After falling to Auburn and falling short of qualifying for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Women’s National Team Indoor Championships, No. 15 USC women’s tennis is playing its first match in nearly three weeks against the University of San Diego. 

Head Coach Alison Swain emphasized the rarity of this unusually long break between matches and the break’s possible benefits for the team. 

“We don’t often get two weekends off of competition, and rarely do we get a weekend off as [the] season gets rolling,” Swain said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. 

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Swain added that the team is “super hungry to compete again” and expects to reap the benefits of their focused training during Friday’s match. 

However, while this break is unusual, it allows the Trojans to reclaim winning momentum after their recent loss. 

“We really use this in a positive way for us to be able to really gain some clarity on the things where each player is doing well … how to build on that, take a step back, work on some big picture things in-game,” Swain said. 

The Trojans (3-1) — who have won all four of their doubles points this season — are hoping their duos continue playing at an elite level against the Toreros (4-4). This consistency has been a highlight of the team’s success. Swain highlighted a few simple keys for USC to continue its doubles win streak. 

“Our doubles ha[ve] been really good this season,” Swain said. “I want to see our doubles teams continue to play clean, simple, very sound and smart doubles and do what we do.,” 

Junior Emma Charney  — currently ranked No. 46 in the nation in singles — has been a huge part of the Trojans’ success. 

“We’ve been able to compete a lot against each other in practice, which pushes us to make each other better, which simulates like a match scenario,” Charney said. 

The Trojans are sticking to their consistent routines, not making any major changes in between-match play.

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve just been doing a lot of intense, normal training,” Charney said. “We’ve been able to push ourselves a bit more since we haven’t had a match, whether that’s in the weight room or on the practice court.”

With Charney’s past Pacific-12 Player of the Week honors for her strong performances at ITA Kickoff weekend, and her 5-1 record this season, the Trojans will have a reliable leading force.  

USC continues its advantageous early season schedule, as the Trojans haven’t left home this season and aren’t scheduled for away play until their March 14 meeting against Washington (3-1). 

“Playing at home definitely, I think that’s an advantage we pride ourselves on, making sure we create the atmosphere, and we love playing on our home courts, and also, just the fans and having the people behind us rooting for us. I definitely think we love playing at home, but we also love a good competition on the road,” Charney said. 

Women’s tennis hopes Trojan fans will fill the stands more and more as the season goes on, further accentuating the advantage of being on home court.

The Trojans will play the University of San Diego Toreros on Friday at 3 p.m. at Marks Tennis Stadium.