UCLA
Stanford
No. 4 Bruins Edge No. 29 Stanford, 4-3
February 28, 2016 | Men's Tennis
PALO ALTO, Calif. – After dropping the doubles point, the No. 4 UCLA men's tennis team rallied to edge No. 29 Stanford, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Bruins improve to 9-2 on the season.
In doubles play, Stanford struck first. Sameer Kumar and Yale Goldberg dispatched Maxime Cressy and Gage Brymer, 6-2, on court 3 to give the Cardinal the advantage. The third-ranked pair of Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redlicki responded on court 1 with a 6-3 win over Tom Fawcett and Maciek Romanowicz. The clincher came down to court 2, where Karue Sell and Joseph Di Giulio were down 4-5 to Nolan Paige and David Wilczynski. The Bruin pair came up short, falling 4-6 and giving the Cardinal the doubles point.
A back-and-forth battle ensued in singles play to determine which team would come away with the win. No. 94 Sell evened the score with a straight-set win over No. 88 Kumar. On court 1, No. 19 McDonald broke fourth-ranked Fawcett at 6-5 in the second set when Fawcett double faulted on match point. After dropping the first set on court 2, No. 36 Redlicki rallied to win two straight, inching UCLA closer to a win. The Bruins now had a commanding 3-1 lead.
The Cardinal fought back, however, winning two straight on courts 3 and 6. No. 46 Brymer fell to No. 102 Paige in a tight two setter. Di Giulio soon followed, as he dropped his match to No. 112 Michael Genender, 6-1, 6-4.
With the match tied at 3-3, the fate of the Bruins was in the hands of sophomore transfer Logan Staggs. Staggs took the first set over No. 114 Romanowicz, 6-4. In the second set, the Bruin broke his opponent at 4-3 to go up 5-3 and serve for the match. Staggs held to give UCLA a 4-3 victory over Stanford.
“My match was a back-and-forth battle,” said Staggs. “We weren't playing great. But the fact that the match came down to me was a great feeling, especially because it's my first year as a Bruin.”
Next up, the Bruins return home to host crosstown rival No. 13 USC. The match takes place Tuesday, Mar. 1, at 2:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
#4 UCLA 4, #29 Stanford 3
Feb 27, 2016 at Palo Alto, CA (Taube Family Tennis Stadium)
| Doubles competition |
| 1. #3 McDonald/Redlicki (UCLA) def. Fawcett/Romanowicz (STAN) 6-3 |
| 2. Paige/Wilczynski (STAN) def. Di Giulio/Sell (UCLA) 6-4 |
| 3. Goldberg/Kumar (STAN) def. Brymer/Cressy (UCLA) 6-2 |
| Singles competition |
| 1. #19 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. #4 Tom Fawcett (STAN) 6-3, 7-5 |
| 2. #36 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #48 David Wilczynski (STAN) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 |
| 3. #102 Nolan Paige (STAN) def. #46 Gage Brymer (UCLA) 7-5, 6-4 |
| 4. #94 Karue Sell (UCLA) def. #88 Sameer Kumar (STAN) 6-2, 6-2 |
| 5. Logan Staggs (UCLA) def. #114 Maciek Romanowicz (STAN) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 6. #112 Michael Genender (STAN) def. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA) 6-1, 6-4 |
| Match Notes |
| Stanford 5-6; National ranking #29 |
| UCLA 9-2; National ranking #4 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,1,2,3,6,5) |
