Friday, February 22
Los Angeles, CA
3:00 PM
USC
4
vs
1
UCLA
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Photo by: Katie Chin
USC Men Beat The Bruins 4-1 In Match At Marks Stadium
February 22, 2019 | Men's Tennis, Features
Trojans get the clincher from Riley Smith to win the first USC-UCLA crosstown rivalry match of the season.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 24 USC men's tennis team defended its home court and turned the tide on its rival UCLA with a 4-1 win over the visiting No. 14 Bruins today at Marks Stadium. After taking a string of losses to the Bruins last season, USC displayed dominance in this crosstown clash, grabbing a decisive doubles point and then pinning up singles wins from Jake Sands, Logan Smith and Riley Smith to secure the nonconference win. USC is now 7-5 overall on the year.
In doubles, USC got up a break on all courts, gripping 4-2 advantages all at the same time before pressing on to capture the first point of the day. On court three, the freshman-senior combo pack of Bradley Frye and Tanner Smith whipped up a swift 6-2 win over UCLA's Goldberg/Rapp. The Bruins clawed to within a point on courts one and two, but USC seniors Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven locked down the doubles point with a 6-4 win over UCLA's Pereira/Zahraj, and the Trojans were on to singles action with a 1-0 lead on the board.
In singles, freshman Jake Sands made an all-out sprint to tug the Trojans ahead 2-0 on a 6-0, 6-4 win over Eric Hahn on court six. USC had snagged first sets on four courts, but the Bruins had the upper hand on two. Brandon Holt would fight back on court one to bring up a third set, but UCLA held its ground on court two at #53 Govin Nanda topped #23 Laurens Verboven to make it 2-1. Fellow senior Logan Smith had a quick response to that, however. He'd swing through UCLA's Patrick Zahraj with a 6-4, 6-3 decision that tugged the Trojans to a 3-1 lead, looking for a clinching win for the Trojan cause. At the No. 4 spot, Riley Smith jumped on his chance to deal out the deciding blow. The junior held strong in his second-set tiebreaker to beat UCLA's Ben Goldberg 6-1, 7-6 (3) and round out USC's victory over the rival Bruins.
That suspended tight battles on courts one and five, with Trojans Brandon Holt and Mor Bulis looking locked in draws in their respective third and second sets.
USC's next action takes the Trojans to Utah for their first Pac-12 match of the season. USC will visit the Utes for a 2 p.m. MT match on March 9.
#24 USC 4, #14 UCLA 1
Feb. 22, 2019 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) #21 Holt/R. Smith (USC) vs. Cressy/Nanda (UCLA) - 5-4 susp.
(2) Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. Pereira/Zahraj (UCLA) - 6-4
(3) Frye/T. Smith (USC) def. Goldberg/Rapp (UCLA) - 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2
USC wins doubles point.
SINGLES
(1) #21 Brandon Holt (USC) vs. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) - 3-6, 6-3, 1-1 susp.
(2) #53 Govind Nanda (UCLA) def. #23 Laurens Verboven (USC) - 6-2, 6-3
(3) #45 Logan Smith (USC) def. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) - 6-4, 6-3
(4) Riley Smith (USC) def. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) - 6-1, 7-6 (3)*
(5) Mor Bulis (USC) vs. Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA) - 7-6 (6), 3-3 susp.
(6) Jake Sands (USC) def. Eric Hahn (UCLA) - 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 2, 3, 4*
In doubles, USC got up a break on all courts, gripping 4-2 advantages all at the same time before pressing on to capture the first point of the day. On court three, the freshman-senior combo pack of Bradley Frye and Tanner Smith whipped up a swift 6-2 win over UCLA's Goldberg/Rapp. The Bruins clawed to within a point on courts one and two, but USC seniors Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven locked down the doubles point with a 6-4 win over UCLA's Pereira/Zahraj, and the Trojans were on to singles action with a 1-0 lead on the board.
In singles, freshman Jake Sands made an all-out sprint to tug the Trojans ahead 2-0 on a 6-0, 6-4 win over Eric Hahn on court six. USC had snagged first sets on four courts, but the Bruins had the upper hand on two. Brandon Holt would fight back on court one to bring up a third set, but UCLA held its ground on court two at #53 Govin Nanda topped #23 Laurens Verboven to make it 2-1. Fellow senior Logan Smith had a quick response to that, however. He'd swing through UCLA's Patrick Zahraj with a 6-4, 6-3 decision that tugged the Trojans to a 3-1 lead, looking for a clinching win for the Trojan cause. At the No. 4 spot, Riley Smith jumped on his chance to deal out the deciding blow. The junior held strong in his second-set tiebreaker to beat UCLA's Ben Goldberg 6-1, 7-6 (3) and round out USC's victory over the rival Bruins.
That suspended tight battles on courts one and five, with Trojans Brandon Holt and Mor Bulis looking locked in draws in their respective third and second sets.
USC's next action takes the Trojans to Utah for their first Pac-12 match of the season. USC will visit the Utes for a 2 p.m. MT match on March 9.
#24 USC 4, #14 UCLA 1
Feb. 22, 2019 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) #21 Holt/R. Smith (USC) vs. Cressy/Nanda (UCLA) - 5-4 susp.
(2) Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. Pereira/Zahraj (UCLA) - 6-4
(3) Frye/T. Smith (USC) def. Goldberg/Rapp (UCLA) - 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2
USC wins doubles point.
SINGLES
(1) #21 Brandon Holt (USC) vs. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) - 3-6, 6-3, 1-1 susp.
(2) #53 Govind Nanda (UCLA) def. #23 Laurens Verboven (USC) - 6-2, 6-3
(3) #45 Logan Smith (USC) def. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) - 6-4, 6-3
(4) Riley Smith (USC) def. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) - 6-1, 7-6 (3)*
(5) Mor Bulis (USC) vs. Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA) - 7-6 (6), 3-3 susp.
(6) Jake Sands (USC) def. Eric Hahn (UCLA) - 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 2, 3, 4*
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