Women of Troy sweep through Oregon


The No. 12 USC women’s tennis team served up a smooth 7-0 win over host Oregon on Friday afternoon, getting back in winning mode after two tight losses last week.

The Women of Troy started off by nabbing the doubles point to take an early lead before pounding out a string of six singles wins.

USC improved to 8-5 overall and takes a 1-0 start to conference play with the win.

Doubles play began with some new pairings for USC. Teamed up for the first time this season was the No. 40 nationally ranked duo, freshman Valeria Pulido and junior Maria Sanchez, who grabbed an 8-1 win at the top court.

With USC freshman Danielle Lao sidelined with a cold, another new doubles pair was formed at the second slot. Senior Sarah Fansler and sophomore Alison Ramos teamed up for the first time since November and posted an 8-3 win to clinch the doubles point for USC. At No. 3, juniors Jennifer Goldman and Lyndsay Kinstler had their match suspended at 5-5, when the doubles point was already decided in USC’s favor.

Entering singles play ahead 1-0, USC captured five consecutive straight-set victories before USC’s junior Cristala Andrews completed a comeback win 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 to give USC the 7-0 sweep over the Ducks. This was Andrews’ first appearance in the fourth singles position.

At the first singles slot, USC’s No. 3 Sanchez won her fourth straight match 6-1, 6-2 over Oregon’s Julia Metzger. Sanchez improved her singles record to 10-1 for the season with the victory.

On court two, No. 21 Ramos snagged a 6-0, 7-5 win, while No. 91 Pulido followed suit at the third court, posting a 6-3, 7-5 win. This was also Pulido’s fourth straight win in singles.

At the fifth slot, Fansler competed in her first dual match since being sidelined by injury and pounded away a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Soon after, in the No. 6 match, Kinstler snagged a 6-4, 6-3 win.

“It’s nice to get a win under our belt before heading into another week of more tough matches,” Sanchez said. “The team morale is really good right now.”

USC runs its all-time record against Oregon to 14-0 with the victory.