UCLA women’s rowing falls behind USC, dropping first dual meet ahead of Pac-12s

The Bruins left Marina del Rey, California, with their first dual-meet loss of the season.

UCLA women’s rowing (2-1, 0-1 Pac-12) fell to No. 15 USC (1-0, 1-0) on Ballona Creek on Saturday. The win marked the Trojans’ 18th-straight victory over the Bruins.

The meet began with both teams’ second varsity eight crews facing off. The Trojans finished nine seconds ahead of the Bruins, crossing in 7:10.40 compared to UCLA’s 7:19.40.

Two Bruin crews – the third varsity eight and novice eight – raced in the second matchup of the competition. The third varsity eight boat beat the novice eight crew by just over four seconds.

In the race between UCLA’s varsity four crew and USC’s varsity four and second varsity four boats, the Trojans’ varsity four crew took first with a time of 8:26.80. The Bruins’ boat finished in second, crossing in 8:36.60.

The meet concluded with the varsity eight race. USC took home the win with a time of 7:00.90 compared to UCLA’s time of 7:13.50.

The dual-meet win was not only a victory for USC rowing, but it gave the Trojans the Crosstown Cup for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Both UCLA and USC will be back in action May 19 at the Pac-12 Championship in Sacramento, California.

Women’s water polo ends season with loss to Stanford in narrow NCAA semifinal game

This post was updated May 13 at 3 p.m.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Bruins’ season ended the same way the previous one did: a loss to the host team in the final four.

No. 3 seed UCLA women’s water polo (24-7, 4-2 MPSF) fell to No. 2 seed Stanford (22-2, 6-0) 8-7 in the semifinals of the NCAA championship Saturday evening. The Bruins fell in the second round for the second straight year under coach Adam Wright.

The Cardinal scored the first five goals of the game, but the Bruins rebounded to take a 6-5 lead in the fourth quarter. Wright said his team’s determination took over in the late stages to start the comeback.

“(Making the comeback) is not easy,” Wright said. “We’re a team that doesn’t have as much experience as Stanford. It just says a lot about (our team’s) will.”

The Bruins kept the Cardinal scoreless in the second half until there was only 2:49 left in the fourth quarter to tie it up 6-6. The Cardinal answered with the first two goals of overtime, and the Bruins could not muster up another comeback.

Wright said his team’s gameplan in the second half and overtime allowed the Bruins to stay in the game and force the Cardinal to make shots in overtime.

“Our goal is to keep them in front of us,” Wright said. “We were able to slow that down on the back end of the game. When they had to go through our frontcourt defense and through (senior goalie Carlee Kapana), it becomes tough.”

The first quarter saw the Bruins go scoreless when they went 0-of-4 for man-up opportunities. Stanford found the back of the cage four times, including goals on its one power play chance and a penalty shot.

The Bruins finally got on the scoreboard after the Cardinal scored its fifth goal. Senior defender Rachel Whitelegge was the first Bruin on the scoresheet, with sophomore attacker Roxy Wheaton joining her with 14 seconds left in the half to bring the Bruins to a 5-2 deficit at halftime.

Whitelegge said that past games that she has experienced against the Cardinal helped the team stay determined even when they were down three at the half.

“There’s a lot of history that goes back with us and Stanford,” Whitelegge said. “We’re headed in the right direction. We’re making moves toward where we need to be in the future.”

UCLA pulled even with Stanford in the third quarter thanks to goals from freshman attacker Val Ayala, junior attacker Maddie Musselman and sophomore attacker Lexi Liebowitz. Both teams missed power play opportunities in the last half of the quarter as the game went to the last period tied 5-5.

Redshirt senior attacker Grace Reego played her final game for the Bruins. She said this year’s team is the one that has felt most like a family to her in her five years of being in Westwood.

“In my five years, this is the team with the most trust and cohesion,” Reego said. “Although the outcome looked similar (to past games against Stanford), I’m really proud to see that internal culture change.”

Since Wright took over the team for the 2017-2018 season, UCLA has been bounced in the semifinals and have not won a title since 2009. However, Wright said he was happy with how his team progressed during the season and is excited for the next one.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our team,” Wright said. “It could have gone in a completely different way. To be on this stage, to fight back, to get ahead, I couldn’t ask for more.”

UCLA softball drops regular-season finale, ceding first series loss to Arizona

Despite co-clinching the conference title for the first time in a decade, the Bruins left Easton Stadium on Saturday with their first series loss of the season.

No. 2 UCLA softball (46-5, 20-4 Pac-12) fell to No. 6 Arizona (42-12, 19-5) 3-1 in its final regular season game of 2019. Saturday saw the Bruins match their conference performance last season – 20 wins and four losses – and similarly finish with a single Pac-12 series loss.

The game also marked the farewell of seven senior Bruins, including senior utility Taylor Pack, who notched in a two-run home run Friday, and senior catcher Paige Halstead, who finished Saturday 2-for-3 with two singles.

Senior third baseman Brianna Tautalafua said it is bittersweet that her time with the program is coming to an end.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunities that the coaches gave me for all four years and for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” Tautalafua said. “I’m really proud to be a Bruin for life and to be playing with some of the top athletes in the country right now.”

Freshman pitcher and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Megan Faraimo also touched on the departing seniors, noting their presence in the squad when facing high-ranked opposition.

“They were huge and played a big part in this team, whether they were playing (on the field) or in the dugout,” Faraimo said. “A lot of our success is because of them.”

Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said she is proud of the departing seniors, but as a former Bruin, she is certain that they will have off-field success moving forward.

“I told them that they’ve made UCLA a better place,” Inouye-Perez said. “We’ve made the (Women’s College) World Series every year since they’ve been here, and although we aren’t the outright Pac-12 champs, we are co-champs. They left their mark here and know that our program is better off because of them.”

Before the start of the game, the departing seniors’ mothers lined up to throw simultaneous first pitches to their daughters. The group instead acted out an impromptu skit of a home run in motion that drew laughs from both dugouts.

“They decided to take the moment on their own stage, because that’s what mothers do,” Inouye-Perez said. “Mothers put a lot of time and work into everything that their kids do and support them, so if they have a minute or two, they deserve it.”

After pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit and seven strikeouts in Saturday’s loss, Faraimo said that falling to Arizona checked UCLA’s mentality heading into NCAA regionals next week.

“There are a lot of lessons that we learned because we didn’t give up the game today and had a lot of fight,” Faraimo said. “Maybe there were some pitches that I could have thrown better, but we learned to pay greater attention to detail. We learned to keep a level head and to stay confident.”

Faraimo replaced sophomore starting pitcher Holly Azevedo in the third inning, who was quickly pulled by Inouye-Perez after giving up two home runs. Saturday’s loss was Azevedo’s first as a Bruin, who finished 2019 short of her 15-win total from last season.

The Bruins had two more hits than the Wildcats on Saturday, despite pitcher Gina Snyder striking out three batters in her fifth win of the season. Between junior center fielder Bubba Nickles’ solo shot to left in the sixth and the Wildcats’ three-run display in the third, the two Pac-12 teams combined for a series total of 10 home runs.

UCLA will look to get back to its winning ways and fight for the first-division title when it commences postseason play next week.

Men’s tennis ends season with loss to Baylor in NCAA round of 16

The Bruins’ season is over.

No. 11 seed UCLA men’s tennis (19-6, 8-0 Pac-12) fell to No. 6 seed Baylor (25-5, 3-2 Big 12) 4-1 on Friday to end its opportunity at the 2019 NCAA championship. The Bruins’ super regional loss ended its team season four match wins short of a title.

UCLA could not repeat last season’s performance, when it reached the semifinals as the No. 2 seed. But, coach Billy Martin said he was proud of what his team had accomplished this season..

“I’m not happy about getting to the round of 16,” Martin said. “But, I’m definitely proud of what this team accomplished this year. It’s by no means what we strive for, but given the circumstances, I think the team has done an incredible job.”

The match began with the Bruins dropping the doubles point to the Bears with losses at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Freshman Patrick Zahraj and sophomore Bryce Pereira fell 6-3 at No. 3, and freshman Govind Nanda and redshirt sophomore Connor Rapp lost 6-4 minutes later.

“We got unlucky in my first service game. A few calls didn’t go our way,” Pereira said. “(Zahraj) and I did well to turn the match around, but they were a solid team and we came up a little bit short.”

Doubles have been an inconsistent scoring opportunity for the Bruins this season. After starting 4-5 on the season, the Bruins reeled off nine straight doubles points before they ended the season with a 4-3 stretch. Martin said the team worked to improve their doubles all year and ultimately fell short against a strong opponent.

“By no means did we play badly today,” Martin said. “We always have confidence in our No. 1 doubles to get a victory, and their match ended with three match points on (sophomore) Keegan (Smith’s) serve. On the other courts, they got off to strong starts, and then a break at No. 2 and they held, and that’s the match.”

In singles, junior Ben Goldberg lost to No. 76 Sven Lah, followed by Nanda falling to No. 112 Adrian Boitan to put the Bruins down 3-0. After fighting back from a set down to force a third, freshman Roscoe Bellamy dropped his match 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 for Baylor’s clinching point.

“After all of the first sets, they were up big on five of the six courts,” Goldberg said. “But we all fought back in the second sets and all of our players had a lead in the second. We had our looks today, but they had a lot of strong players.”

The crowds of Baylor fans were boisterous throughout the matches and Pereira said it didn’t dishearten the UCLA players much but boosted the Baylor players throughout the match.

“The crowd was really rowdy today,” Pereira said. “They were on our backs from the start. It seemed to really fuel the Baylor guys, but I don’t think it affected ours too much.”

Senior Maxime Cressy ended his UCLA dual-match career Friday. He claimed the lone Bruin point in the match, courtesy of a 6-4, 6-1 victory over No. 20 Johannes Schretter. Goldberg said Cressy’s growth and leadership during all four years made him a great Bruin.

“He’s put in so much work over the years,” Goldberg said. “He’s worked on getting better mentally, and his game has grown. Having a guy like that who can win so many matches at No. 1 singles and go undefeated in doubles is so valuable. (Cressy) was a great player and teammate.”

Cressy’s doubles matchup with partner sophomore Keegan Smith pitted the No. 1 doubles team in the country from Baylor against the No. 2 undefeated UCLA duo. The match ended unfinished at 5-4, 40-0 with Smith serving. The duos will have a chance to continue competition when it participates in the NCAA doubles championship later this month in Orlando, Florida.

Martin said Cressy’s college career came to a close after four years of contributing to the team and after recording an impressive senior year.

“He’s had an incredible career and an incredible senior year,” Martin said. “He’s one of the best doubles players I’ve ever coached at UCLA. He’s been a help to the team since day one, and he really is the definition of an athlete – that won’t be denied.”

After Friday’s win, Baylor will travel to Orlando to compete in the quarterfinals of the NCAA championships. With UCLA’s dual-match season over, Cressy and Smith both will compete in the NCAA singles and doubles championships.