Women of Troy look forward to NCAA tourney


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The regular season might be over, but the USC women’s tennis team is not satisfied ending the season just yet.

Despite losing a few crucial matches, the No. 20 Women of Troy (13-9, 5-3) remain poised as they prepare for their 19th consecutive appearance in the NCAA women’s tennis championships next month.

“For these next few weeks, we’re just trying to get in the best shape possible by doing extra fitness and building our level of confidence,” junior Cristala Andrews said.

Last year, the Women of Troy finished 21-3 overall and went undefeated in Pac-10 play. But the former USC’s No. 1 doubles team graduated from their roster in 2009, and this year proved to be a different story for the Women of Troy.

Though USC began the season notched as the No. 9 seed, USC’s ranking bounced around frequently hitting its lowest at No. 21 in the latter part of the season.

Throughout the season, USC battled trying to figure out the best possible doubles lineup. Overall this season, USC was 13-1 when the Trojans won the doubles point and 0-8 when losing the doubles point in dual-match play.

“This season, we struggled to create a strong doubles line up, causing us to lose the doubles point a lot,” said junior Maria Sanchez.

Sanchez is nationally ranked No. 3 in singles with a 19-3 singles record this season.

“We lost so many of our toughest matches where the doubles point could have made the difference,” Sanchez said.

USC lost three of its matches by 4-3 to some of its biggest Pac-10 foes: Arizona State, UCLA and Stanford. If the Trojans had won the doubles point against all of those teams, their season might have had a different feeling.

“So far, we haven’t had the results we were expecting to get, but we know that we are a very talented team,” freshman Valeria Pulido said. “Right now we see the NCAA competition as a challenge, as well as a chance to really prove ourselves.”

For now, USC has its doubles lineup secured and ready to compete at the NCAA’s.

Sanchez and freshman Danielle Lao, who are also ranked nationally at No. 65 in this week’s Intercollegiate Tennis Assocation rankings, lead the way at the top doubles position. At No. 2 is sophomore Alison Ramos and Pulido, followed by the No. 3 duo of senior Sarah Fansler and junior Lyndsay Kinstler.

“We’re just going to head into our matches with a clean slate, forgetting about previous disappointing matches,” Sanchez said. “We have to go in playing with a lot of energy and knowing we are the better team.”

The NCAA tournament begins May 14 with regional play, after which teams move on to Athens, Ga., from the round of 16 on.