No. 6 Women's Tennis Starts ITA Indoors Play Friday

Friday, February 7

Urbana, Ill.

10:00 AM

UCLA

Oklahoma

Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer

Photo by: Scott Chandler

No. 6 Women's Tennis Starts ITA Indoors Play Friday

February 06, 2025 | Women's Tennis

ITA Tournament Central

The sixth-ranked UCLA women's tennis team makes its return to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships Friday, when it squares off with No. 12 Oklahoma. The Bruins (3-0) are making their first Indoors appearance since 2021, while the Sooners (5-0) had most recently made the field in 2023. The programs have not met since 1986. Play in the opener begins at 10 a.m. PT from Illinois' Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill. Each participating team will play at least three matches, with back-draw contests set to wrap up Sunday. Northwestern's Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill. hosts the semifinal and final rounds, exclusively. The tournament concludes Tuesday.

FOLLOW LIVE
Cracked Racquets is set to provide live coverage of all ITA National Team Indoor Championships matches on its YouTube channel. Scoring from the Illinois site can be accessed HERE, while Northwestern will utilize the iOnCourt app.

Fans unable to attend home UCLA women's tennis matches can still follow live. Point-by-point scoring and streaming will be available for all matches played at Los Angeles Tennis Center HERE.

Additionally, in-match updates for home and road contests can be found on the UCLA women's tennis X account.

PAST MATCHUPS
Series vs. Oklahoma: UCLA leads 2-0
Most Recent vs. Oklahoma: UCLA won 9-0 at home in 1986

LAST TIME OUT
No. 6 UCLA held off No. 18 California in a 4-2 decision at Los Angeles Tennis Center (Feb. 2). Relocated due to rain in Northern California, the match was delayed 30 minutes due to wet courts. Elise Wagle won in clinching fashion for the Bruins, beating Lan Mi in three sets. Also triumphant for UCLA in singles play were Kate Fakih and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, who made her first career appearance on the No. 1 singles court. The Bruins also claimed the doubles point. The Golden Bears received singles wins from Jessica Alsola and Greta Greco Lucchina.

INDOORS BOUND
With its 4-0 home win against Washington (Jan. 25), UCLA punched a ticket to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Sixteen teams will participate in the event, which will be held at Northwestern's Combe Tennis Center and at Atkins Tennis Center on the campus of University of Illinois from Friday through Tuesday. Both sites will host the opening two rounds and the back-draw third round, with Northwestern getting the semifinals and final. The Bruins will begin play at Illinois against Oklahoma. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m. PT. UCLA, which is making its first Indoors appearance since 2021, captured the tournament title in 2012.

WAGLE VOTED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Elise Wagle earned her first career Big Ten Conference award when she was named Women's Tennis Player of the Week for Jan. 29-Feb. 5, it was announced Wednesday. She was on court when the first and last points of UCLA's 4-2 win against No. 18 California (Feb. 2) were put on the scoreboard. Wagle sealed the victory with a three-set triumph over Golden Bear Lan Mi. Making her debut on the No. 2 singles court, Wagle outlasted the 63rd-ranked Mi 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. Cal held a lead on the only remaining court when play was stopped. Playing alongside Bianca Fernandez for the first time, Wagle helped knock off the nation's 48th-ranked pair of Mi and Berta Passola Folch 6-4 in the deciding doubles contest on Court 3.

IN THE RANKINGS
Team (Jan. 29): No. 6 UCLA
Singles (Feb. 5, 2025): No. 17 Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer*, No. 53 Elise Wagle*, No. 56 Kate Fakih
Doubles (Feb. 5, 2025): No. 3 Olivia Center*/Kate Fakih*, No. 9 Kimmi Hance/Elise Wagle, No. 30 Ahmani Guichard/Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer

* - set or matched career high

UCLAccolades
Fakih Named Big Ten Freshman of the Week – Jan. 29
Lutkemeyer Named to Big Ten Women's Tennis Player to Watch List – Jan. 6
Lutkemeyer Tabbed Big Ten Player of the Week – Nov. 13, 2024
Fakih Named Big Ten Player of the Week for Second Time – Oct. 23, 2024
Fakih Named Big Ten Player of the Week – Sept. 25, 2024

FALL RECAP
Bruins were in action at five fall tournaments, culminating with the first-ever fall NCAA individual championships. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer beat teammate Kate Fakih in the ITA West Sectional Championships singles final. Elise Wagle reached the semifinals. All three players qualified for NCAAs with their performances. The all-freshman combination of Fakih and Olivia Center collected the doubles title, earning another berth. Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle started the campaign with a strong showing at the ITA All-American Championships, achieving runner-up status in the doubles field for an NCAA spot of their own. Center and Fakih would go on a run at NCAAs, beating three nationally-ranked pairs en route to the title match. The duo ultimately fell in a third-set tiebreaker, but finished the fall with a 14-3 record (9-3 against ranked teams). Fakih also went 14-5 in singles play, while Lutkemeyer posted a 13-4 mark. Lutkemeyer and Guichard teamed to go 12-4 in doubles contests.

2023-24 IN REVIEW
UCLA went 21-6, reaching the NCAA Championships quarterfinal round. The Bruins recorded a 9-1 record in Pac-12 Conference play, to earn the final regular-season league title. The would clinch the crown with a 4-2 victory at 11th-ranked USC. UCLA knocked off five top-10 foes throughout the campaign: No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 8 USC and No. 9 Texas. The tandem of Tian Fangran and Elise Wagle was named the Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year. Tian and Kimmi Hance received All-Pac-12 First Team honors. Bianca Fernandez was on the second team, while Ahmani Guichard and Elise Wagle made the honorable-mention list. Head coach Stella Sampras Webster was named the Wilson ITA Southwest Regional Coach of the Year and Fernandez picked up the region's rookie-of-the-year award. Fernandez, Hance and Tian/Wagle competed at the NCAA Championships individual event. Guichard (20-10) and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (20-8) tied for the team lead with 20 singles wins, while Lutkemeyer (30-4) piled up a team-best 30 doubles victories.

WHO'S BACK?
UCLA returns its most frequent participants on singles courts 2-6, including All-Pac-12 honorees Bianca Fernandez, Ahmani Guichard, Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle. ITA Southwest Regional Rookie of the Year Fernandez had a team-high 14 dual-match singles wins and made the NCAA singles field with Hance. Double-digit singles winners in addition to Fernandez returning for the Bruins are Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (13), Guichard (12), Wagle (11), and Hance (10). Lutkemeyer (21), Hance (18), Guichard (16) and Wagle (14) each bring at least 14 doubles victories from the 2023-24 season.

WHO'S NEW?
Freshmen Olivia Center (South Pasadena, Calif./San Marino HS) and Kate Fakih (Pasadena, Calif./Connections Academy) are new to UCLA for 2024-25. Frequent doubles partners throughout their junior careers, the Tennis Recruiting Network Blue Chip prospects teamed to gain entry into the US Open women's doubles main draw by capturing the Girls' 18 title at the 2023 USTA Billie Jean King National Championships in San Diego. Center also paired with Sophia Webster to claim the Girls' 18 doubles championship at the 2014 Easter Bowl in San Diego. Fakih qualified for the girls' draws at the Australian Open (singles, doubles), French Open (doubles) and US Open (singles, doubles) events in 2024.

SHIBAHARA SHINES
Ena Shibahara, who played for UCLA during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, has starred in doubles tournaments throughout her professional career and saw her career-high singles ranking rise from No. 503 to No. 132 in 2024. She earned her first Grand Slam championship in 2022, teaming with Wesley Koolhof to seize the mixed doubles title at Roland-Garros. Shibahara made her first major women's doubles final round alongside Shuko Aoyama at the 2023 Australian Open. Shibahara/Aoyama was the last pair standing at the 2023 National Bank Open in Toronto, giving each player her second WTA 1000 championship. Shibahara climbed to a career-best No. 4 position in the WTA's doubles rankings in March 2022 and entered 2025 at No. 46. She made her Grand Slam singles debut at the 2024 US Open, reaching the main draw as a qualifier before taking down Australia's Daria Saville in three sets. Shibahara went on to represent Japan at the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup and made the most of her opportunity, beating then-No. 73 Jacqueline Cristian of Romania and then-No. 54 Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy.

STELLA'S STELLAR RÉSUMÉ
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 29th season at the helm of the UCLA women's tennis program, compiling an impressive overall record of 527-192 (.733). She is the second-longest-tenured active coach at UCLA, behind men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Sampras Webster collected the 500th win of her illustrious career when the Bruins defeated UC San Diego on April 18, 2023. She has guided her alma mater to NCAA championships in 2014 and 2008, the first two in program history, and all three of its Pac-12 regular-season titles in 2024, 2021 and 2008. Sampras Webster's teams have finished top-10 nationally in 23 of her 27 completed seasons and in the top five 16 times. Four NCAA individual championships have been won under her watch: Tian Fangran in 2023, Gabby Andrews/Ayan Broomfield in 2019, Tracy Lin/Riza Zalameda in 2008 and Daniela Bercek/Lauren Fisher in 2004. Sampras Webster is a four-time Wilson ITA Southwest Regional Coach of the Year – in 2024, 2021, 2012 and 2000 – earned the national award in 2012. She was a four-time All-America honoree during her playing days at UCLA and as a freshman won the 1988 NCAA doubles title alongside Allyson Cooper.