The Bruins are back.
Lightning, game delays and shaky doubles play couldn’t stop No. 7-seeded UCLA (23-4) from marching past No. 6-seeded Georgia (24-7) at Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, to return to the NCAA championship match for the third time in four years.
“Our team was going to go out there and fight,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “We competed and left it all out there, even after we started tentatively.”
The Bruins were unable to find their footing in doubles with freshman Kristin Wiley and senior Chanelle Van Nguyen trailing from the onset. UCLA’s No. 3 doubles team continued its postseason struggle and quickly fell 8-2 to the Bulldogs.
Both of UCLA’s top-10 doubles teams held early 5-3 leads in their matches, but lost momentum allowing Georgia to work themselves back into the match.
Out of a lightning delay, the Bulldogs swiftly won the crucial tiebreak against the No. 9-ranked team of sophomore Jennifer Brady and senior Robin Anderson to put themselves ahead 1-0.
Against a team that upset them in February, the Bruins captured four of the first six sets to keep their title defense alive.
Brady’s powerful and speedy forehand wore down her opponent 6-3, 6-0 and evened the semifinal match at 1-1.
“Nothing motivates you more than fighting for your team,” Brady said. “My teammates have been there for me this season, and tonight I was there for them.”
Junior Catherine Harrison notched the team’s second point of the evening, cruising to a straight-sets win 6-1, 6-3 behind drop shots and quick volleys to push UCLA ahead 2-1.
Van Nguyen shook off her doubles performance and focused on her opponent, Ellen Perez, who defeated her in three grueling sets at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship. Moon-balls and a repertoire of shots frustrated her opponent and brought up match point for the Bruins. A Georgia forehand long gave UCLA the match and put the Bruins on the brink of their second-straight upset.
No. 1-ranked Anderson battled from a set and a break down against No. 5 Lauren Herring, her second top-10 opponent in two days, to steal a closely contested second set and even her match at 3-6, 6-3.
Junior Kyle McPhillips and her opponent went toe to toe in their rallies, but ultimately the Bruin narrowly dropped the first set 6-3. Tightening up her play and cutting out errors, McPhillips raced out to secure the first break. Her early lead vanished as nerves and unforced errors crept back into her game and put the Bulldogs within 5-4. McPhillips regained control and squeaked out the second set 6-4 and sent her court to a deciding third set.
Nothing separated senior Kaitlin Ray from her opponent until they reached a first-set tiebreak. When it mattered most, Ray dominated, giving up just three points to put herself and her team one set away from the final.
Ray, whose win last year against the Florida Gators in the semifinals sent the Bruins to the finals, clinched another semifinal match for her team in resounding fashion, a 7-6 (6-3), 6-2 win.
“We’re on a mission,” Ray said. “This program, we wake up every morning with a chance for a national title. Every person contributed today, and it’s going to take every single person to win again tomorrow.”
The Bruins play their final dual match of the season against No. 4-seeded Vanderbilt (24-6). The Commodores dispatched No. 1-seeded USC with a commanding 4-0 win in the second semifinal match. The Trojans mounted comebacks in four of their singles matches, but were unable to overcome an early deficit and a healthier opponent. Vanderbilt last made it to the title match in 2001 where it was swept 4-0 by perennial powerhouse Stanford. The Commodores look for their first championship while UCLA will play for a second consecutive and third overall, winning the title in both 2008 and 2014.