University Southern California Trojans
Players Mentioned
USC Women Begin Pac-12 Championship Campaign
April 24, 2018 | Women's Tennis, Features
THIS WEEK
The No. 49 USC women's tennis team travels to Ojai, Calif. to compete in the Pac-12 Championships. The No. 6 seed will begin their campaign to bring home their fourth Pac-12 title in seven years by taking on the No. 11 seed Arizona in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday (April 23) at 11 a.m. PT.
ORACLE/ITA RANKINGS UPDATES
On April 24, the Oracle/ITA team rankings were updated and the Women of Troy are now securing the No. 49 spot. The singles/doubles rankings were updated as well, and two Trojans remain ranked in singles.
Senior and co-captain Gabby Smith continues to remain the highest ranked Trojan in singles at the No. 36 spot, dropping four spots from last week's rankings. Smith is 22-13 on the season, and is the only Trojan on the roster to have at least 20 wins. In every match she has played in, Smith has competed from the No. 1 singles position. Smith is tied with junior Rianna Vades and sophomore Becca Weissmann for most clinches on the team with three (Oklahoma, Washington and Arizona).
Junior Rianna Valdes moved up one spot to the No. 90 ranking, and is 14-6 on the season.
In doubles, USC's Kulikov/Valdes dropped two spots to the No. 48 rank from the previous week. They are 10-9 on the season playing in the No. 1 doubles position.
PAC-12 TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
This is the second year that the Pac-12 women will be competing in a team championship tournament. The No. 6 seeded Women of Troy will take on No. 11 seed Arizona in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday (April 23) at 11 a.m. PT. If the Trojans advance, they will move on in the bracket to challenge No. 3 seeded Arizona State in the Quarterfinal match on Thursday (April 24) at 10:30 a.m. PT. The semifinal matches will take place on Friday (April 25) at 1 p.m. PT and the championship match will be held on Saturday (April 26) at 12 p.m. PT. The final match of the women's tournament will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network LA.
SCOUTING ARIZONA
The unranked Arizona Wildcats are entering the Pac-12 Tournament on an eight-match losing streak. They have no ranked singles players or doubles pairs and are 9-15 on the season and 0-10 in conference play. The Trojans are 52-15 all-time against the Wildcats, most recently defeating them 4-0 in Los Angeles on April 13.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR
This time last year, the Women of Troy were also seeded No. 6 in the Pac-12 Championship tournament. They defeated No. 11 seed Washington State 4-0 in the first round and went on to upset No. 3 seeded Arizona State 4-3 to secure semifinal placement. No. 2 seed California beat USC 4-3 in the semifinal match to end the Trojans' road tournament run.
