Huskies Swept by Trojans in Pac-12 Opener

Friday, March 9

Seattle, WA

5:00 PM

University of Washington

USC

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

March 09, 2018 | Men's Tennis

SEATTLE – In the first match of Pac-12 play, No. 13 USC turned out a strong performance against Washington, quickly claiming a 4-0 match victory Friday evening in the Nordstrom Tennis Center.

"I think that we had a number of opportunities," Washington head coach Matt Anger said. "But when we didn't capitalize on that opportunity, all of a sudden that seemed to really turn the tide rather than us getting another opportunity."

The Trojans improved to 9-3 (1-0 Pac-12) on the season while the Huskies dropped to 8-6 (0-1 Pac-12). Washington was close in a few sets, but did not win a single set in both singles or doubles.

USC clinched the doubles points after winning matches on courts one and three. Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven controlled action at No. 2 doubles, taking an early 3-0 lead over Piers Foley and Mitch Stewart before closing it out to win 6-2. On court one, Kawika Lam and Enzo Sommer had all the energy and momentum early on, winning the first three games, but Brandon Holt and Riley Smith roared back to take the next five-straight games. Holt and Smith took the set 6-4 to clinch the doubles point.

Washington continued to struggle in singles against USC's depth. On court one, No. 86 Jake Douglas fought for an early 4-3 lead in set one over No. 12 Brandon Holt. Holt managed to regain the lead however, winning first set 6-4 before closing out the match with a 6-3 victory in set two.

Foley had great moments on court five, but his opponent proved too tough, taking both sets 6-3. Alexis Alvarez showed grit on court six, trading games through set one before Jake DeVine was able to win the set, 7-5. DeVine then pulled away in set two, winning the set 6-1 and taking the match.

Sommer's and Amit Batta's matches both ended early once USC clinched the match. Sommer had an early lead in set one at No. 3 singles but dropped the set 7-5, while the Trojans controlled the other match on court four.

Mitch Stewart and Daniel Cukierman battled for long rally after long rally on court two. Cukierman managed to pull out a victory in set one in a tiebreaker, winning 7-6(3). The second set ended with Cukierman up one game.

On Sunday, Washington continues conference play against No. 4 UCLA at 1 p.m. PT. Live scoring and streaming can be found on the men's tennis schedule page.

Results
Washington - 0
#13 USC - 4

Doubles (Order of finish: 2, 1)
1) #26 Holt/R. Smith (USC) def. Lam/Sommer (UW) 6-4
2) #52 Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. Foley/Stewart (UW) 6-2
3) Davis/Douglas (UW) vs. Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) 4-4 DNF

Singles (Order of finish: 6, 5, 1)
1) #12 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #86 Jake Douglas (UW) 6-4, 6-3
2) #73 Mitch Stewart (UW) vs. #64 Daniel Cukierman (USC) 6-7(3), 0-1 DNF
3) Enzo Sommer (UW) vs. Laurens Verboven (USC) 5-7, 3-5 DNF
4) Amit Batta (UW) vs. Logan Smith (USC) 3-6, 2-5 DNF
5) Jack Jaede (USC) def. Piers Foley (UW) 6-3, 6-3
6) Jake DeVine (USC) def. Alexis Alvarez (UW) 7-5, 6-1