USC drops both matches in Bay area road trip


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Senior Salma Ewing, who is ranked 41st nationally in singles play, reaches for a back hand during USC’s match against St. Mary’s.
Senior Salma Ewing, who is ranked 41st nationally in singles play, reaches for a back hand during USC’s match against St. Mary’s. Ewing defeated UC Berkeley junior Haley Giavara 6-2, 6-3 Saturday in the Trojans 4-3 loss to the Golden Bears. (Simon Park | Daily Trojan)

No. 17 women’s tennis came up short in close conference matches against No. 19 Stanford and No. 14 UC Berkeley this past weekend. The team now sits at 1-7 on the road and 3-3 in the Pac-12. 

Senior Danielle Willson said the team does not want to be defined by the season’s close losses.

“I would say we would all agree that we’ve kind of had a patchy season a little bit in the past couple of weeks,” said Willson in a phone interview. “The motivation for us is to go out there and compete whenever we have the opportunity.”

The first of the two losses for the Trojans came Friday against the Cardinal. Stanford got on the board first with the doubles point and kept its foot on the gas pedal heading into the singles matches, building a 3-0 lead at one point. 

Sophomore Naomi Cheong, No. 78 in the nation for singles, scored USC’s first point of the day after defeating Cardinal sophomore India Houghton 6-2, 6-3. However, the Trojans would not remain in the winning column after Stanford senior Sara Choy beat Willson 6-2, 6-4.

Although the match had already been clinched, the duel between junior Eryn Cayetano and Stanford’s freshman Alexandra Yepifanova went on. Both are ranked No. 6 and No. 18 for singles, respectively. 

Cayetano continued her stellar play this year as she defeated Yepifanova 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (8) to make the final score of the match 5-2. She also handed Yepifanova her sixth loss of the year and her first loss since March 6.

Despite the loss, Willson said she was impressed by Cayetano’s performance.

“For me, as a senior, that’s the kind of player I want to look like,” Willson said. “That match can show the younger girls that every point matters.”

The Trojans again battled hard in the second match against Cal Saturday but ultimately fell short to the Golden Bears 4-3. The match started similarly to the Stanford bout as Cal striked first with the doubles point.

 In the singles matches, No. 41 senior Salma Ewing tied the match at one apiece after she defeated No. 101 junior
Haley Giavara 6-2, 6-3. 

USC would then drop three consecutive singles matches to lose the match, but play continued for Willson and Cayetano in their courts. 

Both were able to rack up wins as Willson first defeated junior Erin Richardson 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Cayetano then beat freshman Jessica Alsola 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. 

Willson said the doubles point gave the Golden Bears an extra step ahead of the Trojans but saw improvements in the team’s
performance after the loss against Stanford. 

“Even though we did come out with a loss, there was improvements from the Stanford match and the Cal match with respect to people’s body language and positivity on the court,” Willson said 

Although USC ended March on a three-match losing streak, the team remained undefeated at home during the month going 3-0 and 7-3 on the season. The Trojans will now look forward to April as eight of the team’s final nine matches will take place at home. 

“There’s gonna be a strong sense of motivation and just like eagerness for this weekend,” Willson said. “We have our fans [and] family, and I think that definitely gives us an edge over our opponents, but we still have to go out there and stay eager for every point and just compete hard.”

USC will face Washington State at home Friday at 1:30 p.m.