College Tennis News - No. 12 USC Women Upset No. 3 UCLA 4-2

WESTWOOD, CALIF. -- The No. 12 USC women's tennis team shrugged off a rain delay and charged up for a key win over No. 3 rival UCLA tonight in Westwood. After surrendering the doubles point, the Women of Troy rallied with four singles wins, capped by a three-set Danielle Lao's straight-set win at the No. 2 spot to clinch it as a 4-2 win for USC. The Trojans improve to 10-2 overall with the upset of their crosstown rivals.

The Trojans trailed 1-0 coming out of doubles play when the Bruins pulled out wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions before the action on court one got a chance to finish. Singles play would stall out when rain came through Westwood and interrupted things with every match still pending. USC was leading in two matches, down a set in three and locked even in one when rain forced the players to stop competition for the day. The marquee matchup on court one between USC's #3 Sabrina Santamaria and UCLA's #2 Robin Anderson was the closest to finishing, with the Trojan sophomore holding a healthy 6-1, 5-1 lead on Anderson.

When action finally resumed later in the evening, Santamaria was the first to finish things off. She rounded out her straight-set upset of Anderson with a 6-1, 6-2, final to lock the match up 1-1. More straight-set decisions would follow, with Santamaria helping inspire fellow USC sophomore #26 Zoë Scandalis to a dominating 6-3, 6-1 win over #45 Kyle McPhillips at the No. 3 spot to make it 2-1 Trojans.

USC surrendered a singles win when freshman Ellie Yates fell 6-0, 6-3 to UCLA's Courtney Dolehide as the Bruins pulled even 2-2 in the match. USC's #84 sophomore Gabriella DeSimone, meanwhile, had answered a rallying cry and turned the tables on her foe, #81 Chanelle Van Nguyen, with a total turnaround for an 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 comeback that bumped USC back ahead 3-2 on a win from court four. At the No. 2 spot, USC senior Danielle Lao won the day. The #7 Lao fought through a tight first set and rolled right along for the clincher. Lao topped #68 Pamela Montex 7-5, 6-1 and wrapped up the big win for the Trojans with the clincher. Her win paired with the cloudy skies to suspend play on court five, where USC's Giuliana Olmos and UCLA's Catherine Harris were in a third set.

With this upset in the books, USC now turns to next week's action against Texas in a 1:30 p.m. home match on March 12 at Marks Stadium.

#12 USC 4, #3 UCLA 2
March 8, 2013 - Westwood, Calif.

DOUBLES
(1) #1 Christian/Santamaria (USC) vs. Anderson/Van Nguyen UCLA) - 7-4 susp.
(2) #58 Dolehide/Montez (UCLA) def. #26 DeSimone/Scandalis (USC) - 8-3
(3) Harrison/McPhillips (UCLA) def. Lao/Olmos (USC) - 8-3
UCLA wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 3

SINGLES
(1) #3 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. #2 Robin Anderson (UCLA) - 6-1, 6-2
(2) #7 Danielle Lao (USC) def. #68 Pamela Montez (UCLA) - 7-5, 6-1
(3) #26 Zoë Scandalis (USC) def. #45 Kyle McPhillips (UCLA) - 6-3, 6-1
(4) #84 Gabriella DeSimone (USC) def. #81 Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) - 0-6, 6-2, 6-4*
(5) #82 Catherine Harrison (UCLA) #99 Giuliana Olmos (USC) - 7-6, 4-6, 1-0 susp.
(6) Courtney Dolehide (UCLA) def. Ellie Yates (USC) - 6-0, 6-3