UCLA women’s tennis curtailed by Washington Huskies in Pac-12 quarterfinals
Ava Catanzarite follows through on a standing forehand stroke. The sophomore for UCLA women’s tennis has lost four of her last five completed dual-singles matches with the Bruins, including just four games won across her previous four sets played. (Julia Zhou/Daily Bruin)
Women's Tennis
| No. 5 seed UCLA | 0 |
| No. 4 seed Washington | 4 |
By Natalie Glawe
April 29, 2023 6:05 p.m.
OJAI, Calif. — Losing the first point isn’t always fatal.
But for the Bruins on Thursday, it was.
No. 5 seed UCLA women’s tennis (13-7, 6-4 Pac-12) was clipped 4-0 by No. 4 seed Washington (17-8, 6-4 Pac-12) in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 championships in Ojai, California. After the previously undefeated duo of freshmen Fangran Tian and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer fell to Washington’s Sarah-Maude Fortin and Zehra Suko, the doubles point slipped from the Bruins’ grasp.
“I’m sad (about) losing the doubles point,” Tian said. “I feel like I could have done better and that it could have changed the whole game.”
Despite the early deficit on the scoreboard, the Bruins had some hope in singles play. Both Tian and senior Sasha Vagramov got out to early leads, looking to secure essential points. While the two ultimately won their first sets, their play was cut short by the fall of sophomore Elise Wagle as the Huskies wrapped up the win.
“They out-executed us,” Vagramov said. “They just came out swinging.”
Though Wagle ultimately fell short, she was able to win three games in the second set after being bageled in the first. With Vagramov and Tian both in position for straight-set wins and sophomore Kimmi Hance forcing a third set after dropping her first, coach Stella Sampras Webster said she believed a turnaround by Wagle could have changed the complexion of the scoreboard.
“It could have been a totally different match,” Sampras Webster said.
Despite the triumphant performances of Tian and Vagramov, sophomore Ava Catanzarite and Lutkemeyer were both swiftly taken down — the former by a score of 6-1, 6-1 and the latter 6-3, 6-0.
On top of the strong execution by the Huskies, the team rallied a boisterous series of chants, making the energy in Weil Tennis Academy work in Washington’s favor. The Bruins, however, are looking forward to NCAA tournament play, given their series of ranked wins and demonstrable improvement throughout the late season.
“We don’t need to prove to anyone that we can win,” Tian said. “We already have the result of beating Ohio State, Pepperdine — top-five teams in the country.”
And a loss to the No. 23 Huskies on foreign turf doesn’t extinguish the Bruins’ postseason potential, according to Vagramov.
“We’ve proven this season that we can beat anyone,” Vagramov said. “I’m excited for us to get to work this week and see how far we can go.”
