LOS ANGELES – On a day that saw the UCLA women’s tennis program honor two seniors before its regular-season finale, it was a sophomore who provided the heroics in a 4-3 victory against USC Friday afternoon at Los Angeles Tennis Center. The No. 19 Bruins closed the regular season on a four-match winning streak and prevailed in seven of their final eight.
Kimmi Hance was the last player standing as UCLA (13-6, 6-4 Pac-12) pushed past its crosstown rival in Pac-12 action. Also triumphant in singles play for the Bruins were Fangran Tian and Elise Wagle. All three had two-win days as UCLA also pocketed the doubles point. The Trojans (15-8, 6-4) made up a 3-1 deficit when Sloane Morra and Grace Piper followed Emma Charney’s early victory, but they would never take the lead.
??????????. ??????????.#GoBruins | #BeatSC pic.twitter.com/1gVwAOraTg
— UCLA Women’s Tennis (@uclawtennis) April 21, 2023
Tian and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer stayed undefeated as a doubles pair, dispatching of McKenna Koenig and Isabelle Lee in a 6-2 decision on Court 3. The freshman combination improved to 8-0 since taking the court together for the first time March 26. Then, the sixth-ranked tandem of Hance and Wagle picked up its ninth-win in 11 tries versus nationally-ranked opponent, defeating No. 39 Naomi Cheong and Snow Han 6-3 for the initial point. Hance and Wagle have clinched the doubles points seven times this season.
USC answered on the singles courts, taking four first sets. Charney pulled the visitors level on Court 3, where she beat Catanzarite 6-0, 6-2. The Bruins’ counterpunch came from…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at UCLA…