Women’s tennis makes headway despite losses at Cal Nike Invitational
Junior Terri Fleming and her partner redshirt freshman Jada Hart fell just short of winning the championship of the Cal State Nike Fall Invitational Blue Doubles bracket. They upset the top seed before falling 8-6 in the finals. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Hanson Wang
Oct. 3, 2016 10:45 p.m.
Jada Hart almost had another championship.
The redshirt freshman – and defending U.S. Open juniors girls’ doubles champion –and junior Terri Fleming advanced to the finals of the Cal Nike Fall Invitational Blue Doubles bracket but came up short of the title, falling 8-6 to Arizona State’s Kassidy Jump and Sammi Hampton.
UCLA women’s tennis began its fall season this weekend with four players competing in Berkeley and one at the prequalifying draw of the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades.
Despite the loss, Hart and Fleming had a memorable debut as playing partners. The duo defeated the fourth seed and the top seed in back-to-back matches.
[Related: Hart wins U.S. Open juniors girls’ doubles championship with Shibahara]
The Bruins’ two other representatives at the Nike Invitational, sophomore Alaina Miller and junior Kristin Wiley, reached the semifinals of the Gold Doubles bracket. They bested fourth-seeded Anna Sokiran and Margarita Treyes of USF in the first round but lost to Saint Mary’s Danielle McIntyre and Kareena Manji.
In Blue Singles, sixth-seeded Fleming reached the quarterfinals but lost to Jump in straight sets. Coincidentally, Hart faced Hampton in the second round of the Blue bracket, but the redshirt freshman also came up short in straight sets.
[From last season: Fleming seals UCLA’s victory over USC]
Blue bracket seventh-seeded Wiley and Gold Singles bracket first-seeded Miller both suffered upset losses in the first round but rebounded to make deep runs in their respective consolation brackets. Wiley won two consecutive three setters to reach the Blue consolation semifinals but could not overcome Sokiran. Miller advanced to the finals of the Gold consolation draw behind two straight set victories and a default, but she withdrew according to UCLA Athletics.
Shibahara makes qualifying draw of All-American Championships
Freshman Ena Shibahara cruised through the prequalifying draw at the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships. As the seventh seed, Shibahara dropped only seven games in her three straight set victories, and she will face Lipscomb’s Viktoriya Dzyuba in the first round of qualifiers Tuesday afternoon.
If Shibahara wins three more matches, she will advance into the main draw beginning Thursday. The last Bruin to win the ITA Women’s All-American Championships was Robin Anderson in 2014.
