USC junior Maria Sanchez put forth another powerful comeback effort at the Wilson/ITA Southwest Regional Championships, as the Trojan shrugged off a tight tiebreaker loss in the first set and battled her way back to take her second straight ITA regional singles championship with a 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-4 win over UCLA's Yasmin Schnack.
 
    Last year, Sanchez was up against her fellow Trojan teammate Alison Ramos in the title match. This year, Sanchez had to pass up another teammate in the quarterfinal round, as she beat USC freshman Danielle Lao to move into a semifinal rematch with UCLA's Andrea Remynse. That Trojan-Bruin pair had clashed in last year's semi, and Sanchez again upended UCLA's Remynse with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback effort yesterday to take a step toward defending that 2008 regional title.
 
    Against No. 2 seed Yasmin Schnack in the championship match today, No. 3 seed Sanchez slipped in a hard-fought tiebreaker in the first set. Tied up 5-5 in the second set, Sanchez held strong and got a late break to win and gather some momentum for the third set. A break of Schnack helped Sanchez roll on to the big win, finishing up a 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-4 decision in the title match.
 
    With her winning run through this year's Wilson/ITA Southwest Regionals, Sanchez earns an automatic berth at the coming ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, held Nov. 5-8 at Yale. Ranked No. 17 in the nation for the preseason, Sanchez now holds a 6-2 overall singles record.