Saturday, May 12
Los Angeles, CA
3:00 PM
USC
4
vs
1
UC Santa Barbara
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Photo by: Hali Helfgott
USC Men's Tennis Defeats UC Santa Barbara 4-1 in NCAA First Round
May 12, 2018 | Men's Tennis, Features
The No. 10 USC men's tennis team opened NCAA Tournament play by defeating UC Santa Barbara 4-1 in the First Round on Saturday (May 12) in Marks Stadium in Los Angeles. The Trojans improve their season record to 18-8 overall with the victory in their 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
"Credit to UC Santa Barbara. They really fought hard," said USC head coach Peter Smith. "We really stepped up and responded, especially Brandon and Daniel who really responded after losing first sets. Both of those guys showed a lot of heart. Congratulations to UC Santa Barbara for playing such a great match."
"We're super disappointed," said UC Santa Barbara head coach Marty Davis. "The doubles went poorly, but we won four first sets in the singles, and we really put ourselves in a position to win this match. We were up a set and a break on courts one and two, but those matches got away from us. I'm disappointed our senior didn't get the chance to finish. However, full credit to the Trojans. They played better than we did today. They blew us away in the doubles, but we really put ourselves in a good spot in the singles."
USC opened up the afternoon with a win on court one from Trojan duo No. 10 Brandon Holt/Riley Smith over UCSB's No. 85 Nicolas Moreno de Alboran/Anders Holm 6-1. Courts two and three were locked in battle against their Gaucho opponents, but the Trojan tandem of Daniel Cukierman/Tanner Smith pushed ahead to nab the doubles point with their 6-3 victory on court three against UC Santa Barbara's Joseph Guillin/Victor Krustev. After the doubles point was secured, court two's match between USC's No. 9 Jack Jaede/Laurens Verboven and UC Santa Barbara's Simon Freund/Joseph Rotheram was suspended.
The Trojans rolled their momentum from doubles over to singles as USC's Thibault Forget defeated UC Santa Barbara's Anders Holm 6-2, 6-3. Forget secured his victory by closing out his match on court four with an ace.
UC Santa Barbara made their mark by putting a point on the board as Gaucho Victor Krustev beat USC's Jack DeVine 6-3, 7-5 on court six. USC was now ahead 2-1 overall.
The remaining four courts were locked in tight matches that would all extend to three sets.
On court five, after Trojan Riley Smith defeated Gaucho Hironori Koyanagi 6-2, he lost the second set 6-4. Smith rallied back to win the third set 6-4 and claim his match with a smart drop shot. Smith's victory pushed USC ahead 3-1 overall in the match.
On court one, USC's No. 11 Brandon Holt dropped the first set to Gaucho #67 Nicolas Moreno de Alboran 6-3. In true Trojan form, Holt fought back to win the second and third sets 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the match for USC and move the team forward to the next round of the tournament.
Earlier in the day, No. 31 Harvard upset No. 17 Oklahoma State 4-2 in their First Round match. The Crimson improves to 19-6 overall. USC is 6-1 all-time in their series against Harvard dating back to 1980.
"We are so happy for our three seniors," said Harvard head coach Dave Fish. "The three seniors who are graduating won the three deciding matches. It doesn't get too much sweeter than that for them and for all of us. The rest of the guys on the team have so much respect for them to see them come out and do what they did. It was fun to play a great match like this in this beautiful facility; it's pretty special."
"It was a good match; credit to Harvard," said Oklahoma State head coach Jay Udwadia. "They played really well in doubles. It got a little tight at the end and Harvard pulled through. I'm proud of my guys. We were fighting and clawing, but it just wasn't our day today."
USC will take on Harvard tomorrow (May 13) at 1 p.m. in the NCAA Second Round at Marks Stadium.
NCAA Tournament – First Round
No. 10 USC 4, UC Santa Barbara 1
May 12, 2018 – Marks Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Doubles
USC wins doubles point
Singles
No. 31 Harvard 4, No. 17 Oklahoma State 2
May 12, 2018 – Marks Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Doubles
Harvard wins doubles point
Singles
"Credit to UC Santa Barbara. They really fought hard," said USC head coach Peter Smith. "We really stepped up and responded, especially Brandon and Daniel who really responded after losing first sets. Both of those guys showed a lot of heart. Congratulations to UC Santa Barbara for playing such a great match."
"We're super disappointed," said UC Santa Barbara head coach Marty Davis. "The doubles went poorly, but we won four first sets in the singles, and we really put ourselves in a position to win this match. We were up a set and a break on courts one and two, but those matches got away from us. I'm disappointed our senior didn't get the chance to finish. However, full credit to the Trojans. They played better than we did today. They blew us away in the doubles, but we really put ourselves in a good spot in the singles."
USC opened up the afternoon with a win on court one from Trojan duo No. 10 Brandon Holt/Riley Smith over UCSB's No. 85 Nicolas Moreno de Alboran/Anders Holm 6-1. Courts two and three were locked in battle against their Gaucho opponents, but the Trojan tandem of Daniel Cukierman/Tanner Smith pushed ahead to nab the doubles point with their 6-3 victory on court three against UC Santa Barbara's Joseph Guillin/Victor Krustev. After the doubles point was secured, court two's match between USC's No. 9 Jack Jaede/Laurens Verboven and UC Santa Barbara's Simon Freund/Joseph Rotheram was suspended.
The Trojans rolled their momentum from doubles over to singles as USC's Thibault Forget defeated UC Santa Barbara's Anders Holm 6-2, 6-3. Forget secured his victory by closing out his match on court four with an ace.
UC Santa Barbara made their mark by putting a point on the board as Gaucho Victor Krustev beat USC's Jack DeVine 6-3, 7-5 on court six. USC was now ahead 2-1 overall.
The remaining four courts were locked in tight matches that would all extend to three sets.
On court five, after Trojan Riley Smith defeated Gaucho Hironori Koyanagi 6-2, he lost the second set 6-4. Smith rallied back to win the third set 6-4 and claim his match with a smart drop shot. Smith's victory pushed USC ahead 3-1 overall in the match.
On court one, USC's No. 11 Brandon Holt dropped the first set to Gaucho #67 Nicolas Moreno de Alboran 6-3. In true Trojan form, Holt fought back to win the second and third sets 7-5, 6-2 to clinch the match for USC and move the team forward to the next round of the tournament.
Earlier in the day, No. 31 Harvard upset No. 17 Oklahoma State 4-2 in their First Round match. The Crimson improves to 19-6 overall. USC is 6-1 all-time in their series against Harvard dating back to 1980.
"We are so happy for our three seniors," said Harvard head coach Dave Fish. "The three seniors who are graduating won the three deciding matches. It doesn't get too much sweeter than that for them and for all of us. The rest of the guys on the team have so much respect for them to see them come out and do what they did. It was fun to play a great match like this in this beautiful facility; it's pretty special."
"It was a good match; credit to Harvard," said Oklahoma State head coach Jay Udwadia. "They played really well in doubles. It got a little tight at the end and Harvard pulled through. I'm proud of my guys. We were fighting and clawing, but it just wasn't our day today."
USC will take on Harvard tomorrow (May 13) at 1 p.m. in the NCAA Second Round at Marks Stadium.
NCAA Tournament – First Round
No. 10 USC 4, UC Santa Barbara 1
May 12, 2018 – Marks Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Doubles
- #10 Holt/R. Smith (USC) def. #85 Moreno de Alboran/Holm (UCSB) – 6-1
- #9 Jaede/Verboven (USC) vs. Freund/Rotheram (UCSB) – 5-2 susp.
- Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) def. Guillin/Krustev (UCSB) – 6-3
USC wins doubles point
Singles
- #11 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #67 Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (UCSB) – 3-6, 7-5, 6-2*
- #74 Daniel Cukierman (USC) vs. Joseph Guillin (UCSB) – 2-6, 7-5, 6-5 susp.
- Jack Jaede (USC) vs. Simon Freund (UCSB) – 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-5 susp.
- Thibault Forget (USC) def. Anders Holm (UCSB) -6-2, 6-3
- Riley Smith (USC) def. Hironori Koyanagi (UCSB) – 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
- Victor Krustev (UCSB) def. Jack DeVine (USC)– 6-3, 7-5
No. 31 Harvard 4, No. 17 Oklahoma State 2
May 12, 2018 – Marks Stadium | Los Angeles, Calif.
Doubles
- Tao/Weber (HU) def. #83 Dubinski/Theodorou (OSU) – 6-3
- Thirouin/Wrzesinski (HU) def. Hammond/Mendoza (OSU) – 6-3
- Solomon/Morrow (HU) vs. Draheim/Scaglia (OSU) – 5-3 susp.
Harvard wins doubles point
Singles
- Kenny Tao (HU) def. #94 Artur Dubinski (OSU) – 5-7, 6-0, 6-3*
- Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) def. Andy Zhou (HU) – 6-2, 6-2
- Jean Thirouin (HU) def. Jurence Mendoza (OSU) – 6-3, 6-3
- Robert Wrzesinski (HU) vs. Tristan Meraut (OSU) -1-6, 6-4, 5-4 susp.
- Grant Solomon (HU) def. Eleftherios Theodorou (OSU) – 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
- Brady Draheim (OSU) def. Andrew Ball (HU) – 7-5, 6-0
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