No. 19 Women of Troy Fall Short to No. 8 Pepperdine During Second Round of NCAA Tournament

The No. 19 Women of Troy saw their 2021-22 season draw to a close this afternoon after falling to No. 8 Pepperdine 4-1 during the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in Malibu, Calif.

USC kicked off the afternoon with a win on center court as the No. 72 ranked Trojan duo of Eryn Cayetano and Salma Ewing defeated Pepperdine's No. 45 ranked Flores/Zaar with a 6-4 decision. Shortly thereafter, Snow Han and Danielle Willson fell to the Waves on court three as Fukuda/Pachkaleva recorded a 7-5 victory. With USC and Pepperdine each claiming a doubles victory, all eyes shifted to court two. USC's Naomi Cheong and Grace Piper battled for 75 minutes before ultimately falling 7-6(9) to the Waves No. 42 ranked duo of Broadus/Tjen on court two.

The Trojans moved into singles play with a one point deficit, with No. 8 Pepperdine swiftly extending their lead after a win on court six. Grace Piper fell 6-2, 6-0 to Pepperdine's Savannah Broadus. USC's one point of the day came from the No. 7 ranked Eryn Cayetano on court two. Cayetano defeated No. 15 Shiori Fukada 6-0, 6-3. Cayetano brought the score within one, but the Waves would eventually win two in a row to secure the victory. Trojan #104 Snow Han fell to #27 Lisa Zaar 6-1, 6-1 on court three to put the Waves within one point of securing a victory. The match was clinched on court four as No. 84 Naomi Cheong fell to #40 Taisiya Pachkaleva 6-4, 6-2 to send the Waves to the Sweet 16. The remaining matches were abandoned. 

With the loss, USC wraps up the 2021-22 season with a dual match record of 18-12. Trojans No. 7 Eryn Cayetano and No. 50 Salma Ewing will set their sights on the 2022 NCAA Singles Championships as they'll travel to Champaign, Illinois later this month to compete individually.