SAN DIEGO – A quartet of participants from the UCLA women’s tennis team traveled south to the University of San Diego’s Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center, home of the ITA Southwest Regional Championships, and each left with at least two singles wins.
Ahmani Guichard, Mia Jovic, Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Elise Wagle made up the Bruin contingent, with Lutkemeyer and Wagle reaching the singles third round. The doubles pair of Guichard and Lutkemeyer won two main-draw doubles matches.
A 17-32 seed, Lutkemeyer raced out to a 6-0, 6-0 win versus Crystal Kim of UC Riverside. Lutkemeyer would need to rally in Round 2, overcoming Hawai’i’s Nikola Homolkova 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3). The Bruin sophomore’s run ended with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph by the 45th-ranked and fourth-seeded Amelia Honer of UC Santa Barbara.
While Jovic was stopped in the first round, Guichard got past Kim-Michaela Zahraj of Loyola Marymount 7-5, 6-1. A three-setter against USC’s Naomi Cheong followed, with the Trojan ultimately topping Guichard by a 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 margin.
Dealt a first-round bye due to her No. 9-16 seeding, Wagle bested Myah Petchey of San Diego State 7-6(1), 6-0 in Round 1. Wagle’s time in the singles draw ended her next time out, suffering a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 loss to No. 17-32 seed Ana Vilcek of Hawai’i
In singles extra matches, Jovic won twice. The freshman from Torrance, Calif. earned her first career victory when she came out on top of 7-5, 6-1 contest with UC Irvine’s Cydney Yamamoto. Jovic also beat UC Irvine’s Mikaela Hinton 6-4, 6-2. Guichard overpowered Natasha Puehse of Grand Canyon 6-4, 6-1, while Lutkemeyer and Wagle each defeated a familiar foe. Wagle topped Patricija Spaka of Arizona State 6-2, 3-6, 1-0(5), while Lutkemeyer came back to secure a 3-6, 6-3, 1-0(8) win versus Reece Carter of Arizona.
Jovic played alongside Wagle in doubles play, while Guichard and Lutkemeyer teamed up. Both pairs were victorious out of the gate, with Jovic/Wagle beating Long Beach State’s Doga Akyurek/Sarah Medlik 8-3 and Guichard/Lutkemeyer also winning 8-3 opposite Diana Yanotovskaya/Seha Yu of Cal State Fullerton.
While Jovic and Wagle were stopped in the next round, Guichard and Lutkemeyer rode their opening victory to an 8-5 decision over ASU’s Spaka and Sara Svetac. Guichard and Lutkemeyer saw their run end against CSUN’s Natalie Duffy and Josie Usereau 8-6.
ITA Southwest Regional Championships
10/19-10/23/2023 at San Diego, CA (Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center)
| Singles competition | |
| Main Draw | |
| 128 | Midori Castillo-Meza (Arizona) def. Mia Jovic (UCLA) 6-0, 6-1 |
| 128 | A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. Crystal Kim (UC Riverside) 6-0, 6-0 |
| 128 | Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) def. Kim-Michaela Zahraj (Loyola Marymount) 7-5, 6-1 |
| 64 | A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. Nikola Homolkova (Hawai’i) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) |
| 64 | Elise Wagle (UCLA) def. Myah Petchey (San Diego State) 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 |
| 64 | Naomi Cheong (USC) def. Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 |
| 32 | #45 Amelia Honer (UC Santa Barbara) def. A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 32 | Ana Vilcek (Hawai’i) def. Elise Wagle (UCLA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 |
| Extra Matches | |
| Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) def. Natasha Puehse (Grand Canyon) 6-4, 6-1 | |
| Mia Jovic (UCLA) def. Cydney Yamamoto (UC Irvine) 7-5, 6-1 | |
| Elise Wagle (UCLA) def. Patricija Spaka (Arizona State) 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-5) | |
| A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. Reece Carter (Arizona) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8) | |
| Camille Kiss (UC Santa Barbara) def. Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) 6-2, 6-2 | |
| Mia Jovic (UCLA) def. Mikaela Hinton (UC Irvine) 6-4, 6-2 | |
| Doubles competition | |
| 32 | Mia Jovic/Elise Wagle (UCLA) def. Doga Akyurek/Sarah Medik (Long Beach State) 8-3 |
| 32 | Ahmani Guichard/A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. Diana Yanotovskaya/Seha Yu (Cal State Fullerton) 8-3 |
| 16 | Carlota Molina/I. Tcherkes-Zade (Loyola Marymount) def. Mia Jovic/Elise Wagle (UCLA) 8-4 |
| 16 | Ahmani Guichard/A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. Patricija Spaka/Sara Svetac (Arizona State) 8-5 |
| QF | Natalie Duffy/Josie Usereau (CSUN) def. Ahmani Guichard/A. Lutkemeyer 8-6 |
| Extra Matches | |
| Diana Yanotovskaya/Seha Yu (Cal State Fullerton) def. Mia Jovic/Elise Wagle (UCLA) 6-2 | |