Senior Catherine Harrison, UCLA’s lone representative in the NCAA singles tournament, will begin her pursuit of the national title Wednesday with a round-of-64 matchup against South Carolina’s Caroline Dailey.
Harrison, the ITA Southwest Region Senior Player of the Year, is the No. 17-ranked singles player in the country after compiling a 16-3 record at No. 1 singles for the Bruins, going 18-9 this year against ranked opponents. She earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors.
Dailey, a junior ranked No. 58 in the country, went just 3-15 at No. 1 singles for the Gamecocks.
The winner of the match will likely have to face No. 1 overall seed Hayley Carter of North Carolina in the round of 32. Carter, who will have to defeat Wisconsin’s Lauren Chypyha in the first round, is 44-4 in singles this season as a junior and has held the top spot in the national rankings since early March. She is also a part of the nation’s top doubles duo, along with Whitney Kay.
Harrison won the Pac-12 singles title last season, making the All-Pac-12 second team even after spending much of the year in the No. 4 spot for UCLA. She has been a doubles All-American each of the past two years for her success with fellow senior Kyle McPhillips.
With a 32-10 overall record this year, Harrison produced her fourth season of over 20 wins in her college career. In her time at UCLA, she has racked up a 114-34 singles record.
Last year, Harrison was one of five Bruins to qualify for the national singles tournament at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. She won her opening-round match against Virginia Tech’s Francesca Fusinato, then lost in the round of 32 to Clemson’s Joana Eldukonyte. Then-senior Robin Anderson, the tournament’s top overall seed, reached the quarterfinals before falling to Miami’s Stephanie Wagner.
Former Bruin Chanelle Van Nguyen also reached the quarterfinals.
For doubles, Harrison will be joined by McPhillips. The pair went 15-3 in the dual match season, landing themselves the No. 7 doubles ranking in the country. The duo’s first match will be played against the No. 30 pair from Mississippi State, Madison Harrison and Kristina Vozniak. The Bulldogs pair is a fairly new team as they posted a record of 4-5 on the season at No.1 doubles. Three of those wins were against ranked opponents.
The singles and doubles championships are held at the Michael Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Play will continue from Wednesday until the national championship May 30.