With a score of 3-3, Saturday’s match against California came down to the final set and junior Kristin Wiley.
After falling to No. 14 Stanford (9-1, 2-0 Pac-12) 4-3 on Friday, UCLA women’s tennis (7-5, 1-1) looked to edge out No. 12 California (7-3, 1-1) in its second close match of the weekend.
In the third set on court six, Wiley broke her opponent’s serve, took a 4-3 lead and served it out for the match.
“I was just trying to stay in the moment,” Wiley said. “Not thinking about the outcome and just focusing on the point I was able to play.”
The Bruins had started the day by getting the doubles point, with wins from redshirt freshman Jada Hart and junior Terri Fleming on court one and sophomores Alaina Miller and Gabby Andrews on court two.
Going into singles, UCLA lost all six first sets to Cal, and the Bears were one match away from the win after taking down Fleming, Hart and Andrews. Three critical singles wins by the Bruins to end the match, however, brought them back from a 3-1 deficit.
Miller and freshman Ena Shibahara were able to come back and take home their matches in the third set to set up Wiley’s heroics.
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Third-ranked Shibahara said the key for her victory was execution and hitting heavier shots to keep her opponent on edge.
“Yesterday (against Stanford) I lost the first set and came back, so I just told myself I would do it again,” Shibahara said. “I was just trying not to think too much and focus on playing one point at a time.”
With a thrilling victory over Cal, coach Stella Sampras Webster said her team will walk away from this match with renewed confidence.
“We really did not play well when we were up at Cal, so it was nice to get the win back,” Sampras Webster said. “I just want the team to feel confident and feel that they can compete with anyone in the country.”
On Friday, the Bruins were narrowly defeated by the Cardinal but won the doubles point, and Shibahara and Fleming earned singles wins.
Stanford started strong in singles play, with three consecutive straight-set wins. Shibahara and Fleming rallied to win after losing their first sets, but it was not enough for the Bruins to come out on top.
The shuffling of the doubles lineups has proved effective for UCLA, as the Bruins have not lost the doubles point since making the changes against Baylor. The pairs get better through each match according to Sampras Webster, who said she will continue with the new lineup.
[Related: Upcoming Pac-12 games to test women’s tennis’ doubles play]
This weekend was only the start of conference play for the Bruins. The team still has eight more Pac-12 opponents on the schedule.
Fighting through close matches this weekend and coming out with the win, Shibahara said, gives the team a positive mindset going forward.
“I think we’re always going to reflect back on this moment and be able to come out strong with every match,” Shibahara said. “It’ll be a good memory for us.”