UCLA women’s tennis opens conference play with win over Oregon, loss to Washington

A winning road record hung in the balance for the Bruins on Sunday.

No. 16 junior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer forced a third set on court one but found herself down five games to one as the Huskies led the match 3-1.

And when Reece Carter – whom Lutkemeyer swept in straight sets at home less than two months prior – claimed a sixth game, the Bruins’ away record moved to 2-3 on the year.

Though UCLA women’s tennis (6-5, 1-1 Big Ten) ended its two-match skid Friday in a sweep of Oregon (7-6, 0-4) at the Student Tennis Center in Eugene, Oregon, it ultimately dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 19 Washington (10-2, 3-1) on Sunday at the Lloyd Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle, reentering the losing column. The Bruins are 1-3 over their last four and 3-5 over their last eight.

“Right now, we’ve just been having some bad luck,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “Some players are just not playing with a lot of confidence. Some players are getting a little banged up.”

With the loss to Washington, UCLA has lost more road games this year than it did the entirety of last year. The team still has four away games left to play this season before possibly appearing in the Big Ten women’s tennis tournament in Ojai, California – a neutral site. The Bruins are 0-2 at neutral sites so far in 2025 and were 1-4 in 2024.

UCLA’s conference opening weekend was a tale of two drastically different stories. Not only did the Bruins sweep the Ducks, but they didn’t surrender a doubles set, and all three singles victories came in straight sets – including No. 52 freshman Kate Fakih’s ninth dual-match singles win, besting Tilde Jagare 6-3, 6-4 to prolong her season-long undefeated streak.

No. 3 Fakih and freshman Olivia Center also secured their 20th and 21st win as a collegiate pair over the weekend, moving to 21-5 since the individual season in the fall.

“We have very deep chemistry,” Center said. “We know each other really well, and we’re so comfortable with each other on the court.”

Freshman Olivia Center serves at the Los Angeles Tennis Center in Westwood. (Isabella Appell/Daily Bruin)

Friday was UCLA’s first 4-0 victory since taking down Washington on Jan. 25 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

However, Sunday swung the other way in Seattle.

While the Bruins clinched the doubles point – thanks to Center and Fakih plus No. 90 Lutkemeyer and sophomore Ahmani Guichard – the Huskies won four singles courts in a row.

Guichard was the only Bruin to win her first singles set – just one of two singles sets the team secured against the Huskies – as she downed Sophie Luescher 6-1.

“I was motivated like I normally am,” Guichard said. “I was trying to stick to my game style and play loose and free. I think that’s what helped me.”

But the remaining five Bruins dropped their openers – putting the team in a hole it couldn’t climb out of.

“We got off to some slow starts, and that’s not something we can afford to do against teams like this,” Sampras Webster said. “Washington did a good job of executing their game better than we did.”

After Fakih dropped her first collegiate dual-match singles set 6-2, 6-0 to Alexia Jacobs, Center was the next to fall, overcome by Carina Syrtveit 6-2, 7-6(4).

“It’s obviously tough to lose in tight moments like that,” Center said. “But I think it’s good to experience moments like that, so when they come in the future, you have a better idea of what to do.”

Dropping three of four in its latest road trip, UCLA will have to wait till bouts against Ohio State on March 28 and Penn State on March 30 for its next chance to end its road woes.

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