Women’s tennis
Shiv Patel, Daily Bruin senior staff

The Bruins haven’t left the West Coast since early February.

But No. 24 UCLA women’s tennis (7-6, 2-2 Big Ten) will trade the Los Angeles Tennis Center’s open Southern California environment for the indoor Ty Tucker Tennis Stadium on Friday as it faces No. 12 Ohio State (11-2, 5-1) before traveling to University Park, Pennsylvania, to take on Penn State (12-4, 3-3) at the Sarni Tennis Center on Sunday.

Originally scheduled to be played in the Buckeyes’ indoor Ty Tucker Tennis Center at 3 p.m., the match was briefly moved to their outdoor Auer Tennis Complex with a 1 p.m. start time. However, the match will ultimately be held in Ty Tucker Tennis Center at 2 p.m., Ohio State Athletics announced Thursday morning.

UCLA is yet to beat a top-25 team on the road this season and is just one match removed from a loss to then-No. 5 Michigan – which snapped the team’s 22-match win streak at the Los Angeles Tennis Center – but rebounded with a 4-0 sweep of conference foe Michigan State on Sunday.

Coach Stella Sampras Webster said her team will need to adjust the indoor conditions at Columbus, Ohio, adding that the team’s trip east will be longer than its previous travel in the West-Coast centric Pac-12.

“It’s going to be a long, long trip, but (I am) kind of excited to kind of see what it’s like, and how it affects everyone,” she said.

Ohio State, boasting six ranked singles players – including No. 8 Luciana Perry – and one ranked duo, will enter Friday’s contest off the heels of a sweep of Rutgers. Penn State – which was swept Sunday by Maryland – will duel No. 14 USC on Friday before its Sunday morning contest against UCLA.

The Bruins will enter the weekend’s contests with four ranked singles players and two ranked doubles teams, including the No. 3 pair of freshmen Olivia Center and Kate Fakih.

Center, who posted both a singles and a doubles victory against the Spartans on Sunday, said she wants to maintain a sense of urgency on each point.

“I want to work on staying aggressive and going for my shots and getting into the court when I can,” she said.

Men’s tennis
Badri Viswanathan, Daily Bruin contributor

The Bruins last faced the Ducks in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Pac-12 Championships.

And the Ducks downed the Bruins for the first time in the programs’ 34 meetings.

“One of my worst memories of last year was our loss to Oregon at the Pac-12 Championships up in Ojai (Ojai, California),” Martin said. “I remember that match and was so disappointed in our team. We played a horrible match, and I want to come out strong and redeem ourselves for that one on Saturday. (It’s) something that’s dear to my heart.”

UCLA men’s tennis (6-6, 4-0 Big Ten) will invite the two former Pac-12 foes that followed it and USC to the Big Ten this weekend. At the Los Angeles Tennis Center, the Bruins will duel the Ducks (9-8, 1-4) on Saturday before facing the Huskies (10-5, 2-3) on Sunday.

With the status of multiple players up in the air, Martin has tinkered with the Bruins’ lineup throughout its four-match win streak. Notably, All-American No. 17 sophomore Spencer Johnson has missed the last six matches due to injury.

Meanwhile, freshman Kaylan Bigun, who won Big Ten Freshman of the Week on March 12, missed UCLA’s match against Northwestern on March 23 upon Martin’s decision.

“He (Kaylan) did a great job on Friday (against then-No. 23 Illinois) playing singles there and was in the third set,” Martin said. “But today (Sunday against Northwestern), I just didn’t feel like he was really looking sharp and was ready to play. And we had six other players that were really ready and eager to play.”

Against Illinois and Northwestern, junior Aadarsh Tripathi and freshman Rudy Quan played their first matches as a doubles pair, winning their Friday set 6-4 before dropping Sunday’s 7-6(4).

“I love playing with Rudy,” Tripathi said. “Him and I are the same level of crazy. … He’s super fun to play with, super gritty player. … So I think that helps me a lot and stay in that focused mindset.”