No. 27 Bruins Sweep Washington Schools

Photo is courtesy of UCLA and credited to Scott C.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – For the second straight match, freshman Alaina Miller won the deciding point for the Bruins.  Miller edged Tami Grende in a third-set tiebreaker to clinch for the No. 27 UCLA women’s tennis team.  With the 5-2 win over No. 41 Washington, the Bruins improve to 9-3 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 play.    

Alaina does it again! Miller clinches the Bruins win over @UW_WTennis with a 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) victory #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/8YGGTK3EWV

— UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) March 5, 2016

The Bruins got off to a slow start, dropping the doubles point to the Huskies on courts 1 and 2.

Washington’s Grende and Stacey Fung blanked Terri Fleming and Laura Luca on court 2 to register the first win.  On court 1, Nour Abbes and Miki Kobayashi upset the fifth-ranked duo of Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips, 6-1, to clinch the point for the Dawgs.  The loss marks Harrison and McPhillips’ first in dual match play.

The clouds rolled in as singles got under way, and with them came rain.  Both teams traded first sets on courts 1, 3, 4, and 6 before play was suspended briefly.  After play resumed, the first sets concluded with each team taking three.

Washington’s Sophia Bott then downed Luca in straights on court 6 to put the Huskies up 2-0.  No. 19 Harrison responded for the Bruins on court 1, dispatching Abbes in straight sets to cut the lead to 2-1.  After McPhillips evened the score when she took down No. 99 Fung in straights on court 2, both teams raced to put points on the board.  

Fleming struck first, giving UCLA a 3-2 advantage over Washington when she edged Elianne Douglas-Miron, 8-6, in a second-set tiebreaker on court 4.  The remaining two matches would be decided in the third set.   

Fleming gives the Bruins a 3-2 lead! Terri defeats Douglas-Miron 6-3, 7-6(8) pic.twitter.com/as1zqVagl9

— UCLA Women's Tennis (@uclawtennis) March 5, 2016

On court 3, Miller rallied after dropping the first set, 1-6.  Miller trailed 2-5 in the third, but battled back to tie the score at 5-5 when she broke Grende’s serve.  The freshman held to take a 6-5 lead, but Grende knotted it up at 6-6 to force the tiebreaker.  After a back-and-forth battle, Miller broke Grende to win 7-4 and clinch the match for the Bruins.
      
Next up, UCLA heads to the Bay Area to take on second-ranked California and No. 20 Stanford.  The Bruins face the Golden Bears at 1:30 p.m. PT on Mar. 11, followed by the Cardinal at noon on Mar. 12.
       
#27 UCLA 5, #41 Washington 2
Mar 05, 2016 at Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Tennis Center)

Doubles competition

1. Abbes/Kobayashi (UW) def. #5 Harrison/McPhillips (UCLA) 6-1

2. Grende/Fung (UW) def. Fleming/Luca (UCLA) 6-0

3. Miller/Wiley (UCLA) vs. Douglas-Miron/Hance (UW) 3-2, unfinished

Singles competition

1. #19 Catherine Harrison (UCLA) def. Nour Abbes (UW) 6-2, 6-2

2. Kyle McPhillips (UCLA) def. #99 Stacey Fung (UW) 7-5, 6-3

3. Alaina Miller (UCLA) def. Tami Grende (UW) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)

4. Terri Fleming (UCLA) def. E. Douglas-Miron (UW) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)

5. Kristin Wiley (UCLA) def. Kenadi Hance (UW) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2

6. Sophia Bott (UW) def. Laura Luca (UCLA) 6-2, 6-1

Match Notes

Washington 9-6; National ranking #41

UCLA 9-3; National ranking #27

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (6,1,2,4,3,5)