March 19, 2008

AUSTIN, TEXAS - The No. 10 USC women's tennis team powered out of a 2-0 hole against No. 17 Texas and tacked up five straight singles win to grab a 5-2 road win on Wednesday afternoon in Austin. The Longhorns snagged the doubles point to start and won the opening singles match before the Women of Troy went on a singles streak that pulled them ahead for the win, improving USC's overall record to 12-4.

Texas was able to sweep through doubles play - the first time this season that USC has failed to win at least one of the day's doubles matches. In singles action, Texas moved ahead 2-0 on a 6-1, 6-2 win by Stephanie Davison over USC's Sarah Fansler at the No. 3 position. But the Women of Troy were undeterred by the deficit. Gabriela Niculescu pounded out a 6-2, 6-1 win at the No. 4 spot over Maggie Mello to grab a point for the Trojans, and then Lindsey Nelson pulled USC even on a 6-4, 6-4 win over #125 Vanja Corovic at the No. 1 position.

With the match tied up, USC's freshmen stretched ahead. At No. 5, Maria Sanchez bounced back strong from a first-set loss to gather in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over Caroline Larsson to make it 3-2 USC. And at No. 6, Leyla Entekhabi tallied her 14th consecutive singles win on a 7-5, 7-5 decision over Sarah Lancaster to secure victory for USC, up 4-2 in the match. From her No. 2 spot, Amanda Fink rounded out the match with a win in the third-set tiebreaker, edging Courtney Zauft 3-6, 7-6 (7), 1-0 (10-6).

The Women of Troy now return home for a series of home matches next week. USC will host San Diego at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday (March 25), then faces Fresno State at 1 p.m. on Thursday (March 27) and will play Oregon at 1:30 p.m. on Friday (March 28).

#10 USC 5, #17 Texas 2
DOUBLES
(1) #29 Corovic/Milic (UT) def. #5 Fink/Niculescu (USC) -- 8-4
(2) Mello/Zauft (UT) def. Nelson/Andrews (USC) -- 8-6
(3) Davison/Larsson (UT) def. Fansler/Kinstler (USC) -- 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
SINGLES
(1) #52 Lindsey Nelson (USC) def. #125 Vanja Corovic (UT) -- 6-4, 6-4
(2) #18 Amanda Fink (USC) def. Courtney Zauft (UT) -- 3-6, 7-6 (7), 10-6
(3) Stephanie Davison (UT) def. #97 Sarah Fansler (USC) -- 6-1, 6-2
(4) #98 Gabriela Niculescu (USC) def. Maggie Mello (UT) -- 6-2, 6-2
(5) Maria Sanchez (USC) def. Caroline Larsson (UT) -- 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
(6) Leyla Entekhabi (USC) def. Sarah Lancaster (UT) -- 7-5, 7-5*
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 5, 6*, 2