LOS ANGELES -- Southern California was in full control of Thursday's non-conference clash with No. 44 Pepperdine. The Women of Troy whipped up the doubles point and then knocked out four consecutive singles wins en route to the 5-2 final victory against the visiting Waves at Marks Stadium. Junior Gabriella DeSimone was the clincher of the day, staging a potent comeback win to bring home USC's third team victory of the year.
Doubles play opened with a bang for the Women of Troy, with Kaitlyn Christian and Gabriella DeSimone heating up early and cruising to a 6-0 sweep of Pepperdine's Matea Cutura/Ale Granillo on court three. From there it was neck-and-neck on the other two courts as both Trojan duos were working their way toward the clincher. On court two, No. 3 Brynn Boren and Zoë Katz got to the finish line first, displaying some hustle and handiwork in posting a 6-2 win versus No. 40 Michaela Capannolo/Yuki Chiang. At the No. 2 spot, USC's No. 7 Giuliana Olmos and Zoë Scandalis were poised for victory before their match was suspended at 5-3 against Lorraine Guillermo/Christine Maddox to bring up singles play.
Sprinting to the first singles win of the day was Katz, who had a speedy 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Danielle Feneridis on court six. Compared to her quick fix, the next USC point was a long time coming, and yet still it was a 6-1, 6-1 victory from No. 60 Olmos against No. 93 Granillo that jumped the Trojans ahead 3-0. Coming through with the clincher was a solid comeback effort from No. 80 DeSimone, who shrugged off a loss in the first set to even the score. In the 10-point tiebreaker to decide it all, she fought out of a 3-5 hole on court four to win it with a 1-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6) decision that secured the match for the Trojans.
Action continued on the remaining courts, with Scandalis punching up a 6-3, 6-4 victory against No. 79 Cutura on court two. The last two matches featured gutsy efforts that wound up in 10-point tiebreakers. On court one, No. 96 Boren was within reach of an upset of No. 19 Guillermo. Boren had snagged the first set in a tiebreaker and fought out of an 0-5 hole in the second, only to wind up short of the upset with a 6-7 (3), 7-5, 1-0 (10-4) loss that registered the first point of the match for the Waves. Court five's matchup between Christian and Maddox also extended into a 10-point decider, and the Waves caught the edge there, too. Christian had forced the third with a good win in the second set, but Maddox rang up the victory to make it a 5-2 final on her 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7) decision.
No. 5 UCLA 7, UC Irvine 0
LOS ANGELES -- UCLA posted its second shutout in as many days on Thursday, as the Bruins downed UC Irvine 7-0 in a non-conference showdown at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Thursday's win comes on the heels of another 7-0 victory against Loyola Marymount on Wednesday.
Bruin junior Robin Anderson lost just one game in singles action on Wednesday and actually improved on that performance on Thursday, as she downed UCI's Marivick Mamiit, 6-0, 6-0 at court No. 1. With the win, Anderson, the top-ranked player in the nation, improves her record to 11-2 on the year.
In addition to Anderson, four other Bruin players posted straight-set victories on the afternoon, as Kyle McPhillips, Catherine Harrison, Courtney Dolehide and Kelly Shaffer all followed suit. The only match to go to a 10-point tiebreaker came at court No. 2, where Chanelle Van Nguyen outlasted Franziska 6-7, 6-0, (10-4).
No. 9 Miami (Fla.), Florida Gulf Coast (Canceled)
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Due to the likelihood of inclement weather Thursday afternoon, the match between Miami (Fla.) and Florida Gulf Coast has been rescheduled for Friday morning.
