USC’s Kaitlyn Christian of Orange, Calif., sat down with 10sBalls.com on Saturday following her big semifinal win in the Pac-12 doubles at The Ojai:
I’m really excited to have won my match today with my partner Sabrina Santamaria of Los Angeles. The Ojai is such a special tournament for the both of us because we both have played here for years growing up in the juniors. I remember playing on the private courts and the residents always being so nice.
Last year I made it to the doubles final but lost a tough three-setter with my partner Maria Sanchez. It’s just so exciting to be playing the final on a Sunday at Libbey Park. The crowds are amazing and it’s just so awesome how this little town way out here puts an event like this on. Literally the entire place shuts down for us.
We are staying in host housing with Annie and Dell. Our team is actually staying with three families total, including Stacy Margolin Potter, who played at USC in the late 70s and who now lives here in Ojai.
I lost in the first round in singles but got to play in a back draw match and won that one. Sabrina and I had kind of a rough start in doubles and were down against a UCLA team 7-2 but won nine straight games to advance.
We came into Ojai on a high having beaten No. 1-ranked UCLA on their home courts in the final regular-season match. They had beaten us twice this year already, once at Indoors and once at our place. We were just so pumped to get a big win against them last week and hope it carries over into the NCAAs.
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