Utes Suffer Close Loss to No. 14 UCLA

Friday, April 6

Salt Lake City, UT

1:30 PM

University of Utah

UCLA

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

4/6/2018 5:10 PM | Women's Tennis

SALT LAKE CITY – In a very competitive match, the University of Utah women's tennis team fell short to the 14^thranked UCLA Bruins with a score of 3-4. The Utes now move to an overall record of 10-10 on the season, and fall to 1-6 overall in Pac-12 play.

"I'm really proud of the effort shown by our team, and I feel like we learned a lot about what it takes to compete with one of the top teams in the country," said head coach Mat Iandolo. "We let a couple opportunities get away from us early in singles and in the end, that made the difference. Hopefully this helps us get ready for USC on Sunday."

The Utes got an early advantage over the Bruins as they were able to take the doubles point. On the No. 1 court, Alexia Petrovic and Jena Cheng were able to pull off an upset, as they defeated the 10^thranked doubles pair in the nation, Jada Hart and Terri Fleming, with a score of 6-4. This was the first time that the Utes have beat a top 10 doubles team since 1989, which was against UCLA as well. Taylor Calton and Whitney Turley then sealed the doubles with a win at the No. 2 position, topping UCLA's Ayan Broomfield and Abi Altick, 6-3.

In singles, Victoria Robertson kept things rolling with a win at the No. 6 spot, defeating Kristin Wiley, 6-2, 6-1. UCLA then won on courts 3, 2, and 5, to gain the lead on the Utes with a score of 3-2. After pulling off the upset in doubles, Petrovic then followed with another upset victory at the No. 1 positon, defeating 11^thranked Ena Shibahara in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Petrovic's victory is the first win against a top-15 singles opponent since 2008, and her second ranked win of the season. With the score then tied 3-3, Calton was unable to card a victory against No. 50 Abi Altick, as she fell 7-6, 2-6, 2-6, giving the Bruins the victory.

The Utes will be back in action for one more Pac-12 conference match this Sunday, as the Utah women's tennis team will wrap up senior weekend with a match against No. 40 USC. Senior ceremonies are set to start five minutes prior to the match against the Trojans.

No. 14 UCLA 4, UTAH 3

Doubles (3,1,2)
Alexia Petrovic/Jena Cheng (UTAH) def. No. 10 Jada Hart/Terri Fleming (UCLA), 6-4
Taylor Calton/Whitney Turley (UTAH) def. Ayan Broomfield/Abi Altick (UCLA), 6-3
Ena Shibahara/Alaina Miller (UCLA) def. Brianna Chisholm/Victoria Robertson (UTAH), 6-4

Singles (6,3,2,5,1,4)
Alexia Petrovic (UTAH) def. No. 11 Ena Shibahara (UCLA), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 33 Jada Hart (UCLA) def. Brianna Chisholm (UTAH) 7-6, 6-1
No. 113 Terri Fleming (UCLA) def. Jena Cheng (UTAH) 6-1, 6-4
No. 50 Abi Altick (UCLA) def. Taylor Calton (UTAH), 6-7, 6-2, 6-2
Ayan Broomfield (UCLA) def. Whitney Turley (UTAH), 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
Victoria Robertson (UTAH) def. Kristin Wiley (UCLA), 6-2, 6-1