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Women’s tennis improves performance after initial losses in national tournament

UCLA women’s tennis sophomore Elysia Bolton (pictured) won three straight singles matches to advance to the quarterfinal in the ITA Women’s All-American Championships. Along with her teammate redshirt senior Jada Hart, the Bruin duo reached the consolation doubles final. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)

By Jason Maikis

Oct. 14, 2019 12:57 a.m.

After an early loss, two Bruins rallied back against national competition.

Redshirt senior Jada Hart and sophomore Elysia Bolton traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to compete in both singles and doubles draws at the ITA Women’s All-American Championships. Bolton advanced to the quarterfinal in singles competition, and the duo advanced to the consolation doubles final.

The No. 4-ranked pair lost in the first round of main draw doubles play to Sara Daavettila and Alexa Graham of North Carolina in a tiebreak, 8-7(4).

“We had some bad luck in the tiebreaker in the first (match),” Hart said. “We played well and a few points late didn’t go our way, but we cleaned up our play the rest of the way. We served better and started putting away our volleys more effectively.”

However, the duo won three straight matches in the consolation bracket, before losing to a pair from North Carolina State, Jaeda Daniel and Adriana Reami 8-2.

In the singles draw, No. 9-ranked Hart defeated her first-round opponent – Mia Horvit of South Carolina – 7-5, 6-2 before she was eliminated in the second round by Alana Smith of NC State.

Hart said the on-and-off nature of rain storms kept the conditions and schedule inconsistent, making it tougher to build on wins as the week progressed.

“We had some longer days,” Hart said. “There were more matches in the mornings and then some late at night. It was just tough to adapt to the different weather conditions when the schedule was getting moved around.”

Continuing the Bruins’ run against southern opponents, No. 16-ranked Bolton defeated athletes from Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. She defeated freshman Natasha Subhash of Virginia in the second round in Tulsa only two weeks after Hart defeated then-No. 1 seed Subhash in the Oracle ITA Masters.

“I made the round of 16 in NCAAs so it was nice to get one round further,” Bolton said. “It was good to see how my game had grown this summer along with everyone else’s, and I’ll be using this as valuable experience during the season.”

The match against Subhash was Bolton’s only three-setter of the tournament, as the latter dropped her quarterfinal match to Chloe Beck of Duke 7-5, 6-4.

Coach Stella Sampras Webster said the change in location and weather made the week more hectic, but the time playing against more national players was most important for Hart and Bolton.

“It’s a new venue for the (ITA All-Americans),” Sampras Webster said. “Both (Hart) and (Bolton) saw new players, and they were tested playing singles and doubles, which is all you can ask for a (fall) tournament.”

UCLA will continue its fall season at the ITA Regional Championships in San Diego from Thursday through Monday.

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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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