Dawgs Host Two Top-10 Teams To Begin Pac-12 Play
March 23, 2016 | Men's Tennis
SEATLLE – The No. 39 Washington men's tennis team begins conference play this weekend, as they will host No. 8 USC on Friday at 5 p.m. and No. 6 UCLA on Sunday at noon.
These will be the first and second of the team's seven Pac-12 matches this season, five of which will be played at home.
The Huskies will be playing in their third and fourth matches of the week after hosting Eastern Washington for a doubleheader on Monday. Winning all 12 singles matches and all six in doubles, they swept the Eagles 7-0 in each match to move to 13-4 on the season. Mitch Stewart led the charge for the Huskies, grabbing two singles victories on court one. The sophomore will enter this weekend with a 12-2 dual match singles record, and has been ranked as high as 68th in the country in 2016.
Head coach Peter Smith is currently in his 14th season with USC and has guided the program to five NCAA Championships, while being named the ITA National Coach of the Year twice. The 10-3 Trojans most recently knocked off two ranked opponents this past weekend at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Challenge, defeating No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 21 Baylor. Six players hold singles rankings by the ITA, led by senior Max de Vroome who currently sits at a career-high 25th.
The 12-2 Bruins were last in action this past Tuesday as they faced UNLV on the road and grabbed a 6-1 win. Their only losses on the season thus far were to then No. 1 ranked Virginia, and the current No. 1 team in the country North Carolina. Last year's Pac-12 Player of the Year Mackenzie McDonald leads the charge for UCLA, as he currently holds an 8-1 record and is ranked the No. 9 player in the country by the ITA. McDonald has paired with Martin Redlicki this season to go 7-2, including a 4-1 record against nationally ranked duos, and are ranked the 4th best doubles pair in the nation. Head coach Billy Martin is in his 23rd year as head coach for the Bruins, and has guided the program to five NCAA Championships Finals appearances, including their first National Championship since 1984 during the 2005 season.
Admission to both matches will be free, with pizza served to all in attendance after the doubles conclude. The matches will be played outdoors at Bill Quillian Stadium if weather permits, or will be moved indoors to the Nordstrom Tennis Center if needed. If you can't make it to campus, you can follow along with the live streaming and scoring links at GoHuskies.com
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