Cougars Fall at No. 11 USC

LOS ANGELES —  Senior Fifa Kumhom and sophomore Yura Nakagawa each posted singles victories but it was not enough as No. 11 USC defeated Washington State 5-2 Saturday afternoon at Marks Stadium. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 8-4 on the season, 0-2 in Pac-12 play. The Trojans improved to 9-4, 2-0.
 
Kumhom picked up WSU’s first point of the day as she needed a tiebreaker before prevailing 7-6 against Naomi Cheong at No. 4 singles, who then medically retired from the match. Nakagawa, at No. 3, earned the win after two hard-fought sets, defeated Grace Piper 7-6 (4), 6-4 for WSU’s second point. Piper, who entered the match ranked 51st nationally, is the highest-ranked opponent Nakagawa has defeated in her Cougar career.
 
Doubles play was tight throughout the matches, with all three separated by just one break of serve. The Cougars No. 1 team of Eva Alvarez Sande and Elyse Tse jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Lily Fairclough and McKenna Koenig, then completed a service break to close out a 6-4 win. At No. 2, USC’s Piper and Parker Fry, ranked 36 nationally, held on to an early lead in defeating Nakagawa and Kumhom, 6-4. The deciding match came down to No. 3, where WSU’s Hania Abouelsaad and Martina Markov battled throughout before falling 6-4 to Snow Han and Cheong, giving USC the opening point.
 
In singles action, USC quickly increased its lead to 2-0 as Koenig completed a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Abouelsaad at No. 5. In the five remaining…