OJAI, Calif. – The fifth-seeded UCLA women’s tennis team was eliminated from the Pac-12 Championships Thursday morning, falling to No. 4-seed Washington in a 4-0 result at Weil Tennis Academy.
The Bruins (13-7) were moving toward straight-set wins on the first and fifth singles courts when the decision was clinched. Astrid Olsen, Melissa Sakar and clincher Jennifer Kerr were victorious for the Huskies (17-7) in singles play.
Kerr and Olsen also contributed to UW taking the doubles point, defeating Ava Catanzarite and Sasha Vagramov 6-3 on Court 2. Each of the remaining two matches was knotted at 5-5, putting the point firmly up for grabs, but Huskies Sarah-Maude Fortin and Zehra Suko ultimately prevailed after taking the final two games on Court 3. The loss represents the first in nine matches for the UCLA pair of Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Fangran Tian.
UW collected four singles first sets. Olsen downed Catanzarite 6-1, 6-1 on Court 3 to make it 2-0. Sakar bested Lutkemeyer 6-3, 6-0 on Court 6, pushing the Bruins to the brink of elimination. Then, with No. 14 Tian leading 6-2, 5-3 on Court 1 and Vagramov up 6-4, 4-1 on Court 5, Kerr sealed the decision. She got the best of Wagle by a 6-0, 6-3 margin on Court 4, putting the Huskies in Friday’s semifinal round.
UCLA next turns its attention to NCAA selections, which will be announced Monday, May at 3 p.m. PT on NCAA.com.
Tennis Match Results
UCLA vs Washington
4/27/2023 at Ojai, CA
(Ojai Valley Athletic Club)
#23 Washington 4, #20 UCLA 0
Singles competition
1. #112 Hikaru Sato (WASH) vs. #14 Fangran Tian (UCLA) 2-6, 3-5, unfinished
2. Sarah-Maude Fortin (WASH) vs. #115 Kimmi Hance (UCLA) 7-5, 1-3, unfinished
3. Astrid Olsen (WASH) def. Ava Catanzarite (UCLA) 6-1, 6-1
4. Jennifer Kerr (WASH) def. Elise Wagle (UCLA) 6-0, 6-3
5. Erika Matsuda (WASH) vs. Sasha Vagramov (UCLA) 4-6, 1-4, unfinished
6. Melissa Sakar (WASH) def. A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #67 Erika Matsuda/Hikaru Sato (WASH) vs. #4 Kimmi Hance/Elise Wagle (UCLA) 6-5, unfinished
2. Jennifer Kerr/Astrid Olsen (WASH) def. Ava Catanzarite/Sasha Vagramov (UCLA) 6-3
3. Sarah-Maude Fortin/Zehra Suko (WASH) def. A. Lutkemeyer/Fangran Tian (UCLA) 7-5
Match Notes:
UCLA 13-7; National ranking #20
Washington 17-7;…
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