Nation's No. 1 Christian/Santamaria stay perfect with another title run.
Univ. of Southern California Team Page
USC sophomore Sabrina Santamaria pulled some seriously successful double duty today in Las Vegas, drumming up the singles and doubles titles at the Freeman Memorial Tennis Championship. Santamaria started the day by pairing up with her trusty doubles partner Kaitlyn Christian, and the nation's top doubles team slated two more opponents to win in the semis and final today to claim another championship. Later in the day, Santamaria struck out on her own and shocked the No. 2 seeded and #11 ranked Gina Suarez-Malaguti of UNC with a smooth 6-0, 6-1 victory in the singles championship.
Christian and Santamaria started the day off right, beating a UCLA pair with an 8-4 semifinal victory over No. 3 seeded Bruins Dolehide/Montez to earn that trip to the title match. At the other side of the bracket, USC's Danielle Lao and Valeria Pulido were also in a semifinal battle, but took an 8-2 loss to UNC's No. 2 seeded Dai/Kay. Christian/Santamaria would avenge that loss by their teammates with an 8-4 win over Dai/Kay in the final to ring up the Trojan duo's first title of the spring.
Meanwhile, in more Trojan competition taking place at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in Palm Spring, Calif., USC was well represented in title matches there, too. Playing in her first season of action as a Trojan, USC's Giuliana Olmos made it to the singles final and took UCLA's #6 Robin Anderson to three sets before falling in the third-set tiebreaker. Anderson was also a winner on the doubles courts, as she and teammate Morton combined forces as the #16 team to beat out USC's #13 pair Gabriella DeSimone and Zoë Scandalis 8-6 in the doubles championship match.
Complete USC results from both tournaments are below.
Freeman Memorial Tennis Championships (Las Vegas, Nev.)
SINGLES
First Round - Jan. 18
#14 [3] Danielle Lao (USC) - bye
#17 [4] Sabrina Santamaria (USC) - bye
Kaitlyn Christian (USC) def. Janine Erasmus (UNLV) - 6-3, 6-1
#21 [5] Whitney Kay (UNC) def. Valeria Pulido (USC) - 6-4, 6-2
Round of 16 - Jan. 18
#14 [3] Danielle Lao (USC) def. #111 Lauren McHale (UNC) - 6-1, 6-1
#17 [4] Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. Kate Vialle (UNC) - 6-2, 6-0
#11 [2] Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Kaitlyn Christian (USC) - 6-2, 6-0
Quarterfinals - Jan. 19
#14 [3] Danielle Lao (USC) def. Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) - 6-4, 6-3
#17 [4] Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. #55 Ellen Tsay (STAN) - 6-7, 6-2, 6-4
Semifinals - Jan. 19
#11 [2] Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. #14 [3] Danielle Lao (USC) - 7-6, 6-4
#17 [4] Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def #2 [1] Krista Hardebeck (STAN) - 6-0, 6-2
Championship - Jan. 20
#17 [4] Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. #11 [2] Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) - 6-0, 6-1
CONSOLATION/ADDED SINGLES
Courtney Dolehide (UCLA) def. Valeria Pulido (USC) - 6-1, 6-0
Kaitlyn Christian (USC) def. Laura Slater (UNC) - 6-1, 6-0
Iren Kotseva (UNLV) def. Valeria Pulido (USC) - 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6)
Kaitlyn Christian (USC) def. #66 Brianna Morgan (FLA) - 6-4, 7-6
DOUBLES
Round of 16 - Jan. 18
#1 [1] Christian/Santamaria (USC) def. Erasmus/Ferenczi-Bako (UNLV) - 8-0
#40 [4] Lao/Pulido (USC) def. Slater/Vialle (UNC) - 8-7
Quarterfinals - Jan. 19
#1 [1] Christian/Santamaria (USC) def. Lyons/McHale (UNC) - 8-6
#40 [4] Lao/Pulido (USC) def. Collins/Janowicz (FLA) - 8-7
Semifinals - Jan. 20
#1 [1] Christian/Santamaria (USC) def. [3] Dolehide/Montez (UCLA) - 8-6
[2] Dai/Kay (UNC) def. #40 [4] Lao/Pulido (USC) - 8-2
Championship - Jan. 20
#1 [1] Christian/Santamaria (USC) def. [2] Dai/Kay (UNC) - 8-4
National Collegiate Tennis Classic (Palm Springs, Calif.)
SINGLES
First Round - Jan. 18
Ellie Yates (USC) - bye
Gabriella DeSimone (USC) - bye
Giuliana Olmos (USC) - bye
#19 Zoë Scandalis (USC) - bye
Round of 16 - Jan. 18
Ellie Yates (USC) def. Danielle Peneridis (PEP) - 6-1, 6-2
Gabriella DeSimone (USC) def. Amelia Herring (STAN) - 6-2, 6-2
Giuliana Olmos (USC) def. Lindsey Kostas (STAN) - 6-0, 4-2 ret.
#19 Zoë Scandalis (USC) - bye
Quarterfinals - Jan. 18
#6 Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. Ellie Yates (USC) - 6-2, 6-1
Gabriella DeSimone (USC) def. Kristie Ahn (STAN) - 6-4, 6-3
Giuliana Olmos (USC) def. #38 Kaitlyn Ray (UCLA) - 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Catherine Harrison (UCLA) def. #19 Zoë Scandalis (USC) - 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
Semifinals - Jan. 19
#6 Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. Gabriella DeSimone (USC) - 6-4, 6-1
Giuliana Olmos (USC) def. Catherine Harrison (UCLA) - 6-3, 6-2
Championship - Jan. 20
#6 Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. Giuliana Olmos (USC) - 5-7, 6-4, 7-6
DOUBLES
Round of 16 - Jan. 18
#13 DeSimone/Scandalis (USC) - bye
Olmos/Yates (USC) - bye
Quarterfinals - Jan. 18
#13 DeSimone/Scandalis (USC) - bye
Olmos/Yates (USC) def. Capannolo/Feneridis (PEP) - 8-4
Semifinals - Jan. 19
#13 DeSimone/Scandalis (USC) def. Harrison/Ray (UCLA) - 8-6
#16 Anderson/Morton (UCLA) def. Olmos/Yates (USC) - 8-4
Championship - Jan. 20
#16 Anderson/Morton (UCLA) def. #13 DeSimone/Scandalis (USC) - 8-6
