Three years and three upsets.
For the third consecutive year, No. 7 seed UCLA (22-4) upended No. 2 seed North Carolina (30-2) in the NCAA Tournament to earn a berth in the Final Four.
With the Tar Heels atop the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings for the bulk of the season, the Bruins said they had to execute at every position to continue their title defense during the quarterfinal game – starting with their doubles play.
The Bruins pulled out a 4-1 win after stringing together four straight singles points, but knew that a doubles loss against the Tar Heels, who are 29-0 when securing the doubles point, could prove to be the difference between the two teams. When doubles play began, North Carolina struck first.
Against No. 10 seed Texas A&M (17-6) in the previous round, the Bruins dropped the doubles point to give the Aggies a 1-0 advantage.
Tar Heels Caroline Price and Kate Vialle, a team of left-handed players, handily defeated senior Chanelle Van Nguyen and freshman Terri Fleming 8-0.
Needing the final two matches to secure an early lead, both of UCLA’s top-10 nationally-ranked doubles teams broke away from their opponents.
The No. 9 doubles team of senior Robin Anderson and sophomore Jennifer Brady won four of the next five games to win their match 8-5 before the No. 3-ranked team of juniors Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips finished off doubles play with a 8-4 win and a 1-0 lead for the Bruins.
“Winning that doubles point took pressure off of us and put it on them,” Anderson said. “With two top-10 doubles teams, we knew we could pull it out.”
Needing only three singles wins to book a spot in the semifinal, UCLA snatched four of the first six sets.
The nation’s No. 47 singles player, Brady earned the Bruins’ first point, winning in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
The Tar Heels retaliated with a 6-3, 6-4 upset of No. 33 Harrison, ending her 19-match win streak.
No. 21 Van Nguyen followed moments later, dismantling No. 16 Haley Carter 6-0, 6-2.
“We played even better this year than last year,” Van Nguyen said. “Coming into this match, we knew that North Carolina’s a great team, but I believe in my team and I stand by my team.”
Anderson, the nation’s No. 1 singles player, claimed her first set 6-3, but then fell into a 1-5 deficit to fellow All-American North Carolina’s No. 7 Jamie Loeb.
Grinding out ball after ball, Anderson pulled level after reeling off five of six games to bring the No. 1 singles to a crucial tie-break.
Aggressive shot selection and consistent serving carried Anderson to a 6-1 lead and set her up for match point.
A deep forehand from Anderson drew the error from Loeb and ended the match 6-3, 7-6(1) in favor of the Bruins.
“It’s exciting to be back and to beat a team like North Carolina,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “No matter who we play tomorrow, we want it more than them and we’ll have to play like it.”
Monday’s semifinal will pit familiar opponents against one another. UCLA gets a rematch with No. 6 seed Georgia (24-6), who defeated the Bruins earlier in the year at the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship.
When they last faced each other, UCLA was in the middle of a wave of injuries that knocked Brady, Harrison and freshman Kristin Wiley from the lineup. With eight healthy players and an NCAA final on the line, the Bruins are a more dangerous team in Waco, Texas, than they were the last time they faced Georgia in February.
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