Feb. 13, 2013

Three members of the USC women's tennis team have a bird's-eye view of their competition after this week's latest round of ITA national rankings. In addition to reigning supreme as a member of the undefeated No. 1 doubles team in the nation with teammate Kaitlyn Christian, USC sophomore Sabrina Santamaria has also jumped up to stand tied at No. 1 in singles play as well. Just a step behind her at No. 3 is USC senior Danielle Lao. Together, the highly ranked Women of Troy have helped their team take a No. 6 team ranking in this week's standings.

It's the highest career singles rankings hands-down for both Lao and Santamaria. Lao jumped from No. 14 in the nation to No. 3 this week after felling two top-10 opponents last week at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, where USC beat host Virginia before falling to eventual champion UNC in the quarterfinals and the beat California in a consolation match. Those big singles wins by Lao have launched her to that No. 3 spot as the senior rides a seven-match singles winning steak and holds a 15-3 overall record. Santamaria beat the nation's No. 9 and No. 11 players last weekend in singles play to keep rolling as well. She's USC's winningest singles player with an 18-3 record and a nine-match winning streak that has carried her to the top of the nation's singles rankings. She shares the No. 1 spot with Cal's Zsofi Susanyi, whom Lao beat in straight sets over the weekend at the ITA Indoors.

Santamaria and Christian, meanwhile, have been the nation's No. 1 ranked doubles team ever since the preseason. The back-to-back ITA National Indoor Doubles Championship are a perfect 18-0 after padding their undefeated push with wins over the nation's No. 10 and No. 7 pairs last weekend.