UCLA
USC
UCLA Defeats USC in Pac-12 Title Match
April 28, 2018 | Men's Tennis
OJAI, Calif. โ The top-seeded UCLA men's tennis team won its fourth Pac-12 team tournament title in seven years Saturday, defeating No. 3 seed USC, 4-1, at Libbey Park. The victory earns the Bruins the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, with the tournament field set to be announced Tuesday, May 1 at 2:30 p.m.
The UCLA duo of Martin Redlicki-Evan Zhu mounted an improbable comeback on doubles court 1 to give the Bruins the momentum they needed going into singles play. Down 5-2 versus Brandon Holt-Riley Smith and facing a double break point, the reigning Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year ran off five straight games to secure the 7-5 win.
"I think it was just an incredible turnaround for us to win that last doubles match after being down 5-2 double break," said head coach Billy Martin. "It just doesn't happen that much against really good teams like Brandon Holt and Riley Smith. It just showed the determination and that's sort of been the theme song as the guys not giving up, finding a way to win. That really gave us a lot of confidence, a lot of enthusiasm, spark-plugged us all the way."
USC gained momentum early in doubles play, as No. 7 Jack Jaede-Laurens Verboven cruised to a 6-2 win over No. 14 Austin Rapp-Keegan Smith on court 2. The Bruin tandem of Bryce Pereira-Maxime Cressy evened it up shortly thereafter, notching its 18th win of the season by way of a 6-3 triumph over Daniel Cukierman-Tanner Smith on court 3.
That left it up to the top court, which was close early before the Trojan team of Brandon Holt and Riley Smith extended its lead to a seemingly insurmountable 5-2. Making an improbableย comeback even more unlikely was the double match point No. 73 Redlicki-Zhu faced against the ninth-ranked team in the nation. No lead would prove too big for the Bruins, however, who used a strong Zhu forehand to complete the comeback.
Riding the energy from the doubles win, No. 1 Redlicki jumped out to an early advantage versus No. 11 Holt on the top court. Seeing five first sets go the way of the Bruins, the Boca Raton, Fla. native kept it going into the second, notching the first singles win of the day at 6-3, 6-4. The win improved Redlicki's record versus ranked opponents to 17-4.
Another red-hot Bruin was next off the singles courts, as Maxime Cressy also needed just two sets to take care of Riley Smith onย court 5. The Hermosa Beach, Calif. native posted the most dominant first-set win of the day and fended off the Trojan follow-up effort to collect a 6-1, 6-4 win and put the Trojans on the brink of elimination.
No. 82 Cukierman got USC on the board with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 80 Zhu on court 2 to breathe life into the Trojans, but it would prove too late. Freshman Connor Hance soon followed with a straight-set win of his own, 6-4, 6-4 over Jake DeVine, to spark a cross-court rush by his Bruin teammates to greet him in jubilation.
"Certainly this will give us a lot of confidence heading into the NCAAs, but we can't feel complacent or entitled or anything like that," warned Martin. "We know the toughest one is ahead of us, but these are certainly good ways to help us improve and to play under pressure and to hopefully be ready for that tournament."
NCAA.com will provide live coverage of its selection show Tuesday, as the No. 2 Bruins seem poised to secure one of the tournament's top seeds.
Tennis Match ResultsUSC vs UCLA
April 28, 2018 at Ojai, Calif.
(Libbey Park)
#1 UCLA 4, #3 USC 1
Singles competition
1. #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #11 Brandon Holt (USC) 6-3, 6-4
2. #82 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. #80 Evan Zhu (UCLA) 6-3, 6-4
3. #52 Keegan Smith (UCLA) vs. Laurens Verboven (USC) 7-5, 4-3, unfinished
4. #86 Logan Staggs (UCLA) vs. Thibault Forget (USC) 6-3, 3-6, unfinished
5. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Riley Smith (USC) 6-1, 6-4
6. Connor Hance (UCLA) def. Jake DeVine (USC) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #73 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) def. #9 Holt/R. Smith (USC) 7-5
2. #7 Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. #14 A. Rapp/Smith (UCLA) 6-2
3. Pereira/Cressy (UCLA) def. Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) 6-3
Match Notes:
UCLA 26-2; National ranking #2
USC 17-8; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,5,2,6)
Players Mentioned
