Winning the doubles point doesn’t always cut it.
UCLA women’s tennis captured the point for the 10th consecutive match, but the No. 22 Bruins (13-6, 7-2 Pac-12) could not add three singles victories as they fell 4-3 to the Arizona State Sun Devils (13-6, 6-3) Saturday. UCLA ended up splitting its road trip following a 4-1 win over unranked Arizona (11-11, 2-7) Friday.
The 24th-ranked team of redshirt freshman Jada Hart and junior Terri Fleming – whose seven-match winning streak in dual play ended against the Wildcats – defeated the 73rd-ranked duo of Alexandra Osborne and Nicole Fossa Huergo, while the pair of junior Kristin Wiley and freshman Ena Shibahara clinched the point versus the Sun Devils with a 6-4 win on court three.
[Related: Women’s tennis sweeps Colorado, Utah in Pac-12 weekend matchups]
Fleming and Shibahara then both defeated ranked opponents in singles – the junior bested No. 109 Sammi Hampton on court two, while the freshman swept No. 75 Kassidy Jump in straight sets.
But they were the only players to secure points for the Bruins.
On all four of the other singles courts, UCLA lost in straight sets. Against No. 102 Kelley Anderson, Hart lost her three-match winning streak, sophomore Alaina Miller’s three-match streak ended against Fossa Huergo, and sophomore Gabby Andrews’ four-match streak snapped at court five versus Savannah Slaysman 6-3, 6-4.
The Arizona State match came down to Wiley on court six – she raced out to a 3-0 lead in her second set, but gave back the break. With the set tied at five games apiece, Arizona State’s Gussie O’Sullivan broke Wiley’s serve once again and served out a 6-4, 7-5 victory and the Sun Devils’ upset.
Against the Wildcats, Fleming, Shibahara and Andrews picked up singles victories. No. 3-ranked Shibahara beat her sixth ranked opponent in dual-match play, No. 31 Lauren Marker, 7-5, 6-4. Fleming added a 6-1, 6-3 win on court two and Andrews clinched with a three-set comeback at court five.
[Related: Freshman tennis standout Ena Shibahara follows tennis dream to Westwood]
With her wins this weekend, Shibahara extended her unbeaten streak in singles to 10 matches, and her unbeaten doubles streak to 16 – 10 of which are with her current partner, Wiley.
UCLA’s regular season finale will be Saturday versus USC, with the Pac-12 championship starting the following week.