This post was updated May 10 at 9:31 p.m.
The title of reigning champion has some bite to it.
And the Bulldogs proved that by dashing the Bruins’ dreams of their first national title since 2014.
UCLA women’s tennis (18-8, 9-4) fell 4-1 to No. 1 seed Georgia (21-5, 12-3) in a little over two hours in the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament Friday afternoon in Athens, Georgia.
The Bulldogs showed their prowess on their home courts of Dan Magill Tennis Center from the start, reminding the Bruins why they were last year’s winners by claiming the doubles point to open the match.
Though junior Ahmani Guichard and freshman Kayla Chung started off with a 2-0 lead against Bulldog tandem Emma Dong and Anastasiia Gureva, the Bruin pair did not win another game after.
Chung and Guichard tried creative tactics – volleying and rushing the net throughout baseline points – but Dong and Gureva proved adept in adjusting and helped secure the first win of the day for the Bulldogs.
The rest of UCLA’s duos faced a similar fate. Dong and Gureva – as well as the other Georgia teams – were elected to serve first, which proved to be a major advantage. The Bruins struggled to break the Bulldogs’ serves on all three courts – a trend that later bled into singles.
Sophomore pair Kate Fakih and Olivia Center fell 6-3 to Anastasiia Lopata and Patricija Paukstyte next at line one.
Bruins Mayu Crossley and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer’s doubles match at line two against Deniz Dilek and Aysegul Mert remained unfinished, though Dilek and Mert were up 5-3 and had a match point at 40-15 in the last game.
Coach Stella Sampras Webster said losing the doubles point was a crucial turning point of the match. She attributed the Bulldogs’ doubles wins to their ability to win high-pressure points.
“They were confident, and they certainly earned it,” Sampras Webster said. “We were hoping to put more pressure on them so they would get more tight and they got vulnerable a little bit, but at the end, they were able to believe in themselves on those big points.”
The Bulldogs dominance carried into singles play as they won four out of six of the singles’ first sets. Crossley at line two and junior Bianca Fernandez at line four were the only Bruins to pull out first set wins.
At line six, Guichard lost the first set 6-0 to Sofia Rojas, while battling a back injury that forced her to serve underhand. Despite her injury, Guichard almost turned around the second set, forcing Rojas into longer rallies.
Rojas ended up triumphing in the second set 7-5, earning the Bulldogs their first singles win.
At line three, Fakih went down 0-3 quickly in the first set against Dilek. She was able to come back to make the score 4-4 but struggled to break Dilek’s powerful serve to finish out the set. Dilek won the second set in similar fashion, 6-3, to widen the Bulldogs lead to 3-0.
At line five, Center – who clinched the Bruin’s win against Arizona State in the first round of the tournament – went back and forth with Georgia’s Dong, even leading in the first set. However, Dong targeted Center’s weaker backhand side, drilling crosscourt forehands to force errors.
Dong eventually secured Bulldog’s spot in the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-2 finish.
Lutkemeyer fought through her last collegiate match – though it went unfinished.
The senior lost the first set to Lopata 6-3, struggling with her opponent’s consistency returning every ball. Lopata hit loopier deep balls, forcing Lutkemeyer to hit shorter balls that were easier to attack.
Lutkemeyer went down 5-3 in the second set after losing two deuce points in a row – including a missed overhead.
She got her revenge, though, and continued to play the offense, despite the pressure of the sudden death points. She won the next two games on deuce points – including with a decisive overhead winner to make it 5-5. Lutkemeyer led 5-1 in the second set tiebreak when the coaches stopped play.
Lutkemeyer said the pressure that comes with deciding deuce points encapsulates the beauty of college tennis. She added that maintaining a positive attitude, even when losing some deuce points, was crucial in her second set comeback.
“My philosophy has always been trying to be okay with things not going my way and understanding that there’s ebbs and flows of a match,” Lutkemeyer said. “Sometimes I’m going to miss and that’s okay.”
She added that instead of dwelling on her mistakes, she refocuses her energy on the next point and continues to go for her shots and take risks.
Fernandez – who will leave college early to join the professional tour – secured the Bruins only win of the day at line four.
Fernandez’s opponent, Gureva, shifted her playing style multiple times throughout the match, but Fernandez was able to adapt to end her collegiate career triumphantly.
Though the crowd was loud and laden with Georgia fans, Fernandez said she enjoyed the atmosphere and felt it made her play better.
She added that as she steps into her next chapter away from Los Angeles Tennis Center, she will miss her teammates and the bonds they have created.
“My takeaway would be to enjoy the little things because my next move will be difficult,” Fernandez said.
Sampras Webster said she was very happy that Fernandez could get a win in her very last match for the Bruins. She added that although the team lost, she was proud of how each individual kept fighting and carried themselves against a difficult team and atmosphere.
“We had opportunities against a very strong team and they just played a bit better,” Sampras Webster said.
Georgia will face off next against the winner of Texas and North Carolina State as it contends for its second-straight national title.
Though the loss hurt, Lutkemeyer said the match was still a special one and a testament to the team’s hard work throughout the season.
“It was definitely an emotional roller coaster today, tears were most definitely shed.” she said. “But the thing I’ll miss most is the community that I’ve been able to be a part of for these last four years, and the sisterhood and the relationships that I’ve been able to develop. There’s nothing like playing a dual match with your best friends right beside you.”
