LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The No. 19 Wisconsin Badgers dropped their second straight match Sunday afternoon, falling to the No. 22 USC Trojans. This marked the first meeting between the two teams as conference opponents, with the Trojans joining the Big Ten this year.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Badgers surrendered the doubles point after a pair of hard-fought losses. One bright spot came from the duo of Ariel Johnson and Maria Sholokhova, who held a lead against the No. 5 doubles team in the nation before their match was called. Head coach Kelcy McKenna reverted to the usual pairing of Taylor Cataldi and Ellison Reynoldson after adjusting the lineup against UCLA on Saturday. However, the duo couldn't find their rhythm and fell 3-6.

The early momentum loss carried into singles play, where the Badgers struggled to gain traction. Taylor Cataldi fought back in her first set to force a tiebreak but came up short. Ariel Johnson and Ellison Reynoldson showed resilience, each bouncing back to win their second set after dropping the first. However, both ultimately fell in the deciding third set.

Maria Sholokhova was a bright spot for Wisconsin, bouncing back strongly after her singles loss to UCLA. She came out with intensity and cruised to a dominant 6-3, 6-1 victory.

RESULTS:
Doubles:

No. 5 Lily Fairclough/Grace Piper (USC) vs. No. 86 Ariel Johnson/Maria Sholokhova (WISC); 4-5 DNF

Sloane Morra/Immi Haddad (USC) def. No.100 Taylor Cataldi/Ellison Reynoldson (WISC); 6-3

Emma Charney/Parker Fry (USC) def. Ekaterina Ivanova/Parker Christensen (WISC); 6-1

Singles:

No. 5 Maria Sholokhova (WISC) def. No. 53 Grace Piper (USC); 6-3, 6-1

No. 58 Emma Charney (USC) vs. No.100 Taylor Cataldi (WISC); 7-6 [8], 5-6 DNF

Lily Fairclough (USC) def. Ekaterina Ivanova (WISC); 6-4, 6-3

No. 89 Immi Haddad (USC) def. Ariel Johnson (WISC); 6-1, 4-6, 6-2

Maia Sung (USC) def. Ellison Reynoldson (WISC); 6-2, 4-6, 6-0

Simone Kay (USC) vs. Kaja Jacobson (WISC); 4-6, 6-6 [4-2] DNF
 

UP NEXT:
The Badgers will return to Madison to take on the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday, April 11th.