Women’s tennis bounces back with B1G victories
USC opened a positive Big Ten account with wins over Minnesota and Wisconsin.
By AIDAN BRADY
With a dismal 6-1 defeat against crosstown rival UCLA on Feb. 27 marking a disappointing end to USC women’s tennis’ preseason, the Trojans were desperate to get conference play off on the right foot.
No. 17 USC has had a rough go of it against the nation’s top teams, having already fallen to No. 18 Virginia, No. 10 UC Berkeley, No. 16 Pepperdine University and No. 6 UCLA in what was a surprisingly hectic preseason.
Despite their recent dip in form, the Trojans’ matches against fellow ranked opponents have given them plenty of invaluable experience heading into Big Ten play.
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USC (9-4, 2-0 Big Ten) got its Big Ten campaign underway last Friday, kicking off its Midwest tour with a dominant 4-1 thrashing of Minnesota (9-6, 0-2). The Trojans did themselves one better on Sunday, topping off the weekend with yet another 4-1 victory over No. 44 Wisconsin (8-3, 1-1).
Trojans trounce Golden Gophers
USC’s doubles pairings have undergone lots of chopping and changing as of late. This instability has reflected in the results, with the team winning only six doubles points in 13 matches since the start of the year.
Against Minnesota, however, USC seemed to have cracked the code, with freshmen Dani Borruel and Eugenia Zozaya opening up their Big Ten account with a 6-4 triumph over Minnesota juniors Mia Liepert and Anlin Xie.
Senior Emma Charney and junior Immi Haddad’s dominant 6-2 showing quickly followed, clinching the doubles point. This was a major boost for the Trojans, who have yet to lose a match after securing the doubles point — even if those instances have been far and few between.
The singles bouts followed suit, as freshman Krisha Mahendran carried the team’s momentum on her back, swiftly dismantling Xie in identical breadstick sets.
Senior Sofia Pinto gave the Golden Gophers a late glimmer of hope after defeating USC junior Lily Fairclough 6-3, 6-2; however, it proved nothing more than a consolation as Haddad and Zozaya each closed out their respective duels in straight sets, with the Trojans’ night in Minnesota ending nearly as quickly as it began.
USC triumphs over Wisconsin — again
As the squad made the journey to Wisconsin’s capital, USC retained a psychological edge, having gotten the better of the Badgers in January. The two sides met at the ITA Kickoff Weekend, but despite the gulf in quality between them, Wisconsin did not go down easily, with the Trojans barely scraping a 4-3 win.
With the Badgers vying for revenge — and this time enjoying home-court advantage in Madison instead of neutral Virginia — the circumstances were perfectly set up for another testy affair.
This time around, though, USC had learned from its mistakes and entered the rematch with guns blazing. Charney and Haddad continued their hot streak, as their 6-4 win over Wisconsin junior Kája Jacobson and sophomore Tianna Rangan gave the team an early doubles advantage.
Fairclough and Mahendran’s encounter with sophomore Ekaterina Ivanova and junior Ellison Reynoldson went the distance, but the Trojan pairing was able to emerge victorious in a 7-5 thriller, not requiring a tiebreaker to determine the outcome.
This result not only earned USC the doubles point but also provided the team with vital breathing room — a luxury it didn’t have in the team’s previous meeting with Wisconsin, where USC relied on singles to bail it out.
Despite sophomore Jana Hossam falling 6-3, 6-2 to No. 17 senior Maria Sholokhova in a one-sided matchup, Zozaya put the Trojans back on course with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 victory over Rangan.
Charney, who is ranked 39th in singles nationwide, made light work of Reynoldson, beating the Badger 6-2, 6-4. The win guaranteed a perfect weekend for Charney, who went undefeated in all three of her bouts.
Her success shone the spotlight onto Borruel, who needed only to get past fellow freshman Kaede Usui. She stormed through the first set, taking it 6-3; after the two rookies fought tooth and nail in the second, Borruel eventually prevailed 7-5, narrowly avoiding a tense tiebreaker.
Borruel’s victory cemented a 4-1 win overall, capping off a very successful three-day stretch for the Trojans.
Next up, USC is set to return to sunny Los Angeles, where it will be awaited by No. 38 Penn State (10-2, 1-2) on Saturday and No. 2 heavyweight Ohio State (10-1, 3-0) on Sunday in another weekend doubleheader at David X. Marks Tennis Stadium.
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