The UCLA women’s tennis team, ranked sixth nationally, secured a 4-1 victory over Minnesota on Sunday during its first Big Ten Conference road trip of the season. The match took place at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
Olivia Center and Bianca Fernandez each contributed two wins for UCLA. Fernandez clinched the overall win for the Bruins after a three-set singles match against Sofia Pinto, finishing 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. Ahmani Guichard also added a singles win with a 6-3, 6-3 result over Anlin Xie.
Minnesota managed to tie the score briefly when Mia Liepert defeated Mayu Crossley in straight sets. However, UCLA regained momentum as Guichard responded with her sixth singles victory in seven matches. Center followed with another straight-set win against Yinong Ma.
In doubles play, Fernandez paired with Kayla Chung for the first time and won their match on court three. Meanwhile, Center and Kate Fakih held off Nora Knezevic and Arina Valitova on court one to secure another point for UCLA.
The Bruins now hold a record of 7-3 overall and are 1-1 in Big Ten play. Minnesota’s record falls to 9-6 and remains winless in conference competition.
UCLA will continue its Big Ten schedule next Saturday against Ohio State at Los Angeles Tennis Center. The following day they will face Penn State, with both matches set to begin at noon Pacific Time.
