Despite grabbing the first point with two victories in doubles action, the Trojan might of USC became too much to handle for the Cougs.

No. 11 seed WSU (7-15, 0-10 Pac-12) was the prey to No. 6 USC (19-9, 6-4) in a 4-1 loss in the opening round of the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament.

To secure their only point win of the match, the Cougars took down the Trojans on courts No. 1 and No. 2 in doubles action. On court No. 2, the WSU duo Yura Nakagawa and Fifa Kumhom upset the No. 42 ranked Snow Han and Naomi Cheong in an impressive 6-3 win.

Following a USC victory on court No. 3, court No. 1 became the deciding match. WSU won off the back of No. 53 ranked duo Eva Alvarez Sande and Elyse Tse’s nail-biter 7-6 (4) win.

Unfortunately, the momentum gained from doubles did not carry over into singles action, as despite several close starts to each first set, USC won four consecutive points to come out victorious.

No. 11 Maddy Sieg (USC) def.  Alvarez Sande (WSU) 6-4, 6-3

Nakagawa (WSU) vs. Han (USC) 6-4, 0-6, 0-1 DNF

Tse (WSU) vs. Emma Charney (USC) 2-6, 4-5 DNF

Cheong (USC) def. Kumhom (WSU) 6-2, 6-1

Grace Piper (USC) def. Hania Abouelsaad (WSU) 6-1, 6-2

Nathalie Rodilosso (USC) vs. Yang Lee (WSU) 6-3, 6-2

Following their victory over the Cougs, USC defeated Arizona State and California en route to a Championship match appearance against Stanford. Against the Cardinal, the Trojans were swept 4-0, and Stanford became the 2023 women’s tennis Pac-12 champions.

The loss to USC marked the end of the season for the Cougs and the second for head coach Raquel Atawo; the next step for the program is to re-group and begin preparations and training for the 2024 campaign.