Women’s Tennis Hosts LMU, Cal State Fullerton to Start Homestand – Pac-12

MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time: Friday, Feb. 23/1:30 PM PT
    Saturday, Feb. 24/11:00 AM PT
Live Stream: https://ucla.in/3R2WTGN
Live Stats: https://ucla.in/3R2WTGN
Series vs. LMU: UCLA leads 27-1
Series vs. Cal State Fullerton: UCLA leads 21-0
Last Meeting vs. LMU: UCLA won 7-0 on Jan. 25, 2023
Last Meeting vs. CSUF: UCLA won 7-0 on Feb. 28, 2009

THIS WEEK
On the heels of Monday’s rainout, UCLA is set to host dual matches for the first time since its Jan. 19 season opener. Friday’s contest against LMU (1-3, 0-0 WCC), which begins at 1:30 p.m. PT, represents the start of a seven-match homestand for the Bruins (2-3, 0-0 (Pac-12). It continues Saturday at 11 a.m. when Cal State Fullerton (4-1, 1-0 Big West) visits Los Angeles Tennis Center. The latter was added following the cancelation of the Bruins’ non-conference matchup with California earlier this week due to rain.

FOLLOW LIVE
Fans unable to attend home UCLA women’s tennis matches in person can still follow live. Point-by-point scores and live video will be available for all matches played at Los Angeles Tennis Center HERE.

LAST TIME OUT
Playing away from home for the fourth consecutive match, 13th-ranked UCLA came out on the wrong end of a 4-0 result against No. 12 Ohio State at Ty Tucker Tennis Center Feb. 4. Ahmani Guichard and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer teamed to pick up a doubles win for the Bruins, who nearly added a singles victory from Kimmi Hance before the decision was clinched. Shelly Bereznyak sealed the win for the Buckeyes following triumphant singles efforts by Irina Cantos Siemers and Luciana Perry.

UCLA VS. LMU
UCLA holds an all-time record of 27-1 versus LMU. In their 2023 dual-match opener (Jan. 25) at Los Angeles Tennis Center, the Bruins did not drop a set en route to a 7-0 victory against the Lions. UCLA collected a pair of 6-1 wins in doubles play and never looked back, clinching the result in under two hours. Kimmi Hance, Vanessa Ong and Sasha Vagramov each prevailed twice on the day, while Ava Catanzarite provided the deciding win.

UCLA VS. CAL STATE FULLERTON
UCLA is 21-0 in its all-time series with Cal State Fullerton. The programs have not met since Feb. 28, 2009, when the Bruins cruised to a 7-0 victory at the Titan Courts in Fullerton, Calif. UCLA was in control from the start, losing just three games in all three doubles matches to take an early 1-0 lead into singles. Once in singles, the Bruins picked up straight-set wins on all six courts.

TIAN TABBED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR JAN. 15-21
Tian Fangran was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 15-21, the conference announced Tuesday. Tian and the 16th-ranked Bruins defended their home court against No. 6 Texas Jan. 19, posting a 5-2 season-opening victory. The win was UCLA’s fourth against a top-10 team – without a loss – since the start of the 2023 campaign. The defending NCAA singles champion made her presence felt first in doubles play, teaming with Bianca Fernandez to overcome a 3-5 deficit in the deciding match versus Malaika Rapolu and Tanya Sasnouskaya. The Court 2 contest ended in a tiebreaker, which Tian/Fernandez controlled by a 7-2 margin. In singles action, Tian remained undefeated on Los Angeles Tennis Center’s top court, beating Sabina Zeynalova 7-6(6), 6-4.

FALL RECAP
Bruins appeaed at three tournaments during the fall. Freshman Ahmani Guichard made her debut on a national scale, logging two of her team-high six fall singles wins at the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Elise Wagle each recorded three singles victories at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships in San Diego. Guichard and Lutkemeyer teamed to collect two wins at ITA Regionals and added another during Thunderbird Invitational play in Tempe, Ariz. Guichard added two more singles wins in the desert.

IN THE RANKINGS
The ITA’s first computerized rankings release of 2024 placed the Bruins at No. 29. Individually, Bianca Fernandez (No. 87) and Elise Wagle (124) remained ranked for their singles performances after making their debuts on the list Feb. 20.

2022-23 IN REVIEW
The 2022-23 UCLA women’s tennis team advanced to the super-regional round of the NCAA Championships, upsetting host and No. 6-seed Duke to get there. The Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit and Sasha Vagramov provided the heroics with all eyes on her court. UCLA went 15-8 for the season. Kimmi Hance (doubles), Tian Fangran (singles) and Elise Wagle (doubles) each received All-America recognition. Hance and Wagle qualified for the NCAA doubles draw, while Tian claimed the second NCAA singles title in program history. Tian was also a finalist for the Honda Sport Award for Tennis and voted ITA Rookie of the Year and Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. Hance and Wagle made up the Pac-12’s Doubles Team of the Year. Tian earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team, Hance made the Second Team and Wagle was an Honorable Mention pick.

T IS FOR TITLE
Freshman Tian Fangran completed a sparkling run through the 2023 NCAA Championships singles tournament at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., defeating Layne Sleeth of Oklahoma 6-4, 6-2 for the second NCAA singles title in program history. The No. 9-16-seeded Tian joined UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer Keri Phebus as the only Bruins to lift the trophy at the season-ending event. En route to the title, Tian won six matches without dropping a single set. She completed her debut college season with a singles record of 30-7, including a 17-6 mark against nationally-ranked opponents. The NCAA singles championship represents the first in the career of head coach Stella Sampras Webster, who was on staff as an assistant coach under Bill Zaima when Phebus collected hers.

WHO’S NEW?
Freshmen Bianca Fernandez (Montreal, QC, Canada/International Virtual Learning Academy), Ahmani Guichard (Seminole, Fla./Florida Virtual School) and Mia Jovic (Torrance, Calif./South HS) joined the Bruins in 2023-24. Fernandez, a veteran of ITF events who earned her first WTA points at the age of 15, reached the doubles second round alongside her sister and partner Leylah Fernandez at the 2022 National Bank Open in Toronto. Guichard, regarded as a Blue Chip prospect by TennisRecruiting.net, reached the singles second round at the 2022 US Open Junior Championships and also earned berths into the 2023 Australian Open Junior Championships and 2022 Roland-Garros Junior Championships. Jovic helped her high school to four consecutive CIF Southern Section Championships appearances and captured the Pioneer League singles title in 2019.

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 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 2024 at No. 14. Catherine Harrison also had a standout 2022, competing at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. She reached the singles second round at the All England Club and earned a main-draw win in doubles at each event. Harrison added the Australian Open to her résumé in 2023 and made a return trip earlier this year. She also collected her first WTA title in 2022, partnering with Sabrina Santamaria to prevail at the Monterrey Open in Mexico. Harrison posted career-high WTA rankings of 214 singles and 69 doubles in 2022. Robin Anderson also had a stellar 2022, making career-high appearances of 137 singles and 181 doubles. She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2022 Australian Open. Jennifer Brady achieved the highest singles ranking of any former UCLA standout when she climbed to No. 13 in 2021. Elysia Bolton (167) and Jada Hart (296) earned the highest doubles rankings of their careers thus far in 2023.

STELLA’S STERLING RÉSUMÉ
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 28th season at the helm of the UCLA women’s tennis program, compiling an impressive overall record of 505-190 (.727). 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 2008 and 2014, the first two in program history. Sampras Webster’s teams have finished top-10 nationally in 22 of her 26 completed seasons and in the top five 15 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.