USC Women’s Tennis Begins Pursuit of NCAA Title

THIS WEEK
The No. 35 USC women's tennis team has secured yet another trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Women of Troy (11-10) will be participating in their 37th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and will travel to Gainesville, Fla. from May 7-8 to play at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex, the home of host University of Florida. The Round of 16 and beyond of the Team Tournament will take place at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla from May 16-22. Under the tutelage of head coach Alison Swain, USC will face Oklahoma (15-6) on Friday (May 7) at 7 a.m. PT. Should the Trojans defeat the Sooners, USC will take on the winner of the First Round match up between No. 11 seed Florida and Siena on Saturday (May 8) at 1 p.m. PT. 

NCAA NOTES
The Women of Troy hold a 72-35 all-time record in the tournament. USC has won six national championships in all, including NCAA titles in 1983 and 1985 after the NCAA began its women's tennis championships in 1982. USC has won five National Singles Championships (1976 - Barbara Hallquist [USTA], 1977 - Barbara Hallquist [USTA], 1978 - Stacy Margolin [USTA], 1981 - Anna Maria Fernandez [AIAW], 1983 - Beth Herr [NCAA]) and two National Doubles Championships (1980 - Trey Lewis/Anne White [AIAW], 2013 - Kaitlyn Christian/Sabrina Santamaria [NCAA]).

RANKINGS
The Women of Troy enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 35 ranked team in the countr. USC boasts two Trojans in the national singles rankings with junior Salma Ewing locking down the No. 42 spot and sophomore Eryn Cayetano claiming the No. 98 rank. 

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA
The No. 22 ranked Oklahoma Sooners are 15- 6 on the season. Under head coach Audra Cohen, the Sooners went 5-3 in Big 12 Conference play. Oklahoma boasts three singles players: No. 63 Dana Guzman, No. 64 Carmen Corley and No. 83 Ivana Corley. As a duo, Carmen and Ivana Corley are ranked No. 23 in the nation in doubles. The Trojans are 3-0 all-time against the Sooners dating back to their initial meeting in 1999. 

SCOUTING SIENA COLLEGE
After winning the MAAC Championship, Siena College is making it's second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, with the first in 2006. Under head coach Jeff Osborn, the Saints hold a 7-3 record, and they do not have any ranked singles or doubles players. USC has never played Siena in the history of the program.

SCOUTING FLORIDA
The Florida Gators are ranked No. 12 in the nation and hold the No. 11 seed in the tournament. Under coach Roland Thornqvist, they are 12-7 overall and 10-3 in SEC play. The Gators are making their 38th tournament appearance. They boast four nationally ranked singles players: No. 8 McCartney Kessler, No. 71 Marlee Zein, No. 79 Layne Sleeth and No. 103 Ida Jarlskog. In doubles, Kessler/Zein are ranked No. 7, while Jarlskog/Sleeth are ranked No. 53. The Trojans are 8-14 all-time against the Gators dating back to their initial meeting in 1978.

INDIVIDUAL ACTION
In the individual action, the Women of Troy will be represented in the NCAA Singles Tournament (May 23-28) in Orlando, Fla. No 42 ranked junior Salma Ewing will be making her second career NCAA Singles Tournament appearance. In 2019, Ewing fell in the First Round. 

Sophomore No. 98 Eryn Cayetano has been named the second alternate to join the field of 64 players in the singles tournament. 

Ewing is ranked No. 53 in the nation in singles and has a 13-5 singles record for the 2021 season. She has the most singles wins of any player on the USC roster. She has collected six wins over ranked opponents, including two in the Top 20. 

Cayetano is ranked No. 109 in singles and holds a 10-5 singles record. She has clinched one match for the Trojans this year and has wins over two nationally ranked opponents. 

WATCH THE TROJANS
All matches at Marks Stadium can be viewed through PlaySight. Please visit USCTrojans.com to watch live streams of the matches as well as view live scoring. . 

If road matches are live streamed, links to the video can be found on the schedule page at USCTrojans.com.

Follow along on Instagram and Twitter @USCWomensTennis for score updates.