LOS ANGELES -- Southern California took down No. 47 Saint Mary's (Calif.) at Marks Stadium. The Women of Troy (8-2) pulled off a 6-1 victory to tally their second win against the Gaels (3-5) this season. USC previously defeated the Gaels 4-0 in the championship of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
The Women of Troy charged out of the gates in doubles play. Defending national doubles champions senior Kaitlyn Christian and junior Sabrina Santamaria, now ranked No. 19 in the nation together, squashed their opponents, SMC's Jenny Jullien and Catherine Leduc 8-0.
Senior Brynn Boren and freshman Zoë Katz clinched the doubles point for the Women of Troy with impressive play on court No. 2, dialing up an 8-2 victory against SMC's Parminder Kaur and Danielle Flores. This suspended play on court No. 3, where juniors Zoë Scandalis and Giuliana Olmos held a 6-2 lead against SMC's Jade Frampton and Jamie Pawid.
USC maintained its momentum heading into singles play, doing quick work on court Nos. 4, 5 and 6.
Sophomore Ellie Yates finished up first, taking down SMC's Frampton 6-3, 6-1. This set off a chain of wins for USC, as Christian defeated SMC's No. 69 Leduc 6-0, 6-2 less than a minute later. Soon after that, No. 65 Olmos topped SMC's Kaur 6-0, 6-2 to clinch the match for the Women of Troy.
Play continued on court Nos. 1, 2 and 3, where the competition was much closer.
No. 19 Santamaria was facing the No. 8 player in the nation in SMC's Jullien, a Perpignan, France native. Earlier this season, Santamaria struggled against Jullien, dropping the first set 6-4. Santamaria was up 4-2 in the second when play was suspended. Santamaria got her revenge Thursday with a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
Boren was not so lucky, though. She was locked in combat with SMC's Flores, who brought her A-game. Despite improving throughout the match, Boren fell 6-4, 7-6, to give the Gaels their only point of the match.
This left No. 30 Scandalis to battle it out on court No. 3 to finish the match. Scandalis took the first set against SMC's No. 69 Pawid, but dropped the second, sending it to a tiebreaker. With both teams cheering on their players, Scandalis defeated Pawid by a 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 score.
