Nothing seemed to work in No. 23 UCLA women’s tennis’ favor Sunday afternoon as the team dropped the regular-season finale 4-1 to the No. 21 USC Trojans. Windy conditions and a hostile road environment at the Marks Tennis Stadium did little to assuage the mostly inexperienced squad’s nerves before the match.
“The conditions were not ideal,” said senior Catherine Harrison. “It was impossible to hit a clean shot today, there was a span of four games where my goal was to just hit the ball down the center of the court.”
The Bruins continued their season-long inconsistency by dropping the doubles point for the fourth time in the past nine matches. They were in position to take the point after sophomore Terri Fleming and freshman Alaina Miller took their match 6-4 against the No. 61 pair of Madison Westby and Zoë Katz.
A 6-3 loss on court one by the No. 6 duo of seniors Harrison and Kyle McPhillips to No. 9 Giuliana Olmos and Gabby Smith ceded the point to the Trojans.
Following doubles play, the match was halted for two hours to allow for the men’s singles matches to be played. This unusual interlude had an impact on the players – with Harrison saying the rest disrupted the team’s rhythm and play.
The Bruins came out flat during singles play, dropping four of the first six sets. This led to quick Trojan straight-set victories on courts six and three, leaving them a point away from clinching the match.
Miller gave hope for a comeback with a dominating 6-0, 7-5 victory over No. 99 Smith. However, the match ended soon thereafter with sophomore Kristin Wiley falling to USC’s Jessica Failla 6-2, 6-4.
Harrison’s match was unfinished when it ended, bringing an end to a frustrating day for the nation’s No. 17 player.
“(Olmos) and I both did not play well today,” Harrison said. “Our points were short and there were a lot of unforced errors, mainly double faults.”
With the loss, the team finishes the regular season at 14-6 and 6-3 in conference play, almost guaranteeing that the team will head to the road for the first legs of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006.
However, Harrison sees a silver lining in the team having to travel for the NCAA Tournament.
“For once we will be the underdogs,” Harrison said. “(For us) to be the team that isn’t supposed to make it, the opposing teams now have all the pressure and that might be good for us.”
The team has only a few days to rest up as it heads to Ojai for the Pac-12 championships from Wednesday to Saturday.