MALIBU, Calif – San Diego State Women's Tennis season came to an end in a 4-0 defeat to USC on Friday afternoon, at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on the campus of Pepperdine University, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
"We fought extremely hard," said Head Coach Peter Mattera. "We knew going in that it was going to be tough, especially without Bunyawi Thamchaiwat, but just like the rest of the season we fought as hard as we could, and I'm very proud of our effort."
The Aztecs (17-7) fell to USC (18-11), 4-0 but battled in every match. San Diego State competed hard in the doubles point, but came up short. On court one Nnena Nadozie and Alicia Melosch went up against the No. 72 ranked doubles team in the country, but fell 6-2. Over on court three Cecile Morin and Regina Pitts went back and forth with Han/Willson of USC, but also came up short falling 6-4 in their match. The final doubles match between Tamara Arnold and Julia Jordan and USC's Cheoeng/Piper was tied at 5-5, before it went unfinished due to the results in the other two matches.
"The level of doubles play, was one of the best levels we've played at all season," Mattera said. "We played an extremely talented team, but we were in every single match throughout the day."
As for singles play the Aztecs stayed with the Trojans throughout all six matches. The Trojans had four ranked individuals competing on Friday, and the Aztecs hung with them in each match. Piper of USC earned the Trojans their second point of the day on court five, where she defeated Jordan 6-2, 6-0. Han earned the third point of the day for the Trojans on court three, where Pitts put up a strong challenge but fell 6-3, 6-2 on Friday. Willson of USC then beat Morin on court six to clinch the match for the Trojans, a 6-4, 6-2 win.
Three singles matches went unfinished on Friday. Arnold dropped the first set of her singles match, 6-4, but was leading her second set 2-1 by the time the match was clinched by USC. SDSU's Nadozie proved a stern test for the No. 7 ranked player in the country Salma Ewing of USC. Ewing took the first set 6-1, but Nadozie came back in the second set, which ended in a 5-5 tie at the time the match was clinched. Over on court four, Melosch dropped the first set in a tiebreaker 7-5, before dropping the first game in the second set when the match was clinched.
"We made it to the crown jewel of our sport, and it's win or go home at this stage, and unfortunately we came up short against a great team." Mattera said. "Making the tournament and winning the conference championship were goals we set out for ourselves at the beginning of the year, and to be able to achieve those was something special for our group."
No. 65 San Diego State vs No. 19 USC
May 06, 2022 at Malibu, Calif.
(Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)
#19 USC 4, #65 San Diego State 0
Singles competition
1. #50 Salma Ewing (USC) vs. Tamara Arnold (SDSU) 6-4, 1-2, unfinished
2. #7 Eryn Cayetano (USC) vs. Nnena Nadozie (SDSU) 6-1, 5-5, unfinished
3. #104 Snow Han (USC) def. Regina Pitts (SDSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. #84 Naomi Cheong (USC) vs. Alicia Melosch (SDSU) 7-5, 0-1, unfinished
5. Grace Piper (USC) def. Julia Jordan (SDSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Danielle Willson (USC) def. Cecile Morin (SDSU) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #72 Cayetano/Ewing (USC) def. Melosch/Nadozie (SDSU) 6-2
2. Cheong/Piper (USC) vs. Arnold/Jordan (SDSU) 5-5, unfinished
3. Han/Willson (USC) def. Morin/Pitts (SDSU) 6-4
Match Notes:
San Diego State 17-7; National ranking #65
USC 18-11; National ranking #19
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,3,6)