Thursday, 02/02/2012

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The No. 16 USC women's tennis team is out of the gates with a 4-0 record after its third shutout win in four matches with today's 7-0 sweep of visiting No. 41 Saint Mary's. Sabrina Santamaria snagging the clinching win for the Women of Troy today with a 6-2, 6-2 win at the No. 3 position to carry USC to victory at Marks Stadium.

Sparked by a clean sweep from the No. 3 spot in doubles by Valeria Pulido and Zoe Scandalis, the Women of Troy pinned up the first point of the match with wins on all three courts. After Pulido/Scandalis got a rest with their quick 8-0 victory, USC's #3 Kaitlyn Christian / Sabrina Santamaria finished out their 8-4 win on court one just before Danielle Lao and Alison Ramos wrapped up an 8-4 win at the No. 2 spot to bring up singles play.

Zoe Scandalis and Valeria Pulido mirrored one another with near-perfect 6-1, 6-0 decisions at the No. 1 and No. 6 positions, respectively, to set up the Trojans with a 3-0 advantage. Santamaria rang up the winner from court three next, and Kaitlyn Christian added to the count with a 6-2, 6-2 win of her own at the No. 4 spot. Senior Alison Ramos pinned up her fourth straight singles win next on a 6-3, 6-1 victory that made it 6-0 Trojans. On court two, Danielle Lao's match stretched to a deciding 10-point tiebreaker. Lao slipped behind 6-2 to SMC's Jenny Jullien before rattling off six straight points to surge into the lead. Jullien closed the gap to 8-all, but Lao took control and pushed on to the win for her eighth straight singles win.

The USC women now turn to more nonconference play on Saturday (Feb. 4) for a 12 p.m. clash with No. 27 Pepperdine at Marks Stadium.

#16 USC 7, #34 Saint Mary's 0
Feb. 2, 2012 -- Marks Stadium

DOUBLES
(1) #3 Christian/Santamaria (USC) def. Isip/Searl (SMC) -- 8-4
(2) Lao/Ramos (USC) def. Frampton/Jullien (SMC) -- 8-4
(3) Pulido/Scandalis (USC) def. Leduc/Lindlar (SMC) -- 8-0
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

SINGLES
(1) #19 Zoe Scandalis (USC) def. #82 Catherine Isip (SMC) -- 6-1, 6-0
(2) #42 Danielle Lao (USC) def. #68 Jenny Jullien (SMC) -- 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
(3) #18 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. #116 Jade Frampton (SMC) -- 6-2, 6-2*
(4) #99 Kaitlyn Christian (USC) def. Anna Chkhikvishili (SMC) -- 6-2, 6-2
(5) Alison Ramos (USC) def. Catherine Leduc (SMC) -- 6-3, 6-1
(6) Valeria Pulido (USC) def. Carla Lindlar (SMC) -- 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 1, 6, 3*, 4, 5, 2