Pair of Trojans win player of week honors


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USC freshmen Gabriella DeSimone and Roberto Quiroz earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors as members of their respective tennis squads.

Both players played key roles in each team’s two victories last week and have contributed in a spring season that has seen the teams tally a combined 22-1 overall record and maintain a top-10 ranking in the nation.

Best in the west · Freshman Roberto Quiroz was named conference player of the week after improving his record on the season to 13-2. - Chris Roman | Daily Trojan

DeSimone clinched two victories for the women’s team with two singles wins over opponents from No. 5 California and UC Santa Barbara. In the upset victory over the Golden Bears, DeSimone defeated Cecilia Estlander 7-5, 6-2 for USC’s 4-2 advantage, improving No. 7 USC to 9-1 overall.

Two days earlier, DeSimone rallied for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 comeback victory over Paola Cos of UC Santa Barbara en route to USC’s 7-0 sweep. With the two singles wins, DeSimone now stands at 13-5 overall and 8-1 in dual matches.

Quiroz also clinched a victory for the Trojans with a 6-1, 6-3 singles win over Ricky Baylon of San Diego State. His efforts on court three were a part of his two doubles and two singles wins for No. 1 USC (13-0) in a doubleheader last Friday against No. 24 San Diego and San Diego State.

Hours later, Quiroz took down San Diego’s Ciaran Fitzgerald 6-3, 6-1 after earning his second doubles win of the day with No. 47 sophomore Emilio Gomez.

Quiroz, who was the only Trojan to see the court four times on Friday, improved to 13-2 overall and 10-1 in dual matches. In doubles, he and his cousin Gomez hold an 11-3 overall and 9-2 dual match record.

DeSimone and Quiroz hope to put up similar efforts this week when both teams face off against UCLA. The Trojans will take on the No. 8 Bruins at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Wednesday at  2 p.m. while the USC women will host the No. 3 Bruins at Marks Stadium on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.