University of California-Los Angeles Women's Tennis

Owner of an impressive overall record of 542-201 (.729), head coach Stella Sampras Webster enters her 30th season at the helm of UCLA women’s tennis in 2025-26. Sampras Webster is only the third head coach in program history, following legends Bill Zaima (1972-76, 1986-1996) and Gayle Godwin (1977-1986). The second-longest-tenured active coach at UCLA, Sampras Webster has led the women’s tennis program to both of its NCAA team championships. On April 9, 2010, she passed friend and mentor Zaima as the program’s all-time leader in head-coaching victories, with No. 246. On April 18, 2023, Sampras Webster recorded the 500th win of her career. Sampras Webster and the Bruins captured the 2014 NCAA title with a thrilling 4-3 victory over North Carolina in Athens, Ga. It marked the 111th NCAA championship for UCLA. The Bruins finished the 2014 campaign with a 27-2 overall record, which included a 9-1 mark in the highly-competitive Pac-12 Conference. UCLA did not surrender the doubles point in any match that year, going a perfect 29-0 in doubles play. The 2014 season marked the second NCAA championship for Sampras Webster, as she also led UCLA to the title in 2008. UCLA’s 2008 title was the first NCAA championship for the program, following up on the team’s 1981 AIAW national crown. Few college coaches can match Sampras Webster’s ability to continually put her team in the title hunt year in and year out. Prior to her first title in 2008, she also had a pair of second-place finishes at

Giancarlo “G.C.” Cava enters his 11th season as an assistant coach for the UCLA women’s tennis program in 2025-26. He replaced alumna Laura Gordon as volunteer assistant in 2014, served in the role until 2021 and returned to the staff in 2023-24. The 2024 Bruins made history in Cava’s return, claiming sole possession of the final Pac-12 regular-season championship and an NCAA Championships quarterfinal-round berth. UCLA has advanced to or past the second round of the season-ending tournament in each completed season with Cava on staff. Cava’s first dual-match season came in 2015 and his appointment paid immediate dividends. Coming off its 2014 NCAA title, UCLA again reached the championship match in 2015 before falling short. Following the team’s league-winning campaign in 2024, the Bruins did not miss a beat in their program’s transition to the Big Ten Conference. The 2025 group won 11 of its final 13 matches and earned a spot in the NCAA Championships super-regional round. Honda Award winner Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady each played one year under Cava, while Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips are among others who have thrived under his tutelage. The combination of Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield won the NCAA doubles championship in 2019 and Elysia Bolton and Jada Hart finished the coronavirus-shortened 2019-20 season atop the ITA doubles rankings. Immediately after his own collegiate career ended, Cava became a teaching professional at Riviera Country Club, a rol

Associate head coach Rance Brown enters his 29th season on the UCLA women’s tennis coaching staff in 2025-26. He served under Bill Zaima in 1996, and has been Stella Sampras Webster’s top assistant for 27 seasons. The 2000 and 2012 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year, Brown was promoted to the position of associate head coach effective at the beginning of the 2008-09 season. During Brown’s tenure, UCLA has continually been among the top teams in the nation. In addition to NCAA titles in 2008 and 2014, the Bruins have finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships four times (2004, 2007, 2012 and 2015). UCLA has made the NCAA tournament in each of his 27 completed seasons as an assistant. The 2020 team, led by the top-ranked doubles tandem of Elysia Bolton and Jada Hart, went 12-1 and reached the final round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in the coronavirus-shortened season. In 2021, the Bruins went 10-0 in regular-season conference play, outscoring opponents by a 53-6 margin en route to the program’s first outright Pac-12 championship. The 2024 squad went 9-1 against conference opponents to claim the final Pac-12 regular-season title in outright fashion. Brown then helped guide UCLA through a successful transition to the Big Ten Conference, as the 2025 group won 11 of its final 13 matches and earned a spot in the NCAA Championships super-regional round. Brown has especially excelled in the area of recruiting, bringing in a number of highly-ranked junior play