Young Trio Ready To Take Success On The Road
Comments (0)
Led by dominant performances from freshmen Danielle Lao and Valeria Pulido, and sophomore Alison Ramos, the No. 9 USC women's tennis team cruised to a 6-1 victory at home over No. 40 Pepperdine Thursday.
Ramos and Lao set the tone early with a dominant 8-2 doubles win over Tania Rice and Ali Waters, and continued their success into singles play, winning in straight sets over Ali Walters and Anamika Bhargava respectively. Pulido paired with Cristala Andrews to defeat No. 123 Arianna Colffer and Andrea Oates in doubles play, then trounced Oates again in singles play 6-3, 6-2.
After the match, head coach Richard Gallien spoke highly of the young trio, praising not only their talent, but also their dedication in class and their commitment to the team.
"They're very good," Gallien said. "They're excellent students on top of it. Great team kids. Terrific in doubles. Happy to play wherever they're put in the lineup."
In spite of their youth, Ramos, Lao and Pulido are all ranked in the top 50 in singles play by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association - Lao at No. 18, Pulido at No. 37 and Ramos at No. 38. Their hot start, coupled with the strong play of junior Maria Sanchez, who is ranked eighth in the nation in singles, has propelled the Women of Troy to an undefeated 5-0 record and a spot in next week's ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Wisconsin.
All five of USC's wins have come at Marks Stadium, but Gallien isn't concerned about the ability of his young players to perform away from home. With the team's first road trip looming, he is quick to point out the international experience of players like Pulido, who competed at Junior Wimbledon in high school.
"A lot of these girls, even the freshmen, have traveled the world," he said. "Even though [they're] young, they're not inexperienced from a competition standpoint."
Sanchez, who fought through a difficult first set to beat Pepperdine's Arianna Colffer on Thursday, agrees that the team will be fine on the road.
"We have a really good group of girls," Sanchez said. "It'll be tough. It'll be indoors against some really good teams, but I think everyone's ready for it."
The Women of Troy are scheduled to play their first game of the Indoor Championships on Feb. 12 against unranked Clemson. If they advance, they will likely play top-seeded Duke, who face host Wisconsin in the opening round.
