USC Women Beat Aztecs in Tennis, 6-3

The second-ranked USC women’s tennis team, playing without its No. 1 player, Caroline Kuhlman, and defaulting a singles match when No. 2 player Heliane Steden reinjured her left ankle, still managed to defeat seventh-ranked San Diego State, 6-3, in a Western Collegiate Athletic Assn. match here Friday.

The Trojans, coming off a 5-4 victory Wednesday over Stanford, defending national champion and top-ranked team in the country, improved their record to 22-0. San Diego State, which has lost six straight to USC during the past three seasons, fell to 20-6.

Stephanie Harges at No. 3 singles, Claudia Hernandez and Dena Levy at No. 2 doubles and Mary Norwood and Harges at No. 3 doubles rallied to win matches for USC, which won all four of Friday’s three-set matches.

SDSU jumped to a 1-0 lead when Steden had to retire from her match against Linda Howell at No. 1 singles. Steden had been moved up to No. 1 singles for the match because Kuhlman was out with an injury. Howell had a 1-0 lead in the first set when Steden, who suffered a stress fracture of her left ankle two weeks ago, limped off the court.

The Trojans came back to take control behind Harges’ 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Cathy Berry at No. 3 singles, and Hernandez’s 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Dana Bleicher at No. 5. Norwood, who trailed in the first set, 5-2, rallied to beat SDSU’s Cinny MacGregor, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 2 singles, giving USC a 4-2 lead.

The Aztecs closed the gap when Howell and MacGregor beat Cecilia Fernandez and Carol Heynon, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 1 doubles, and then appeared to be in a position to win when the teams of Anne Moeller and Berry at No. 2, and Jessica Buss and Jackie Geller at No. 3 took one-set leads.

But Hernandez-Levy and Norwood-Harges came back to win and clinch the team victory.