No. 12 USC Men Barrel Past Baylor 4-1

Sunday, March 20

Indian Wells, Calif.

10:00 AM

USC

Baylor

Logan Smith issued the clincher from court four to net a 4-1 win for the Trojans.

No. 12 USC Men Barrel Past Baylor 4-1

March 20, 2016 | Men's Tennis

March 20, 2016

INDIAN WELLS, CALIF. — The No. 12 USC men's tennis team made a singles surge to pass up No. 21 Baylor and forge a path to a 4-1 win at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Challenge presented by Oracle in Indian Wells, Calif. USC's doubles fortune from yesterday had turned, but the Trojans were ready to dig in for the singles stretch and rattled off four straight-set wins to pin up the victory. USC improves to 10-3 overall with the win.

USC's doubles winners from yesterday weren't able to pull off victories in today's opening stretch, although USC's #74 pairing of Nick Crystal and Laurens Verboven turned the tide and whipped up a solid upset of Baylor's #12 Lenz/Little for a bright spot in the doubles realm. Their 7-5 victory was the lone win, as the Bears emerged with the 1-0 lead on doubles wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.

In singles, USC's #91 sophomore Thibault Forget stayed the course and strung up his 10th consecutive singles win with a swift 6-1, 6-1 decision over Baylor's Jimmy Bendeck to pull the Trojans even with the Bears at 1-1. Senior Max de Vroome would step up next. The #32 Trojan had an impressive upset win in the books with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Baylor's #17 Julian Lenz on court one, lifting USC into the lead with a 2-1 advantage. Then, it was freshman Jake DeVine who tugged the Trojans within reach of victory as he dispatched Felipe Rios with a decisive 6-1, 6-3 win on court three. That set up his fellow freshman #40 Logan Smith for the heroics on the day. Smith hit the finish line against Will Little with a 6-3, 6-2 win for the clincher, beating out teammate Laurens Verboven on court six. Verboven was a game away from victory when Smith landed the winner to wrap the match as a 4-1 Trojan win.

The Trojans will now hit the road for their first Pac-12 matches of the season. USC will first head to Seattle to take on Washington in a 5 p.m. matchup on Friday (March 25). Then, USC goes to Eugene, Ore., to face Oregon at 12 p.m. on Sunday (March 27).

BNP PARIBAS OPEN COLLEGIATE CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY ORACLE

#12 USC 4, #21 Baylor 1

March 20, 2016 - Indian Wells, Calif.

DOUBLES

(1) #74 Crystal/Verboven (USC) def. #12 Lenz/Little (BU) - 7-5
(2) Tchoutakian/Podvinski (BU) def. de Vroome/DeVine (USC) - 6-3

(3) Rios/Bendeck (BU) def. Jaede/T. Smith (USC) - 7-6 (9)

Baylor wins doubles point.

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

SINGLES

(1) #32 Max de Vroome (USC) def. #17 Julian Lenz (BU) - 6-2, 6-1
(2) #35 Nick Crystal (USC) vs. #56 Max Tchoutakian (BU) - 6-4, 4-3 susp.

(3) #113 Jake DeVine (USC) def. Felipe Rios (BU) - 6-1, 6-3
(4) #40 Logan Smith (USC) def. Will Little (BU) - 6-3, 6-2*
(5) #91 Thibault Forget (USC) def. Jimmy Bendeck (BU) - 6-1, 6-1
(6) Laurens Verboven (USC) vs. Tommy Podvinski (BU) - 6-2, 5-3 susp.

Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 4*