beijing, China) won the Girls' singles title at the 2019 Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-Off event, earning wild-card entry into the 2020 Australian Open Junior Championships. She also earned a spot in the 2019 Roland-Garros Junior Championships singles draw.
BRUINS ON TOUR
Ena Shibahara earned her first Grand Slam championship in 2022, teaming with Wesley Koolhof to seize the mixed doubles title at Roland-Garros. She also recently made her first major women's doubles final round alongside Shuko Aoyama at the 2023 Australian Open. Shibahara climbed to a career-best No. 4 position in the WTA's doubles rankings in March 2022. Catherine Harrison also had a standout 2022, making her Grand Slam singles and doubles debuts. She advanced through singles qualifying at Wimbledon and continued her success with a first-round win. Harrison and partner Ulrikke Eikeri made a doubles second-round appearance at Roland-Garros and the pair went on to accomplish the same feat at Wimbledon and the US Open. Harrison also collected her first WTA title last year, partnering with Sabrina Santamaria to prevail at the Monterrey Open in Mexico. The following Bruins in the professional ranks achieved career-high WTA rankings in 2022: Robin Anderson (No. 137 singles and 181 doubles), Harrison (214 singles and 69 doubles), Elysia Bolton (230 doubles), Chanelle van Nguyen (350 singles) and Jada Hart (489 doubles).
HEAD COACH STELLA SAMPRAS WEBSTER
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 27th season at the helm of the UCLA women's tennis program, compiling an impressive overall record of 493-181 (.731). She is the second-longest-tenured active coach at UCLA, behind men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Sampras Webster has guided her alma mater to NCAA championships in 2008 and 2014, the first two in program history. Her teams have finished top-10 nationally in 21 of her 25 completed seasons and in the top five 15 times. Three doubles pairs have won NCAA titles under Sampras Webster's tutelage, most recently Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield in 2019.
Players Mentioned
