No. 4 seed UCLA women’s tennis (15-7, 10-3 Big Ten) may have thought it had said its last goodbyes to Ojai, California, at 2024’s final Pac-12 tournament. But life can have a funny way of working out. The Ojai Tennis Tournament’s Libbey Park is set to host the Big Ten women’s tennis tournament, beginning Wednesday and concluding Sunday. Having received a first-round bye as a top-four seed, UCLA will face either No. 5 seed Wisconsin (17-4, 10-3) or No. 12 seed Penn State (14-9, 5-8) in Thursday’s quarterfinals. If it advances to Friday’s semifinals, it’ll likely face No. 1 seed Michigan (21-3, 13-0). And if UCLA survives until Saturday, it’ll probably battle No. 2 seed Ohio State (18-3, 12-1) for the conference tournament crown. Daily Bruin Sports’ women’s tennis beat provides its predictions of how the Bruins will fare in Ojai.

Kai Dizon
Assistant Sports editor
Prediction: Big Ten tournament champions

It was my fault UCLA lost to then-No. 5 Michigan on March 22.

As a part-time employee at the UCLA Store, I sold over $340 worth of snacks and junk food to the then-No. 24 team in the country just two days out of its highest-profile regular-season match of the season – a recipe not conducive to high-quality play from some of college tennis’ premier student-athletes.

Having defeated the Badgers and Nittany Lions back to back during the regular season, the Bruins will cruise to the semifinals to face the Wolverines. But this time, they won’t be held back by a protein-bar-induced coma.

UCLA has claimed 19 of 22 doubles points this season, and I expect the team to start every match up 1-0 this week.

No. 34 junior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer is arguably playing the best singles tennis of her career, having won five of her last six matches. No. 84 senior Kimmi Hance was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Tuesday.

No. 66 senior Elise Wagle hasn’t dropped a singles match since March 22. And No. 33 freshman Kate Fakih – a five-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week and two-time Big Ten Player of the Week – became UCLA’s highest-ranked singles player Tuesday.

After handing the Wolverines their first conference loss of the year, the Bruins will beat the Buckeyes for the conference tournament title.

The toughest task of the week will be making sure they don’t break their trophy like they did with last year’s conference hardware.

Willa Campion
Daily Bruin contributor
Prediction: Semifinals appearance

The Bruins have inadvertently lucked out.

Despite being the newcomers, they enter the Big Ten women’s tennis tournament with – what could be argued as – a home-court advantage.

UCLA will return to Ojai – the site of the Pac-12 championships since 1987 and where the team’s veterans have vied for a conference title for the past three years – Thursday. Fellow conference converts USC and Washington may share the same history at Libbey Park, but UCLA’s edge lies in its homebred roster.

Four of UCLA’s six singles regulars are California locals. Comparatively, not a single athlete on USC’s latest singles roster hails from the Golden State.

And for youth tennis players in California, Ojai is a breeding ground for greatness – Hance said the chance to compete at Ojai, where she grew up playing, was one of the reasons she chose to attend UCLA, a then-Pac-12 school.

If the Bruins utilize their familiarity and confidence playing at Ojai to take an early and decisive lead against the Badgers – a team they upset 4-3 on April 5 – they could have a clear path to the semifinals.

Unfortunately, UCLA would most likely face top-seeded Michigan in the semifinals – a massive roadblock in any contender’s path to a conference trophy.

Not only are the Wolverines ranked third in the nation, they are on a 15-game win streak and are undefeated in conference play. Oh, and they’ve won both the conference regular season and tournament titles three years in a row.

UCLA’s chance of proving that a Big Ten trophy isn’t just reserved for Midwest teams isn’t zero, though – in fact it is more than just slim. Michigan’s No. 5 Julia Fliegner will most likely face Lutkemeyer on court one in singles, and Lutkemeyer has knocked off a No. 5 singles player before – just run back her performance against Wisconsin’s then-No. 5 Maria Sholokhova.

Will the Bruins be able to put up a perfect showing in order to mar the Wolverines’ unblemished conference slate? So far this season, they haven’t shown they can.

If one thing can be guaranteed, though, it’s this: UCLA will fight tooth and nail to extend its stay at Ojai in what could be its last conference tournament at the venue before the Big Ten championship heads back to the Midwest.

Hot and cold.

Up and down.

The Bruins’ 2025 season has been anything but predictable. From losing their first home game in two seasons, only to then go on an eight-match win streak, this squad promises to keep you on your toes.

The same uncertainty, however, plays in the background of the Big Ten tournament, promising what is likely to be a difficult path forward for the Bruins.

UCLA beat both of its probable quarterfinal opponents in the regular season, and this team is on track to repeat the same result.

Wisconsin, as opposed to Penn State, may pose a challenge to UCLA – as it did the last time the two teams were matched up. However, with the comfort of playing in Ojai and the consistency in performance that has shone in the last couple weeks, odds are UCLA makes it out of the quarterfinals comfortably.

The true juggernaut comes in the form of Michigan, a team whose winning streak is nearly double that of UCLA’s and who has not lost a match in over two months.

While Michigan has not yet faced No. 8 seed Maryland, they beat their other possible opponent – No. 9 seed Iowa – 4-0 earlier in this season and beat UCLA 4-1.

Outside of a one-week rough patch in mid-February, Michigan has performed to the highest standard of collegiate women’s tennis and will surely be a challenge for UCLA come April 25.

And while UCLA’s latest form will propel it to putting up a good fight, it won’t be able to escape the growing claws of the Wolverines, losing to Michigan 4-2 in the semifinals.

Shiv Patel
Daily Bruin senior staff
Prediction: Quarterfinals appearance

The Bruins are yet to defeat a top-30 opponent away from the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

UCLA has made LATC its fortress the past two seasons, dropping only one match – a sweep by then-No. 5 Michigan – since 2023 at the site. Yet the team has just a 5-6 record away from Westwood this season.

The optimist might argue that the Bruins are just best suited to the conditions of outdoor tennis in Southern California – and that the team’s success at LATC is a good omen as it heads to Ojai.

But I’m no optimist.

UCLA faltered March 7 in a loss to USC on the road and came within just one set of falling to Wisconsin – the Bruins’ most probable quarterfinal opponent – at home April 5.

The Badgers boast No. 9 junior Maria Sholokhova, while the Bruins don’t have a singles player in the ITA top 30. Then-No. 5 Sholokhova fell 7-5, 7-5 to then-No. 22 Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer during the teams’ duel earlier this month, and the Badger seeing out the end of both sets would have given the Bruins a second blot on their near-perfect record at home this season.

Michigan and USC have shown UCLA to not be invincible under the Southern California sun. There’s no reason to believe the Badgers won’t do the same in Ojai.