University of Washington
USC
Dawgs Complete Comeback Against USC For 4-3 Win
April 02, 2017 | Women's Tennis
SEATTLE – After dropping the doubles point to begin the match, the No. 35 Washington women's tennis team came back in singles to defeat No. 39 USC 4-3 today at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
"I'm so proud of the girls today for the resilience and heart they showed," said head coach Robin Stephenson. "We didn't have our best match on Friday and I was so happy with the way we responded today."
The doubles began with close matches on all three courts, and the Huskies holding the lead on two courts for a majority of play. The 34th ranked duo in the country for USC were first to win their match on court two, defeating Stacey Fung and Kenadi Hance 6-3. On court three, Katarina Kopcalic and Lana Slavica held the lead for most of their match against No. 67 Angela Kulikov and Madison Westby, but were taken to a tie break which they fell in 7-4.
The Huskies entered singles trailing 1-0, needing to grab wins in four matches in order to win. On court two, No. 47 Jessica Failla defeated Nour Abbes 6-0, 6-3, with Alexis Prokopuik falling to Westby shortly after to bring the match score to 3-0 USC. However, on court three Miki Kobayashi took down Rianna Valdes 6-2, 6-4, to put the Dawgs on the board, and keep their comeback hopes alive.
"We had to battle back after losing the doubles point after being up, and then we got down in singles, but the girls wanted it today and dug deep," said Stephenson.
On court six, Kopcalic picked up her 18th win of her freshman campaign, defeating Angela Kulikov 6-2, 6-3 to bring the match score to 3-2 USC. All eyes were on courts one and four, where Fung and Hance looked to complete the comeback for the Huskies.
Facing the 20th ranked player in the country, Fung took down Gabby Smith in her first set 6-2, and was able to complete the upset with a 6-4 second set, and draw the dual match even at 3-3. It was Fung's highest ranked opponent defeated in her career at Washington.
"We were all so determined after the doubles point," said Fung. "I'm so proud of how we refocused and fought through the match."
Losing her first set 6-2, Hance bounced back against No. 96 Zoe Katz in the second set, coming out on top of a close one 7-5.
"After the second set, I looked around and saw everyone's scores," said Hance. "I knew that I had to pull through for my teammates."
The sophomore from Torrance, Calif. was able to keep the momentum going in the third set, defeating Katz 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 for her 20th singles victory of the season, and put the seal on a 4-3 comeback win.
"My teammates inspired me to pull through today and it was totally a team effort," said Hance. "It was such an amazing feeling and I'm so grateful to be a Husky."
This was the second time Washington has come back from a 0-3 deficit and won this season, accomplishing this feat in January against Alabama. Today's win also marked the first victory over the Trojans for UW since 2009, when No. 32 Washington upset No. 7 USC in the NCAA Tournament 4-3 to advance to the Sweet 16, and the first regular season win over USC since 2003.
"This was a full team effort and a testament to them staying the course and trusting in the process day after day," said Stephenson. "We have a ton of respect for USC and today was a big win for us."
The Huskies will remain in Seattle this week and await the two Arizona schools, who they will take on this coming weekend. UW will face Arizona on Friday April 7th at 1:30 p.m., and matchup with Arizona State on Sunday the 9th at 11 a.m.
RESULTS
No. 35 Washington – 4
No. 39 USC – 3
Doubles
1 – No. 39 Abbes/Kobayashi (UW) vs. No. 33 Failla/Valdes (USC) 5-6 (DNF)
2 – No. 34 Katz/Smith (USC) def. Fung/Hance (UW) 6-3
3 – No. 67 Kulikov/Westby (USC) def. Kopcalic/Slavica (UW) 7-6 (4)
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1 – No. 118 Stacey Fung (UW) def. No. 20 Gabby Smith (USC) 6-2, 6-4
2 – No. 47 Jessica Failla (USC) def. Nour Abbes (UW) 6-0, 6-3
3 – No. 111 Miki Kobayashi (UW) def. Rianna Valdes (USC) 6-2, 6-4
4 – Kenadi Hance (UW) def. No. 96 Zoe Katz (USC) 2-6, 7-5, 6-1
5 – Madison Westby (USC) def. Alexis Prokopuik (UW) 6-1, 6-4
6 – Katarina Kopcalic (UW) def. Angela Kulikov (USC) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 5, 3, 6, 1, 4
Players Mentioned
