Cougars Fall to USC in First Round at Pac-12 Championship

OJAI, Calif.  – Number 11-seed Washington State captured the opening doubles point against sixth-seed USC but drew no closer as the Trojans completed a 4-1 victory Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the 2023 Pac-12 Tennis Championship at the Weil Tennis Academy courts.
 
In doubles play, the Cougars (7-15) struck first as the duo of Yura Nakagawa and Fifa Kumhom raced to a 5-1 lead then held on for a 6-3 win over the nation’s 42nd-ranked pair of Snow Han and Naomi Cheong at No. 2. USC (17-8) evened things up when Emma Charney and Nathalie Rodilosso captured the final three games in a 6-4 win over Yang Lee and Hania Abouelsaad at No. 3, pushing the doubles point to Court 1.
 
At No. 1 doubles, the Cougar duo of Eva Alvarez Sande and Elyse Tse were locked in a tight battle with Maddy Sieg and Grace Piper, with WSU saving three-match points at 4-5 down. Tse’s backhand volley at 5-5 gave WSU the first break of the match, but USC returned the favor down 5-6 to force a tiebreaker. After dropping the first two points, it was all WSU as the Cougars capitalized on their second match point to win 7-6 (7-4) and take the early 1-0 lead.
 
In singles action, the Trojans came out strong, capturing the opening set in five of six matches. Nakagawa at No. 2 was the lone Cougar to win the first set, taking the first 6-4 over Han. USC evened the match at No. 5 when Piper completed a 6-1, 6-2 win over Abouelsaad while Cheong’s 6-2, 6-1 win over Kumhom at No. 4 gave the Trojans their first lead at 2-1.
 
At No. 6, Rodilosso closed out a 6-3, 6-2 win over Lee, who was playing her final match in a Cougar uniform, while Sieg, ranked No. 11 nationally, clinched the win for USC with a hard-fought, 6-4, 6-3 win over Alvarez Sande at No. 1.
 
The two remaining matches were stopped with the outcome decided. At No. 2, Nakagawa was trailing Han, 6-4, 4-6, 0-1 while Tse had already saved a match point and was down 2-6, 4-5 at No. 3 to Charney.
 
The loss concludes the Cougars 2023 season.
 
WASHINGTON STATE TENNIS
No. 6 USC 4 def. No. 11 Washington State 1
April 26, 2023
Weil Tennis Academy
Ojai, Calif.
 
DOUBLES
No. 1 #53 Eva Alvarez Sande/Elyse Tse (WSU) def. Grace Piper/Maddy Sieg (USC) 7-6 (4)
No. 2 Yura Nakagawa/Fifa Kumhom (WSU) def. #42 Snow Han/ Naomi Cheong (USC) 6-3
No. 3 Emma Charney/Nathalie Rodilosso (USC) def. Yang Lee/Hania Abouelsaad (WSU)…