Christian awarded Pac-12 player of the week for USC
After helping the USC women’s tennis team topple rival UCLA with a 6-1 victory in the regular season finale on April 18, junior Kaitlyn Christian became the seventh Woman of Troy to be named Pac-12 player of the week this season.
In the match, Christian started the day off against the formerly No. 7 Bruins with an 8-3 doubles win alongside sophomore Sabrina Santamaria over UCLA’s Pamela Montez and Skylar Morton.
Strong finish · In USC’s regular-season finale against UCLA, Christian won both her singles and doubles matches despite battling the flu. – Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan
In singles play, Christian dropped her first set and fell behind 2-0 in the second set but rallied back and defeated No. 90 Kaitlyn Ray with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback victory despite battling the stomach flu.
The win was Christian’s eighth straight and improved her singles record to 21-6 overall and a perfect 8-0 in conference play. She has done the bulk of her damage from court five, where she is 6-0 in singles.
Christian and Santamaria, ranked No. 2 in the nation in doubles, finished the season undefeated with a 13-0 record, all from court one. In the upcoming Pac-12 championships, the two look to defend their 2012 doubles title.
The No. 5-ranked Women of Troy concluded the regular season 21-2 overall and 9-0 in the Pac-12. USC clinched the Pac-12 team title with the victory over UCLA, and the win marked the first time that USC took back-to-back wins over UCLA since 2006.
Christian joins senior Danielle Lao, sophomores Gabriella DeSimone, Giuliana Olmos, Zoë Scandalis and Santamaria, and freshman Ellie Yates as Women of Troy who have been named Pac-12 players of the week this season.
With the regular season finished and a 13-game win streak in place, the Women of Troy now shift their focus to individual play at the Pac-12 championships, which begin on Thursday and conclude on Sunday in Ojai, Calif.