No. 10 USC Women’s Tennis Falls to No.1 Texas with 4-1 Defeat at ITA National Indoors

The No. 10-ranked USC women's tennis team suffered their first loss of the season to No. 1 Texas 4-1 on Friday (Feb. 11) during the first round of action at the 2022 ITA DI National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. 
 
Texas struck early with Stearns/Chavatipon beating USC's Salma Ewing/McKenna Koenig 6-2 on doubles two. USC's No. 35-ranked Eryn Cayetano and Grace Piper answered, defeating Collins/Zeynalova (UT) 6-2 on doubles one. The Longhorns would eventually take court three in a 6-3 decision as A. Zamarippa/ B. Zamarippa defeated Danielle Willson and Snow Han to claim the doubles point.
 
With a 1-0 advantage moving into singles play Texas kept the momentum going as No. 42 Payton Stearns defeated top-ranked Eryn Cayetano 6-2, 6-1 to further extend the Longhorn's lead. 
 
USC's first point of the evening came from redshirt sophomore No. 52 Snow Han on court three. Han defeated Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) 6-1, 6-4 to make the score 2-1 Texas. 
 
Texas extended their lead as Vivian Ovrootsky defeated Trojan Danielle Willson 6-3, 6-4 on singles five to make the score 3-1 Texas. That left things up to Longhorn Sabrina Zeynatova who edged out Grace Piper 6-3, 7-5 to secure the Texas win and suspend action on courts two and six. 
 
Tomorrow, the Trojans (5-1) have an opportunity to bounce back as they'll take on host Wisconsin (5-2) at 4:30 p.m. PT. 
 
#1 Texas 4, #10 USC 1
Feb. 11, 2022 | Nielsen Tennis Stadium | Madison, Wisconsin
DOUBLES
(1) #35 Cayetano/Piper (USC) def. Collins/Zeynalova (UT) - 6-2
(2) Stearns/Chavatipon (UT) def. Ewing/Koenig (USC) – 6-2
(3) A. Zamarippa / B. Zamarippa (UT) def. Willson/Han (USC) - 6-3
Order of finish: 2,1,3
Texas wins doubles point.

SINGLES
(1) #42 Payton Stearns (UT) def. #1 Eryn Cayetano (USC)- 6-2, 6-1
(2) #18 Salma Ewing (USC) vs. #26 Kylie Collins (UT) – 7-5, 3-6 susp. 
(3) #52 Snow Han (USC) def. Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) - 6-1, 6-4
(4) Sabrina Zeynatova (UT) def.  Grace Piper (USC)– 6-3, 7-5*
(5) Vivian Ovrootsky (UT) def. Danielle Willson (USC) - 6-3, 6-4
(6) McKenna Koenig (USC) vs. Malaika Rapolu (UT) – 6-2, 1-6, 3-5 susp. 
Order of finish: 1,3,5,4*