Sunday, May 20
Winston-Salem, NC
7:00 AM
USC
3
vs
4
UCLA
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Photo by: Bill Kallenberg
No. 10 USC Takes Tight 4-3 NCAA Quarterfinal Loss To No. 2 UCLA
May 20, 2018 | Men's Tennis, Features
Trojans fight back for a 3-2 lead, but the Bruins regroup and press on to advance to the semis in Winston-Salem.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The No. 10 seeded USC men's tennis team went toe-to-toe against No. 2 seed and crosstown rival UCLA in the teams' fourth meeting of the season, this one played out at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, N.C., and this one going in the Bruins' favor in a tight 4-3 decision in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Trojans gutted it out to fight back from a 2-0 deficit, snagging a 3-2 lead as Daniel Cukierman, Riley Smith and Laurens Verboven strung together a run of three wins in singles. UCLA was able to overcome, however, netting wins on courts six and one to wrap a hard-fought battle far from home and move on to the semifinals. USC ends its 2018 campaign with a 20-9 overall record.
"I'm super proud of how the team came together these last three weeks of this season," USC head coach Peter Smith said. "We fought today, and when you lose, that hurts, but when you lose giving everything you have — 100 percent — you have no regrets. We fought our butts off, came up short, but we have great momentum for next year and boy are we looking forward to that."
The Bruins got an early upper hand with a doubles push that saw UCLA never trail on courts one and two. At the top spot, it was UCLA's #29 pairing of Redlicki/Zhu that worked out ahead early against USC's #10 Brandon Holt and Riley Smith to notch a 6-3 decision on court one. On court two, UCLA's #16 Rapp/Smith got a late break against USC's #9 Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven to snap a 10-match win streak held by the Trojan duo and snag the doubles point for the Bruins on a 6-3 win that suspended play at 4-4 on court three and got UCLA the 1-0 advantage.
In singles, USC claimed the opening sets on two courts only to see the Bruins counter and take the firsts on four. Court three would wrap first, with UCLA's #56 Keegan Smith topping USC's Jack Jaede 7-5, 6-3 to make it a 2-0 Bruin lead. That's when the Trojans turned up the pressure. As the skies cleared and the heat rose, USC rattled off three key wins to steal into the lead. On court two, freshman #74 Daniel Cukierman was the spark, having won four straight games to end his first set and then winning the last three to put away #81 Evan Zhu with a 6-3, 6-4 victory that got USC on the board. Next, sophomore Riley Smith managed a crucial break of UCLA's Connor Hance and then held serve to lock up the match at 2-2 on his 6-3, 7-5 win.
Coming through with the go-ahead victory was junior Laurens Verboven, who calmly shrugged off his first-set loss and turned the tables on his Bruin opponent, #103 Logan Staggs. He'd top off his comeback win with authority, shutting out Staggs for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 scoreline that took the Trojans to a 3-2 lead with two tough matches still raging.
On court one, USC's #11 Brandon Holt had shaken things up in taking the second set off of top-ranked Martin Redlicki to force a third. On court five, meanwhile, senior Thibault Forget was back in stride with UCLA's Maxime Cressy after falling in the second set. Forget would get up 6-5 in holding serve, only to have Cressy hold and force a second-set tiebreaker. There, the Bruin was able to manufacture a rally that got Forget in a hole, and Cressy wrapped a 6-3, 7-6 (2) win that snarled the match at 3-3 to put all eyes on court one. That's where the heavy-hitting Redlicki was able to make an early move, getting up a break and then holding his ground against the savvy Holt to clinch the victory for UCLA on a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win from the Bruins' top gun.
Today's NCAA Quarterfinal match marks the end of a strong Trojan career for senior Thibault Forget, who had the clinching singles win in USC's NCAA Round of 16 match two days earlier. With a 12-9 singles record this year in limited action, Forget finishes his USC career with a 75-33 overall singles record. His highest career singles ranking came in his sophomore season at No. 85 in the nation.
While the USC team wraps its 2018 body of work with a 20-9 overall record and the program's 10th NCAA Quarterfinal appearance in the last 12 years, four Trojans will continue on in individual action out in Winston-Salem. Sophomore Brandon Holt has double duty ahead, earning a repeat trip into the NCAA Singles draw, gripping a 9-16 seed as singles play begins May 23. On May 24, he'll rejoin forces with fellow sophomore Riley Smith in the NCAA Doubles realm for the second straight season. Joining the USC sophomores in the NCAA Doubles draw are juniors Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven, who are seeded 5-8 in their NCAA Doubles debut.
2018 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (hosted by Wake Forest | Winston-Salem, N.C.)
QUARTERFINAL
[2] #2 UCLA 4, [10] #10 USC 3
May 20, 2018 | Wake Forest Tennis Complex (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
DOUBLES
(1) #29 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) def. #10 Holt/R. Smith (USC) - 6-3
(2) #16 Rapp/Smith (UCLA) def. #9 Jaede/Verboven (USC) - 6-3
(3) Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) vs. Cressy/Pereira (UCLA) - 4-4 susp.
UCLA wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 1, 2
SINGLES
(1) #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #11 Brandon Holt (USC) - 6-4, 4-6, 6-2*
(2) #74 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. #81 Evan Zhu (UCLA) - 6-3, 6-4
(3) #56 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Jack Jaede (USC) - 7-5, 6-3
(4) Laurens Verboven (USC) def. #103 Logan Staggs (UCLA) - 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
(5) Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Thibault Forget (USC) - 6-3, 7-6 (2)
(6) Riley Smith (USC) def. Connor Hance (UCLA) - 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 2, 6, 3, 4, 1*
"I'm super proud of how the team came together these last three weeks of this season," USC head coach Peter Smith said. "We fought today, and when you lose, that hurts, but when you lose giving everything you have — 100 percent — you have no regrets. We fought our butts off, came up short, but we have great momentum for next year and boy are we looking forward to that."
The Bruins got an early upper hand with a doubles push that saw UCLA never trail on courts one and two. At the top spot, it was UCLA's #29 pairing of Redlicki/Zhu that worked out ahead early against USC's #10 Brandon Holt and Riley Smith to notch a 6-3 decision on court one. On court two, UCLA's #16 Rapp/Smith got a late break against USC's #9 Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven to snap a 10-match win streak held by the Trojan duo and snag the doubles point for the Bruins on a 6-3 win that suspended play at 4-4 on court three and got UCLA the 1-0 advantage.
In singles, USC claimed the opening sets on two courts only to see the Bruins counter and take the firsts on four. Court three would wrap first, with UCLA's #56 Keegan Smith topping USC's Jack Jaede 7-5, 6-3 to make it a 2-0 Bruin lead. That's when the Trojans turned up the pressure. As the skies cleared and the heat rose, USC rattled off three key wins to steal into the lead. On court two, freshman #74 Daniel Cukierman was the spark, having won four straight games to end his first set and then winning the last three to put away #81 Evan Zhu with a 6-3, 6-4 victory that got USC on the board. Next, sophomore Riley Smith managed a crucial break of UCLA's Connor Hance and then held serve to lock up the match at 2-2 on his 6-3, 7-5 win.
Coming through with the go-ahead victory was junior Laurens Verboven, who calmly shrugged off his first-set loss and turned the tables on his Bruin opponent, #103 Logan Staggs. He'd top off his comeback win with authority, shutting out Staggs for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 scoreline that took the Trojans to a 3-2 lead with two tough matches still raging.
On court one, USC's #11 Brandon Holt had shaken things up in taking the second set off of top-ranked Martin Redlicki to force a third. On court five, meanwhile, senior Thibault Forget was back in stride with UCLA's Maxime Cressy after falling in the second set. Forget would get up 6-5 in holding serve, only to have Cressy hold and force a second-set tiebreaker. There, the Bruin was able to manufacture a rally that got Forget in a hole, and Cressy wrapped a 6-3, 7-6 (2) win that snarled the match at 3-3 to put all eyes on court one. That's where the heavy-hitting Redlicki was able to make an early move, getting up a break and then holding his ground against the savvy Holt to clinch the victory for UCLA on a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win from the Bruins' top gun.
Today's NCAA Quarterfinal match marks the end of a strong Trojan career for senior Thibault Forget, who had the clinching singles win in USC's NCAA Round of 16 match two days earlier. With a 12-9 singles record this year in limited action, Forget finishes his USC career with a 75-33 overall singles record. His highest career singles ranking came in his sophomore season at No. 85 in the nation.
While the USC team wraps its 2018 body of work with a 20-9 overall record and the program's 10th NCAA Quarterfinal appearance in the last 12 years, four Trojans will continue on in individual action out in Winston-Salem. Sophomore Brandon Holt has double duty ahead, earning a repeat trip into the NCAA Singles draw, gripping a 9-16 seed as singles play begins May 23. On May 24, he'll rejoin forces with fellow sophomore Riley Smith in the NCAA Doubles realm for the second straight season. Joining the USC sophomores in the NCAA Doubles draw are juniors Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven, who are seeded 5-8 in their NCAA Doubles debut.
2018 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS (hosted by Wake Forest | Winston-Salem, N.C.)
QUARTERFINAL
[2] #2 UCLA 4, [10] #10 USC 3
May 20, 2018 | Wake Forest Tennis Complex (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
DOUBLES
(1) #29 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) def. #10 Holt/R. Smith (USC) - 6-3
(2) #16 Rapp/Smith (UCLA) def. #9 Jaede/Verboven (USC) - 6-3
(3) Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) vs. Cressy/Pereira (UCLA) - 4-4 susp.
UCLA wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 1, 2
SINGLES
(1) #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #11 Brandon Holt (USC) - 6-4, 4-6, 6-2*
(2) #74 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. #81 Evan Zhu (UCLA) - 6-3, 6-4
(3) #56 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Jack Jaede (USC) - 7-5, 6-3
(4) Laurens Verboven (USC) def. #103 Logan Staggs (UCLA) - 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
(5) Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Thibault Forget (USC) - 6-3, 7-6 (2)
(6) Riley Smith (USC) def. Connor Hance (UCLA) - 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 2, 6, 3, 4, 1*
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