USC
Baylor
Trojans Upset Third-Ranked Baylor, 4-3
February 28, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 28, 2004
LOS ANGELES - The 13th-ranked USC men's tennis team garnered its biggest win yet this season by defeating third-ranked Baylor, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at Marks Tennis Stadium. Despite windy conditions, the Trojans managed to sweep doubles and win three singles matches for the upset victory.
With its fifth-straight win, USC improves to 7-1 overall this season, while Baylor drops to 8-2.
"Everything I have wanted to see this team do this season, they did today," said USC head coach Peter Smith. "Their attitude and energy was tremendous and it was great to be a part of this win. We look forward to battling with UCLA on Tuesday."
The Trojans gained momentum by sweeping doubles for the first point of the match. USC won on courts two and three by decisive 8-3 and 8-4 scores, respectively, but it was the performance at center court that clinched the point. Drew Hoskins and Daniel Langre upset Baylor's 32nd-ranked Benedikt Dorsch and Ivor Lovrak in a breaker, 9-8 (9-7), to garner the point.
Singles was played evenly with the Bears winning at courts 1, 2 and 4, and USC winning at courts 3, 5 and 6. Hoskins posted a two-set victory at the No. 6 spot over Baylor's Reiner Neurohr, 6-4, 6-3, and Langre followed with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 5 over Lovrak. The deciding match was played at the No. 3 position as Johan Berg got past Matias Marin, 6-4, 7-6(1), to clinch the match for the Trojans.
Despite losses, USC's Adriano Biasella, Jamil Al-Agba and Ruben Torres all pushed their matches to three sets, with Al-Agba and Torres falling in tiebreakers.
USC returns to the court on Tuesday, March 2, when it hosts UCLA at 1:30 p.m. at Marks Tennis Stadium. The match will be the second meeting for these two teams for Lexus Gauntlet points.
#13 USC 4, #3 Baylor 3
Doubles
(1) Hoskins/Langre (USC) def. #32 Dorsch/Lovrak (Baylor) - 9-8 (9-7)*
(2) Berg/Biasella (USC) def. Neurohr/Zgaga (Baylor) - 8-4
(3) Al-Agba/Torres (USC) def. Becker/Marin (Baylor) - 8-3
USC wins doubles point.
Singles
(1) #1 Benedikt Dorsch (Baylor) def. Adriano Biasella (USC) - 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
(2) #8 Benjamin Becker (Baylor) def. #16 Jamil Al-Agba (USC) - 6-2, 7-6 (4)
(3) #84 Johan Berg (USC) def. Matias Marin (Baylor) - 6-4, 7-6 (1)*
(4) Matija Zgaga (Baylor) def. #68 Ruben Torres (USC) - 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (5)
(5) Daniel Langre (USC) def. Ivor Lovrak (Baylor) - 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
(6) #69 Drew Hoskins (USC) def. Reiner Neurohr (Baylor) - 6-4, 6-3
* match-clinching wins
Players Mentioned
