OJAI, Calif. – Olivia Center hadn’t won a three-set singles match since the beginning of the season.

Unbeknownst to the freshman, the Bruins’ chances at a Big Ten title rested on her shoulders.

With the Bruins clinging to a 3-1 lead – and her only remaining teammates either tied or trailing in their respective third sets – Center delivered the clincher, defeating Badger Ellison Reynoldson 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on court six.

“I went down to play singles on the two lower courts (Lower Libbey) that are really far away from the first four, so I had no idea what’s going on up there. I couldn’t see the scores,” Center said. “I was just taking it point by point. And then after I won, they were like, ‘You clinched.’”

And with Center’s performance in her Ojai debut, No. 4 seed UCLA women’s tennis (16-7, 11-3 Big Ten) defeated No. 5 seed Wisconsin (18-5, 10-4) in the Big Ten tournament’s quarterfinals 4-1 at Libbey Park, earning her team a date with No. 1 seed Michigan (22-3, 13-0) in Friday’s semifinals.

“We’re all in a good place,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “But every match is tough, and I’m really proud of the team just battling these matches.”

Victory slipped from the Bruins’ grasp early when No. 15 senior tandem Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle blew a 4-1 lead to No. 48 Ariel Johnson and Maria Sholokhova, allowing the Badgers to win five straight games, capturing the set 6-4.

But No. 9 Center and freshman Kate Fakih put the team back on track, winning a highly contested set 6-4 over Wisconsin’s Taylor Cataldi and Reynoldson. Then, junior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and sophomore Ahmani Guichard seemed to avenge Wagle and Hance, turning a 4-1 deficit into a 7-5 win over Wisconsin’s Ekaterina Ivanova and Kaja Jacobson to clinch the doubles point.

And it was the Bruins’ seniors who catapulted the team to a 3-1 lead – with Hance defeating Cataldi, whom she lost to in straight sets April 5 – 6-0, 7-5, before Wagle followed suit with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ivanov.

“We had a little bit of an advantage, and we knew that it was going to be tough today,” Wagle said. “I’m happy with how we came out, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”

Meanwhile, Lutkemeyer – who defeated then-No. 5 Sholokhova 7-5, 7-5 on April 5 – struggled to subdue the Badgers’ court one singles player. Sholokhova took the first set 6-3 Thursday, before Lutkemeyer punched back 7-5 in the second frame. However, the junior found herself trailing 3-2 in the third set before her match ultimately went unfinished.

And on court four, Fakih traded blows with Johnson before leaving her match unfinished 6-2, 4-6, 4-4.

Watching the Wolverines

Michigan has won the conference tournament in each of the past three seasons – and enters as the No. 1 seed for the third consecutive year.

Moreover, Michigan hasn’t lost a conference dual-match since April 1, 2022. And when the Wolverines came to the Los Angeles Tennis Center on March 22, the Bruins fell 4-1.

But the Bruins said they aren’t discouraged.

And if anything, Thursday may have shown that the Wolverines aren’t invincible.

No. 8 seed Maryland’s 4-3 loss to Michigan was the latter’s slimmest victory since a 4-3 win over then-No. 10 Ohio State.

And Center said the Bruins and Wolverines’ last bout was close, despite the final score.

“Going into tomorrow, we believe that we can win,” Center said. “It gives us motivation – we know we can do it and we’ve played these girls before – so we just need to trust ourselves.”