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Women’s tennis rides doubles success to victory over Oregon

Sophomore Alaina Miller defeated Oregon’s Nia Rose 6-4, 6-3 at court three to give UCLA women’s tennis a 4-3 victory Friday. Miller now owns a 6-5 singles record on the year. (Dayoung Lee/Daily Bruin)

By Hanson Wang

March 20, 2017 12:02 a.m.

UCLA women’s tennis is on a doubles roll.

The No. 20 Bruins (8-5, 2-1 Pac-12) won the opening point for the fourth dual match in a row, all without dropping a set, and then pulled away from the host Oregon Ducks (8-6, 2-1) for a 4-1 victory Friday.

[Related: UCLA women’s tennis finishes weekend matchups with 4-3 win over Cal]

Sophomores Gabby Andrews and Alaina Miller won their second consecutive doubles match at court two, defeating Oregon’s Marlou Kluiving and Julia Eshet 6-1. Andrews and Miller didn’t finish their first two matches together against Baylor and Stanford, but they have clicked in the past two dual matches. Friday’s win came one week after the sophomores upset Cal’s No. 23-ranked team of Olivia Hauger and Karla Popovic 6-1.

Junior Kristin Wiley and freshman Ena Shibahara clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 victory on court three, their third consecutive victory. Wiley, however, was forced to retire her singles match after losing her first set 6-1.

[Related: Freshman tennis standout Ena Shibahara follows tennis dream to Westwood]

The Bruins dominated the rest of singles play, winning three consecutive straight-set matches at courts three through five. For the dual match, coach Stella Sampras Webster made a slight change to her singles lineup, swapping Miller and redshirt freshman Jada Hart at courts three and four, respectively. The two have alternated throughout the season, with both playing at least six singles matches at each slot.

Hart, who entered the singles rankings at No. 81 earlier in March, only lost two games as she snapped her three-match losing streak. Each of those losses came against ranked opponents at No. 3 singles, but she breezed past Eshet at No. 4.

Andrews also reversed a two-game losing streak at No. 5 singles, defeating Kluiving 6-1, 6-4 to put UCLA ahead 3-1. Miller then clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Oregon’s Nia Rose.

Friday was only the Bruins’ second match indoors since January, and the only one scheduled against a Pac-12 opponent this season.

UCLA won’t compete again until March 31 and April 2, when it travels to Washington and Washington State to resume Pac-12 play.

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Hanson Wang | Alumnus
Wang joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2015 and contributed until he graduated in 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor for the 2016-2017 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, women's soccer, men's tennis and women's tennis beats.
Wang joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2015 and contributed until he graduated in 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor for the 2016-2017 academic year and spent time on the football, men's basketball, women's soccer, men's tennis and women's tennis beats.
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