UCLA
UC Santa Barbara
Women's Tennis Readies for Home Matches on Three Straight Days
March 28, 2023 | Women's Tennis
The No. 31 UCLA women's tennis team (6-5, 1-3 Pac-12) bridges the months of March and April with home matches on three consecutive days, starting Thursday at 12 p.m. PT against UC Santa Barbara (2-11, 2-1 Big West). A return to conference play follows, with the Bruins hosting Colorado (9-6, 0-3) Friday at 1:30 p.m. and No. 59 Utah (10-6, 1-2) Saturday at 12 p.m.
FOLLOW LIVE
Fans unable to attend home UCLA women's tennis matches in person can still follow live. Live streaming and live scoring will be available for all matches played at Los Angeles Tennis Center HERE.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA got off on the right foot, but ultimately fell to No. 18 Stanford in a 5-2 conference result Sunday afternoon at Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins earned the doubles point and Fangran Tian added a win after the overall decision was sealed. Alexis Blokhina clinched the victory for the Cardinal, completing a two-win day.
UCLA VS. UC SANTA BARBARA, COLORADO AND UTAH
UCLA is 36-0 overall against UC Santa Barbara. The programs most recently met Feb. 4, 2022, when the Bruins dropped just eight games in five completed matches for a 4-0 result at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Vanessa Ong clinched the team win, backing up efforts by Abbey Forbes and Sasha Vagramov. UCLA is 11-0 versus Colorado and turned in a 7-0 victory at LATC on March 4, 2022. Vagramov sealed the win for the Bruins, who dropped just one set on the day. Forbes and Wagle preceded Vagramov's decider with their own wins. UCLA is 20-0 when facing Utah. The Bruins prevailed 4-0 on March 6, 2022, with Vagramov again providing the clinching victory. Wagle and Kimmi Hance also turned in singles wins. The Utes forced a tiebreaker in the deciding doubles match, but were unable to break through for a point.
SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS, BUFFALOES AND UTES
UC Santa Barbara holds a record of 2-11, with both of its wins coming in Big West play (2-1). Amelia Honer of the Gauchos is listed at No. 61 in the ITA National Singles Rankings, while the combination of Honer and Kira Reuter is No. 24 on the doubles list. Colorado is 9-6 (0-3 in Pac-12 play), while Utah is 10-6 (1-2). The Utes are ranked No. 59 by the ITA.
TO A TI-AN
Fangran Tian has recorded wins in nine straight singles decisions to start her dual-match career. The freshman from Beijing, China has had one match left unfinished. Of those wins, five have come against nationally-ranked players: No. 28 Angelica Blake of Stanford (6-1, 1-6, 6-4 on March 26), No. 4 Madison Sieg of USC (6-3, 1-0, retired on March 16), No. 20 Irina Cantos Siemers of Ohio State (6-4, 3-6, 6-1 on March 12), No. 100 Hikaru Sato of Washington (4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on March 3) and No. 57 Thasaporn Naklo of Iowa State (6-1, 6-2 on Jan. 28). Dating back to fall action, Tian is 17-5 in singles play with a 9-4 mark opposite nationally-ranked foes.
HANCE NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR MARCH 13-19
Kimmi Hance was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of March 13-19, the conference announced March 21. The visiting Bruins defeated crosstown rival USC 4-1 (March 16) thanks in large part to Hance's wins against nationally-ranked opponents on the doubles and singles courts. The sophomore combination of Hance and Elise Wagle made a statement out of the gate in doubles play, giving UCLA a leg up with their 6-2 display versus the 24th-ranked pair of Naomi Cheong and Snow Han on the top court. Hance then dispatched of No. 61 Han 6-2, 6-3 on the second singles court, extending the Bruins' lead to 3-1. The team victory marked UCLA's third in a row and fifth in six tries. The Pac-12 Player of the Week award represents the first of Hance's career and second in as many weeks for the Bruins. Sasha Vagramov was honored for the week of March 6-12. UCLA has now collected 38 all-time weekly accolades from the conference.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA are No. 31 in the most recent ITA Computerized Team Rankings, released Tuesday. The latest ITA National Singles and Doubles Rankings came out March 21 and feature four Bruins. Leading the way on the singles list is Fangran Tian, who was elevated 40 spots from her previous position to a career-best No. 23. Kimmi Hance is listed at No. 78, while Ava Catanzarite checked in at No. 87. The tandem of Hance and Elise Wagle equaled its best showing of No. 6 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), Vanessa Ong (at USC), Fangran Tian (vs. Rice), Sasha Vagramov (Ohio State) and Elise Wagle (at Washington State) have each clinched one win this season.
VAGRAMOV NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR MARCH 6-12
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 March 14. 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. Vagramov was previously voted Pac-12 Player of the Week Feb. 11, 2020.
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?
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 494-183 (.730). 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
