March 3, 2010

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The No. 12 USC women's tennis team took No. 4 UCLA down to the wire in a chilly and tense nonconference match between the crosstown rivals. The Bruins took a 3-1 lead in the match before the Women of Troy fought back to tie it up, leaving a battle raging on court three between USC freshman Danielle Lao and UCLA's Andrea Remynse. Lao staged a comeback to force a third set, but Remynse managed the late push to win and clinch a 4-3 victory for UCLA on Wednesday night at Marks Stadium. USC goes to 7-4 overall with the loss, while UCLA improves to 12-1.

The Bruins snagged the doubles point with 8-4 wins from Hickey/Pantic over Lao/Ramos at No. 2 and #4 Remynse/Schnack over USC's #36 Kinstler/Sanchez at No. 1. USC's Cristala Andrews / Valeria Pulido got an 8-6 win at No. 3 over Montez/Seguso to wrap things up, and the teams were off to what would become a marathon stretch of singles play.

USC's #21 Alison Ramos pounced all over her Bruin opponent #37 Noelle Hickey and pinned up a 6-2, 6-3 win to tie things 1-1. UCLA moved ahead next, however, as #125 Pamela Montez topped Sarah Fansler in her first match back to singles play since injury, with Montez getting a 6-4, 6-2 win to make it 2-1 UCLA. And Maya Johansson would put the Bruins ahead 3-1 on a 7-5, 6-3 win over Cristala Andrews at No. 6 That would be the last of the straight-set decisions in the match, however.

After falling in their first sets, USC's Maria Sanchez, Danielle Lao and Valeria Pulido all forced their matches into a third set. #3 Sanchez did it first against her #5-ranked opponent Yasmin Schnack. Sanchez roared ahead and wound up winning nine straight games to carry her past Schnack 6-3 in the second set and on to an eventual 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 victory. Meanwhile, freshman Valeria Pulido answered a tiebreak loss in the first set with a push past Stephanie Hoffpauir. #91 Pulido pinned up a solid second set and then fought off any third-set comeback hopes by her Bruin opponent to tie up the match 3-3 on her 6-7 (7), 6-1, 7-5 victory. That left the deciding match at the No. 3 singles slot with #22 freshman Danielle Lao looking for a comeback against UCLA's #34 Andrea Remynse. Remynse got a late second wind, however, and managed to fight back from a 2-4 deficit in the third to win the match and clinch victory for the Bruins with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Lao.

USC will now head to Oregon to play the Ducks in their first match of Pac-10 competition. The Trojans face host Oregon at 1:30 p.m. on Friday (March 5).

#4 UCLA 4, #12 USC 3
March 3, 2010 - Marks Stadium
DOUBLES
(1) #4 Remynse/Schnack (UCLA) def. #36 Kinstler/Sanchez (USC) - 8-4
(2) Hickey/Pantic (UCLA) def. Lao/Ramos (USC) - 8-4
(3) Andrews/Pulido (USC) def. Montez/Seguso (UCLA) - 8-6
UCLA wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
(1) #3 Maria Sanchez (USC) def. #5 Yasmin Schnack (UCLA) - 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
(2) #21 Alison Ramos (USC) def. #37 Noelle Hickey (UCLA) - 6-2, 6-3
(3) #34 Andrea Remynse (UCLA) def. #22 Danielle Lao (USC) - 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
(4) #124 Pamela Montez (UCLA) def. Sarah Fansler (USC) - 6-4, 6-2
(5) #91 Valeria Pulido (USC) def. Stephanie Hoffpauir (UCLA) - 6-7 (7), 6-1, 7-5
(6) Maya Johansson (UCLA) def. Cristala Andrews (USC) - 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 4, 6, 1, 5, 3*