LOS ANGELES — The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team saw it’s 2012 campaign come to a close with a 4-1 loss to fifth-seeded USC on Saturday, May 12, at USC’s Marks Tennis Stadium.
USC jumped out to a 1-0 lead by taking doubles wins at one and two.
The Trojans opened with an 8-2 victory by the 75th-ranked pair of Danielle Lao and Alison Ramos over Vanderbilt’s Nelly Radeva and Megan Gornet. The Commodores then evened the doubles at one match apiece when Ashleigh Antal and Marie Casares knocked off Valeria Pulido and Zoe Scandalis, the 42nd-ranked doubles pair in the country, 8-6.
That put the pressure on number one doubles, where Jackie Wu and Lauren Mira (No. 30) were facing the number three doubles pair in the nation, USC’s Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina Santamira. The Trojans jumped out to a 6-3 lead before Wu and Mira rallied to cut it to 7-6. After three points played at deuce during that game, the USC finally took the game, 8-6, and the doubles point.
Singles opened with Pulido scoring a 6-0, 6-0 win over Gornet to push the Trojan lead to 2-0.
That was followed by Casares upsetting USC’s Santamaria, who is ranked No. 26 national, 6-2, 6-3, to close the gap to 2-1.
That would be as close as Vanderbilt would get, however. Lao scored a 6-2, 6-3 win over Mira before Christian defeated Antal, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, to take the match.
The Commodores finish the season at 17-10. The Trojans advance to the 2012 NCAA Championships next week in Athens, Ga.
