Friday, May 15
Waco, Texas
9:00 AM
Texas A&M
vs
UCLA
Texas A&M Faces Defending Champion UCLA in NCAA Round of 16
May 14, 2015 | Women's Tennis
2015 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship Information
- Hurd Tennis Center, Waco, Texas, Baylor University host
- Round of 16, Friday, May 15: No. 10 seed Texas A&M vs. No. 7 seed UCLA, 9 a.m.
- Quarterfinal, Sunday, May 17, noon: Texas A&M-UCLA winner vs. No. 2 North Carolina-No. 15 Miami winner
- Semifinals, Monday, May 18, 5 p.m.
- Championship, Tuesday, May 19, 5 p.m.
Texas A&M
Record: 17-5
Ranking/Seed: 10/10
Conference: SEC
Conf. Record (Finish): 11-2 (T-2nd)
NCAA Appearance: 21st
Last Appearance/Finish: 2014/Round of 16
NCAA Championship Record: 21-20
2015 NCAA Results: 1st Round: def. Alcorn State, 4-0; 2nd Round: def No. 17 TCU, 4-0
NCAA Best Finish: Runner-up (2013)
All-Time Series vs. UCLA: Tied 1-1
Last meeting: A&M won 4-3, May 20, 2013
Head Coach: Howard Joffe
Career Record: 131-60, .686 (8th season)
Record at A&M: 83-22, .790 (4th season)
UCLA
Record: 20-4
Ranking/Seed: 6/7
Conference: Pacific-12
Conf. Record (Finish): 8-2 (3rd)
NCAA Appearance: 34th
Last Appearance/Finish: 2014/Champion
NCAA Championship Record: 83-31
2015 NCAA Results: 1st Round: def. Idaho, 4-0; 2nd Round: def No. 26 Northwestern, 4-0
NCAA Best Finish: Champion (2008, 2014)
All-Time Series vs. Texas A&M: Tied 1-1
Last meeting: A&M won 4-3, May 20, 2013
Head Coach: Stella Sampras Webster
Career Record: 365-135, .730 (19th season)
Record at UCLA: 365-135, .730 (19th season)
TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
- Texas A&M (17-5) received a No. 10 seed in the 64-team NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship and defeated Alcorn State, 5-0, and 17th-ranked TCU, 4-0, in the first two rounds played at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas, to advance to the round of 16.
- UCLA (20-4), the defending national champion, blanked both Idaho and Northwestern, 4-0, in the first two rounds in Los Angeles to advance.
- The Texas A&M-UCLA winner will face the winner between No. 2 seed North Carolina and No. 15 Miami in the quarterfinals at noon on Sunday, May 17
TEXAS A&M NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
- Texas A&M is making its 16th consecutive and 21st overall appearance in the NCAA Championship.
- This marks the third consecutive year and the fourth time overall A&M has reached the round of 16.
- With this year's first and second-round victories, A&M improved to 21-20 all-time in NCAA tournament matches, surpassing a .500 tournament winning percentage for the first time in school history.
- The Aggies are 8-3 in NCAA matches under fourth-year head coach Howard Joffe.
- The Aggies' No. 10 seed marks the third consecutive year and the fourth time overall A&M has been seeded in the 64-team field. The Aggies were No. 12 in 2004, a record-high No. 3 in 2013, and received a No. 10 seed in both 2014 and 2015.
- A&M's best tournament finish was in 2013 when the Aggies advanced to the championship match before narrowly falling to 17-time national champion Stanford, 4-3.
- This was the third consecutive year and seventh time overall Texas A&M has served as host of an NCAA match (2015, 2014, 2013, 2011, 2004, 2003 and 1996). The Aggies, who finished the 2015 home season with a 10-2 record, are 11-3 all-time in home NCAA tournament matches.
- A&M is 3-3 against teams in the round of 16, including a 4-3 victory over No. 4 seed Vanderbilt and two wins against No. 8 seed Baylor. A&M fell, 4-3, to both No. 2 seed North Carolina and No. 5 seed Florida and suffered a 5-2 setback at No. 6 Georgia.
- Texas A&M began the 2015 tournament with an 11-5 record against the 64-team field, with one of the losses coming against TCU in the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Jan. 25 in College Station. The Aggies avenged the loss with a 4-0 victory over the Horned Frogs in the NCAA second round.
- Last year, the Aggies were a No. 10 seed in the NCAA tournament and defeated Stony Brook, 4-0, and 23rd-ranked Texas, 4-2, to advance to the round of 16 in Athens, Ga. Texas A&M was then eliminated by NCAA runner-up and No. 2 seed North Carolina, 4-0, in a match that was moved to the Ken Byers Tennis Complex indoor courts on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta because of rain.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
- UCLA is the defending national champion while Pac-12 foe USC is this year's No. 1 seed.
- Texas A&M is one four teams representing the SEC in the round of 16, with No. 4 seed Vanderbilt, No. 5 seed Florida and No. 6 seed Georgia also representing the league. The Pac-12, and the ACC also have four teams in the round of 16, while the Big 12 has three teams and the Big 10 has one.
- Texas A&M has won 14 of its last 16 matches.
- The Aggies have no seniors on the team.
- Texas A&M tied Georgia and Vanderbilt for second place in the Southeastern Conference standings with an 11-2 record.
- The Aggies were the No. 3 seed at the SEC Tournament and fell to 24th-ranked and No. 6 seed LSU, 4-3, in the quarterfinals on April 17 at the Carolina Tennis Complex in Columbia, S.C.
SERIES RECORD
- Texas A&M and UCLA are tied 1-1 in the all-time series, with both matches ending in a 4-3 score.
- A&M holds a 1-0 lead in NCAA tournament matches only.
- UCLA won the first-ever meeting (Feb. 4, 2005) in a consolation match at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Wisconsin.
- The most recent match-up was May 20, 2013, in the semifinals of the 2013 NCAA Championship, with the Aggies, who were making their first-ever semifinal appearance, overcoming a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3.
- The match came down to No. 4 singles, where Aggie then-freshman Ines Deheza had won her first set, 6-4, against Chanelle Van Nguyen. The second set came down to a marathon tiebreaker in which Deheza fought off several set points and had match point at 7-6 before eventually falling, 11-9. Deheza broke and then went up 2-0 to open the third set before Van Nguyen got on a roll and won four consecutive games to go up 4-2. Van Nguyen was up 40-love in the next game when Deheza rallied and won the game to get within 4-3. Deheza held serve to tie the set at 4-4, and continued a run of 10 straight points into the next game. Deheza was at game point when Van Nguyen began to cramp and was unable to serve in the allotted time frame and therefore was issued a point penalty, giving the game and a 5-4 lead to Deheza. Deheza was up triple match point in the next game, and despite Van Nguyen hobbling in severe pain, the Bruin scored two points before Deheza clinched the historic win.
UCLA NOTES
- No. 7 seed and sixth-ranked UCLA (20-4) is making its 34th all-time NCAA tournament appearance.
- The Bruins are 83-31 in NCAA tournament matches, with only Stanford and Florida having more tournament victories.
- UCLA defeated North Carolina, 4-3, in last year's final in Athens, Ga., marking the program's second NCAA title to go along its 2008 championship. It also was the third national championship in program history, as UCLA also claimed the 1981 AIAW crown.
- Senior Robin Anderson is the No. 1-ranked singles player in the nation and was voted the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. Senior Chanelle Van Nguyen and junior Catherine Harrison, ranked 21st and 33rd, respectively, were named to the All-Pac 12 second team.
- Kyle McPhillips (35), Jennifer Brady (47) and Kaitlin Ray (109) also are ranked in singles.
- In doubles, Harrison and Phillips are ranked fourth, and Anderson and Brady are No. 9.
- UCLA leads all other teams with five players selected to the NCAA Singles Championship: Anderson, Brady, Van Nguyen, McPhillips and Harrison.
- Harrison and McPhillips and Anderson and Brady also will compete in the NCAA Doubles Championship.
- The Bruins defeated Idaho, 4-0, in the first round and 26th-ranked Northwestern, 4-0, in the second round to advance.
- Head coach Stella Sampras Webster (UCLA '91) is 365-135 in her 19th season as head coach of the Bruins.
COMMON OPPONENTS
- Texas A&M and UCLA have faced four common opponents in 2015: Georgia, Baylor, Kentucky and TCU.
- A&M is a combined 4-2 against the four common opponents with two wins against Baylor and a victory against both Kentucky and TCU. A&M also suffered a loss to TCU as well as Georgia.
- UCLA is 3-1 against the common opponents, with the only loss coming against Georgia at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
TEXAS A&M IN THE ITA RANKINGS
- Texas A&M entered the NCAA tournament ranked 10th, marking the fourth consecutive week and the fifth time this year the Aggies have been ranked in the top 10.
- The Aggies were No. 10 in the preseason ranking released Jan. 6. It is the second highest preseason ranking in school history.
- A&M reached a season-high No. 7 ranking on April 14, jumping three spots following a week in which the Aggies defeated No. 7 Baylor, No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 21 Kentucky in consecutive matches.
- After having played only four matches and going a 2-2 with the biggest win being a season-opening victory over No. 70 North Texas leading into the Feb. 24 first computerized ranking of the season, the Aggies dropped out of the team ranking for the first time since March 10, 2010. A&M also was unranked the following week (March 3, 2015) before returning to the Top 75 on March 10, coming in at No. 46.
- Sophomore Rachel Pierson entered NCAA competition ranked a career-high and team-best No. 26 in singles.
- Pierson and freshman Eva Paalma are No. 13 in doubles, marking the highest ranking by an A&M doubles team this season. Pierson also is ranked 45th in doubles with junior Ines Deheza, although the two haven't played together since Feb. 12 against UT Arlington.
- Sophomores Saska Gavrilovska and Rutuja Bhosale are ranked in singles at Nos. 54 and 66, respectively.
- Deheza and junior Stefania Hristov are No. 39 in doubles and have been ranked as high as No. 16 (March 24).
PASSING SHOTS
- A&M is one of five teams to have both its men's and women's tennis teams in the top 10 in the ITA rankings, joining Baylor, Georgia, USC and Virginia.
- A&M is one of seven teams to have both its men's and women's teams in the NCAA round of 16: Baylor, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC and Virginia.
- A&M is 13-5 against ranked opponents, including four top-10 wins.
- In dual matches only, the Aggies are a combined 76-41 (.650) in singles and 34-18 (.654) in doubles.
- Sophomore Rachel Pierson was named the ITA Texas Region Player to Watch.
- A&M is 10-0 when No. 2 singles wins.
- A&M went 9-0 at No. 4 singles when playing at home.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
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/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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/ Women's Tennis
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/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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