Women of Troy come up short at Pac-10 championships


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The No. 18 USC women’s tennis team wrapped up competition in Ojai, Calif., at the 2010 Pac-10 singles and doubles championships Friday, after falling short of a few semifinal bids.

“It would have been nice to have someone from USC in the finals, but I think we were more focused on being fresh and healthy for NCAA’s,” junior Cristala Andrews said.

The No. 3 nationally ranked singles player for USC (13-9, 5-3), junior Maria Sanchez, rested a stress fracture in her ankle and didn’t compete in the weekend’s tournament.

While senior Sarah Fansler and freshman Valeria Pulido fell in the first round of the championship singles bracket to different California opponents, sophomore Alison Ramos made it to the round of 16 by outlasting her Washington challenger in three sets in the opening round. Ramos was then stopped in a close match by Arizona State University’s Hannah James 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Meanwhile, in the invitational singles bracket, juniors Lyndsay Kinstler and Leyla Entekhabi won their first singles matches but then were defeated in the round of 16. Fourth-seeded Andrews shut out her opponent in the round of 16 to enter in the quarterfinal round but was edged 6-3, 6-2 by UCLA’s Nina Pantic.

In the championship flight of doubles play, Fansler and Kinstler withdrew in the first round because of injury. On the other end of the bracket, Ramos and Lao came out with a powerful 8-6 win to advance themselves to the quarterfinals. Next, they faced the second seeded duo from UCLA and fell short of a semifinal bid by losing 8-2.

In the invitational flight, Andrews and Pulido followed suit by earning a spot in the quarterfinal round with an 8-1 win over Arizona’s pair. They were later taken down by 8-5 to a pair from Washington.

The Women of Troy will next compete at the NCAA championships next month.