USC’s Peterson Manages to Advance

Impatience almost cost USC’s Jewel Peterson a chance to advance in the NCAA women’s individual tennis championships. But Peterson bounced back from a breakdown in the second set to beat Vanderbilt’s Julie Ditty, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, Tuesday at Pepperdine.

Peterson, ranked No. 17, advanced to today’s third round, which was pushed back a day because early-morning fog and mist in Malibu made the courts unplayable for four hours.

“You don’t know what to eat, you don’t know what to do,” Peterson said of the altered schedule. “You have to relax and play it by ear.”

Peterson will play Arizona State’s Karin Palme, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over UCLA senior Annica Cooper, in the third round.

Pepperdine’s doubles team of Ipek Senoglu and Paola Palencia advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Notre Dame’s Michelle Dasso and Becky Varnum.

Also in doubles, UCLA’s team of Elizabeth Schmidt and Abigail Spears lost to South Alabama’s Martina Ondrejkova and Iva Puflerova, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.