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Women’s tennis freshman nearly clinches a win, falls to Pepperdine

Freshman Abbey Forbes made the semifinal of her first career college tournament in both singles and doubles at the Oracle ITA Masters. (Courtesy of Intercollegiate Tennis Association)

By Jason Maikis

Sept. 29, 2019 11:15 p.m.

One Bruin saw her opening fall tournament end at the hands of a West Coast foe.

Redshirt senior Jada Hart reached the finals of the Oracle ITA Masters as the fifth seed, falling in the final to No. 3-seeded Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine 6-3, 6-0. After a competitive first set in which Lahey only won five more points than her, Hart struggled in the second set and lost 24 of the 31 points played.

Hart said the inconsistencies of her usually dependable serve and forehand were her downfall against Lahey.

“I didn’t get a lot of first serves in today, which is usually my biggest strength,” Hart said in an interview with ESPN. “Also, my forehand didn’t do too well today. There were some shakes here and there and it just was just one of those days where it wasn’t really going for me.”

To get to Lahey, however, Hart defeated two No. 1 opponents.

The redshirt senior faced off against preseason Oracle ITA No. 1-ranked Katarina Jokic of Georgia in the quarterfinal. Hart had an opportunity to get some revenge after losing to Jokic in the quarterfinal of the NCAA Singles Championship in May.

Like that previous matchup, this weekend’s went to three sets. But unlike in her May loss, Hart prevailed and advanced to the semifinal. There, she faced the tournament’s No. 1 seed – freshman Natasha Subhash of Virginia – and won 6-2, 6-1.

That set up an all-California clash with Lahey. Hart had played her three times previously, including two times last season – losing the first battle but winning the second in three sets.

However, Hart said the two go further back than just college, and the competitive nature of their history makes her look forward to future matchups against Lahey.

“(Lahey and I) go all the way back to juniors,” Hart said in an interview with ESPN. “We’ve played many times with a lot of three-setters, and I can’t wait for our matches later this season to test me again.”

Lahey also defeated another Bruin during the weekend, when she beat No. 2-seeded freshman Abbey Forbes in the semifinal 6-4, 6-3.

Forbes made it to the semifinal without dropping a set in her first three matches before falling to the eventual champion in straight sets. In her first career match, the former blue-chip recruit didn’t drop one game to Amanda Nowak of Fairfield.

Both Hart and Forbes also played mixed doubles in Malibu.

Forbes joined fellow Bruin junior men’s tennis player Keegan Smith for the doubles, ultimately reaching the semifinal. The all-UCLA duo was seeded No. 1 in the tournament, but fell to Jokic and Juan Carlos Aguilar of Texas A&M 8-6 in their semifinal match.

Hart played with crosstown-rival USC player Daniel Cukierman, and the two were awarded the No. 2 seed. But they didn’t match their seed’s predicted point of finish, losing to eventual champions Natasha Subhash of Virginia and Sven Lah of Baylor 7-6(2) in the quarterfinal.

UCLA women’s tennis will have another chance to take the courts in the Riviera Invitational and the ITA Women’s All-American Championship starting this week.

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Jason Maikis | Alumnus
Maikis joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2018 and contributed until 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor in 2019 and contributed for the football, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis and men's water polo beats.
Maikis joined the Bruin as a freshman in 2018 and contributed until 2019. He was an assistant Sports editor in 2019 and contributed for the football, men's basketball, men's tennis, women's tennis and men's water polo beats.
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