Friday, April 5
Seattle, WA
3:00 PM
University of Washington
4
vs
2
USC
Huskies Take Down Trojans In Return Home
April 05, 2024 | Men's Tennis
SEATTLE – In its first home match since March 7 and first outdoor home match of the year, Washington Men's Tennis took down USC for the first time since 2016, and just the sixth time in program history. The Huskies got their second-straight Pac-12 win with a 4-2 victory over the 49th-ranked Trojans, with a dramatic clinching tiebreak victory at the No. 1 singles spot from Cesar Bouchelaghem.
UW finished a lengthy six-match road trip last week with a 4-0 win at Utah to get its first conference win, and backed that up today to get to 2-2 in Pac-12 play, and 8-10 for the season. The Huskies will have another huge opportunity on Sunday when 25th-ranked UCLA comes in for a 1 p.m. match.
The Huskies needed one more point to put away the Trojans with Bouchelaghem trying to upset 64th-ranked Peter Makk on the top court. After the two traded sets, Bouchelaghem came back from 0-3 down in the third to serve for the match at 5-4, and he had match point at 40-30, but Makk saved it and then won the deciding point to keep things going. Bouchelaghem held firm and forced a tiebreak, where he took a 5-1 lead before Makk scored three straight. But Bouchelaghem earned another match point chance with a service winner, and then he ripped a backhand passing shot on the final point to clinch it, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4).
Brett Pearson earned a big 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles over Niroop Vallabhaneni which made it 3-0 Huskies thanks to a USC default at No. 6, and a crucial doubles point win from the Dawgs that opened the match on a positive note.
Head Coach Rahim Esmail was impressed with Bouchelaghem's composure at earning a second chance to get the victory after the first one slipped away.
"Teams like USC, they've been in these positions a lot and have won national championships and they know how to play in these moments, so when you have your first opportunity you'd love to capitalize, but the key is you have to keep yourself together and make sure you earn the next opportunity, and Cesar did a great job of that," said Esmail. "He kept focused on his tactics and he earned that at the end. It was one of our best fights. Brett did a great job putting his foot on the gas but every court was a fight and that's what these matches are like in conference."
The doubles point was as close as could be, with USC getting a 7-5 win on court No. 1, but Pearson and Nedim Suko had a 6-4 win on No. 2, and the No. 3 match went into a tiebreak to decide it. But in the tiebreak it was all purple, as Heman Nama and Ivan Sodan did not lose a single point, winning 7-0 to put UW up 1-0 in the dual score.
When Bouchelaghem clinched, junior Nedim Suko's No. 3 singles match was suspended, with Suko up 2-1 in the third set against Karl Lee. USC had wins at No. 2 and No. 4 singles.
"College tennis is about short-term memory," said Esmail. "You play a match, leave it all out there, and move on to the next one. We have had a lot of tough matches and a lot of growth moments, but if you don't leave those 4-3 losses with ways to improve and ways to keep fighting, you don't find ways to gut out a match like today. So your attitude and your perspective every day when you come back to work after a tough match is to just get back on it and keep working. The guys have done a really good job of controlling what they can control day in and day out."
Washington Men's Tennis
April 5, 2024
Seattle, Wash. | Bill Quillian Stadium
Washington – 4
#49 USC – 2
Singles
1. Cesar Bouchelaghem (UW) def. (#64) Peter Makk (USC) – 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (4)
2. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) def. Han-Chih Lin (UW) – 7-5, 6-3
3. Nedim Suko (UW) vs. Karl Lee (USC) – 5-7, 6-3, 2-1, DNF
4. Sam Rubell (USC) def. Ivan Sodan (UW) – 7-5, 7-6 (4)
5. Brett Pearson (UW) def. Niroop Vallabhaneni (USC) – 6-3, 6-3
6. Jim Hendrikx (UW) wins by default
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 2, 4, 1
Doubles
1. (#75) Makk/Weststrate (USC) def. (#39) Zharyn/Bouchelaghem (UW) – 7-5
2. Suko/Pearson (UW) def. Lee/Rubell (USC) – 6-4
3. Nama/Sodan (UW) def. Iakubenko/Vallabhaneni (USC) – 7-6 (0)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
UW finished a lengthy six-match road trip last week with a 4-0 win at Utah to get its first conference win, and backed that up today to get to 2-2 in Pac-12 play, and 8-10 for the season. The Huskies will have another huge opportunity on Sunday when 25th-ranked UCLA comes in for a 1 p.m. match.
DUBS ?? Washington downs USC ??
— Washington Men's Tennis (@UW_MTennis) April 6, 2024
Cesar puts some extra sauce on a final backhand winner as UW beats USC for the first time since 2016 ??#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/1OzWCi1QCZ
The Huskies needed one more point to put away the Trojans with Bouchelaghem trying to upset 64th-ranked Peter Makk on the top court. After the two traded sets, Bouchelaghem came back from 0-3 down in the third to serve for the match at 5-4, and he had match point at 40-30, but Makk saved it and then won the deciding point to keep things going. Bouchelaghem held firm and forced a tiebreak, where he took a 5-1 lead before Makk scored three straight. But Bouchelaghem earned another match point chance with a service winner, and then he ripped a backhand passing shot on the final point to clinch it, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4).
Brett Pearson earned a big 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles over Niroop Vallabhaneni which made it 3-0 Huskies thanks to a USC default at No. 6, and a crucial doubles point win from the Dawgs that opened the match on a positive note.
Head Coach Rahim Esmail was impressed with Bouchelaghem's composure at earning a second chance to get the victory after the first one slipped away.
"Teams like USC, they've been in these positions a lot and have won national championships and they know how to play in these moments, so when you have your first opportunity you'd love to capitalize, but the key is you have to keep yourself together and make sure you earn the next opportunity, and Cesar did a great job of that," said Esmail. "He kept focused on his tactics and he earned that at the end. It was one of our best fights. Brett did a great job putting his foot on the gas but every court was a fight and that's what these matches are like in conference."
The doubles point was as close as could be, with USC getting a 7-5 win on court No. 1, but Pearson and Nedim Suko had a 6-4 win on No. 2, and the No. 3 match went into a tiebreak to decide it. But in the tiebreak it was all purple, as Heman Nama and Ivan Sodan did not lose a single point, winning 7-0 to put UW up 1-0 in the dual score.
Doubles dubs ??#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/KMdePC4eNx
— Washington Men's Tennis (@UW_MTennis) April 5, 2024
When Bouchelaghem clinched, junior Nedim Suko's No. 3 singles match was suspended, with Suko up 2-1 in the third set against Karl Lee. USC had wins at No. 2 and No. 4 singles.
"College tennis is about short-term memory," said Esmail. "You play a match, leave it all out there, and move on to the next one. We have had a lot of tough matches and a lot of growth moments, but if you don't leave those 4-3 losses with ways to improve and ways to keep fighting, you don't find ways to gut out a match like today. So your attitude and your perspective every day when you come back to work after a tough match is to just get back on it and keep working. The guys have done a really good job of controlling what they can control day in and day out."
Washington Men's Tennis
April 5, 2024
Seattle, Wash. | Bill Quillian Stadium
Washington – 4
#49 USC – 2
Singles
1. Cesar Bouchelaghem (UW) def. (#64) Peter Makk (USC) – 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (4)
2. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) def. Han-Chih Lin (UW) – 7-5, 6-3
3. Nedim Suko (UW) vs. Karl Lee (USC) – 5-7, 6-3, 2-1, DNF
4. Sam Rubell (USC) def. Ivan Sodan (UW) – 7-5, 7-6 (4)
5. Brett Pearson (UW) def. Niroop Vallabhaneni (USC) – 6-3, 6-3
6. Jim Hendrikx (UW) wins by default
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 2, 4, 1
Doubles
1. (#75) Makk/Weststrate (USC) def. (#39) Zharyn/Bouchelaghem (UW) – 7-5
2. Suko/Pearson (UW) def. Lee/Rubell (USC) – 6-4
3. Nama/Sodan (UW) def. Iakubenko/Vallabhaneni (USC) – 7-6 (0)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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