LOS ANGELES - USC women's tennis junior Kaitlyn Christian notched the fourth point in a 4-0 win for the fifth-seeded and No. 5-ranked USC women's tennis team (23-2). The Women of Troy ran their winning streak to 15 matches as they defeated No. 32 UC Irvine (23-5) in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships at David X. Marks Stadium on Sunday, May 12, to advance to the round of 16 for the second consecutive year.
The Trojans will face 12th-seeded Stanford (18-4) on Friday, May 17, at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) at Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex on the campus of host University of Illinois in Urbana, Ill. NCAA quarterfinals are set for Sunday (May 19), semifinals will be held on Monday (May 20) with the title match scheduled for Tuesday (May 22) at 6 p.m. ET. Individual singles and doubles championships will be held following the team championship at Khan Complex.
Making their 22nd consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, the Trojans pushed their record against the Anteaters to 28-0 in all-time meetings. USC hosted UCI in its season opener and won, 7-0; and then took out the Anteaters, 4-0, in an ITA Kick-Off Weekend match on Jan. 27, to earn a bid into the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
The Anteaters won the first game in doubles play, but the Trojans controlled all three courts after that. At one point, USC led, 6-0, at the top court, 7-0 on court two, and 5-1 at court three. At No. 2 doubles, the Trojans' sophomore duo of Giuliana Olmos and Zoe Scandalis topped Ali Facey and Brooke Schweyer, 8-0, to make the first mark of the day.
At No. 1 doubles, USC's second-ranked tandem of Christian and sophomore Sabrina Santamaria had a 6-0 lead on the 85th-ranked Anteater team of Franziska Goettsching and Kristina Smith, but UC Irvine fought back and pushed the Trojans for three games. At court three, senior Danielle Lao and freshman Ellie Yates gave up a second game, but had a 7-2 lead on Anteaters Marivick Mamiit and Sarah Stadfelt.
USC secured the doubles point when Christian's drop shot scored an 8-3 win on court one. The victory upped Christian and Santamaria's season record as a doubles team to an unprecedented 31-0 and won the doubles point for the Women of Troy for the 21st time, this season. The pairs were knotted at deuce when play was suspended at court three.
In singles matches, the Trojans cruised to first-set wins on courts one, two, three, and six, but were facing deficits on courts four and five. At the top court, second-ranked Santamaria took a 6-3 win over 85th-ranked Smith in the first set, but the senior Anteater fought back in the second to push Santamaria to a 5-4 score before play was suspended.
At court three, 27th-ranked Scandalis posted USC's second point of the dual when she put a shot out of reach to dispatch of Goettsching in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. At No. 4 singles, Olmos fought back from down two breaks to Sarah Gong to win, 7-5, in the first set, while Christian came back from behind in the first set to get a 7-5 win of her own against Facey. Olmos' match was suspended in the second set as she was mounting another comeback from down, 2-3.
Ninth-ranked Lao took a 6-2 win over Mamiit in their first set, and built a 5-0 lead in the second set rather quickly before Mamiit put up a fight. The sixth game in the second set saw five deuces before Lao closed the deal to give the Trojans a 3-0 lead in the dual when Mamiit's shot when wide of the court.
On court six, Yates won her first set over Stadfelt, 6-1, and was in control of the second, 5-1, before the Anteater came to life to win the next two games. Yates built a 40-15 lead in what appeared to be the final game before play was suspended.
With three other courts on the brink of clinching the dual match, Christian sewed things up when she completed a 7-5, 6-4 win against Facey at court five. The win is Christian's 14th in a row and moves her overall singles record to 27-6 on the year.
Last year, USC advanced to the national semifinals of the NCAA tournament before falling to UCLA in a hard-fought 4-3 match. This season, the Trojans and top-seeded Florida are the only two teams in the NCAA tournament with as few as two losses. For more information and complete schedules, please visit www.NCAA.com.
No. 5 USC 4, No. 32 UC Irvine 0
2013 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships | Second Round
David X. Marks Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
TEAM RECORDS: USC (23-2), UC Irvine (23-5)
DOUBLES
(1) #2 Christian-Santamaria (USC) def. #85 Goettsching-Smith (UCI); 8-3
(2) Olmos-Scandalis (USC) def. Facey-Schweyer (UCI); 8-0
(3) Lao-Yates (USC) vs. Mamiit-Stadfelt (UCI); 7-2 (40-40 susp.)
Order of finish: 2, 1* (USC wins doubles point)
SINGLES
(1) #2 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) vs. #85 Kristina Smith (UCI); 6-3, 5-4 (30-40 susp.)
(2) #9 Danielle Lao (USC) def. Marivick Mamiit (UCI); 6-2, 6-0
(3) #27 Zoe Scandalis (USC) def. Franziska Goettsching (UCI); 6-1, 6-1
(4) Giuliana Olmos (USC) vs. Sarah Gong (UCI); 7-5, 2-3 (susp.)
(5) Kaitlyn Christian (USC) def. Ali Facey (UCI); 7-5, 6-4
(6) Ellie Yates (USC) vs. Sarah Stadfelt (UCI); 6-1, 5-3 (40-15 susp.)
Order of finish: 3, 2, 5*
