Olivia Center and Kate Fakih achieved in just two months what many student-athletes spend years striving for – a spot on one of college sports’ biggest stages.

The UCLA women’s tennis freshmen doubles partners reached the finals of the NCAA tournament, held Nov. 19 to Nov. 24 in Waco, Texas. There the two ultimately fell to Virginia’s No. 3 Elaine Chervinsky and Melodie Collard. Their second-place finish earned the pair All-American status and the Bruin’s highest placement of the weekend.

“They just got better and better during the tournament, and really built a lot of confidence going into the quarter-finals and semi-finals, where competition was very high,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “They really stepped up and played some great doubles.”

The battle for the national title came down to a 10-point tiebreaker after the Bruins and Cavaliers went 4-6, 6-3 in the first two sets. Center and Fakih weren’t able to clutch the win, losing the tiebreaker 10-5.

Center and Fakih’s path to the finals was far from easy – they defeated multiple ranked teams, including Wisconsin’s No. 5 Alina Mukhortova and Maria Sholokhova in the round of 16, before besting Auburn’s No. 18 DJ Bennett and Ava Hrastar in the semifinals.

Fakih’s aggression at the net seemed to be a difference maker in the quarter and semifinal matches – and allowed Center to capitalize at the baseline.

“I love it when she’s getting that close to net,” Center said. “It’s something we’ve been working on and she’s been doing so well.”

Leading up to the championship, Center and Fakih’s chemistry on court aided their bid into the final match.

In fact, harmony seems to come naturally for the two who have been playing together since they were 10 – even playing as doubles partners at the 2023 US Open.

“(Center) knows what I’m thinking when I don’t even know what I’m thinking and I know what she’s thinking and she doesn’t even know she’s thinking it,” Fakih said. “Trust is really big for us and I have so much confidence in what she does.”

The freshmen, however, weren’t the only Bruins competing in doubles. Seniors No. 15 Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle started the competition on a victorious note with a 6-3, 6-3 win against No. 16 Jessica Alsola and Mao Mushika of California.

As a top seed with a combined four years of NCAA doubles tournament appearances to their resume, Hance and Wagle entered the tournament poised as one of the teams to beat. But it was ultimately Florida’s Alicia Dudeney and Rachel Gailis who rose to the occasion, handing the UCLA tandem a 6-4, 6-3 defeat in the second round.

No. 97 Wagle made her NCAA singles tournament debut by taking No. 21 Annabelle Xu to three sets – though the Virginia junior ultimately cut Wagle’s campaign short.

Fakih – the only competitor to earn two Big Ten Player of the Week honors this fall – faced stiff competition in Texas A&M’s No.1 Mary Stoiana in the opening round of the singles tournament. The freshman lost the match 6-1, 6-1.

“They (Fakih and Wagle) played some great tennis even though … they lost their first round,” Sampras Webster said. “They should be feeling good about where they’re at.”

After earning her 100th career win in a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Mississippi’s Ludmila Kareisova, junior No. 84 Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer exited the tournament in the second round. Her 0-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 loss to Virginia Tech’s Ozlem Uslu put her just one set short of receiving an All-American accolade.

This was the first year that individual competitions took place in the fall instead of coinciding with team championships in the spring, allowing the Bruins to now put all their energy toward securing their first team championship since 2014 – in what would be just their third all time.

“I’m really encouraged by not only the results, but just the way I think the whole team came in and just trained,” Sampras Webster said. “I think [the team is] very excited about our chances this year.”

The coach added that the freshmen bring versatility to a strong lineup of veterans such as Lutkemeyer, Wagle and Hance.

“With our three doubles teams that played this fall, I think we have three teams that can play anywhere in our lineup, which is really exciting,” Sampras Webster said. “We’ve just got so much more depth than last year.”