UCLA
USC
UCLA Tops USC to Claim Pac-12 Title
April 21, 2017 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES – In front of a raucous Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts crowd, the No. 8 UCLA men's tennis team claimed the regular-season Pac-12 title with a 4-1 win over No. 6 USC. The win capped an undefeated regular-season home schedule (14-0) for the Bruins, who will head to the Pac-12 Championships in Ojai, Calif. as the top seed.
In a battle of two of the top dozen doubles teams in the nation, UCLA's No. 12 team of Martin Redlicki and Evan Zhu and USC's No. 10 duo of Brandon Holt and Riley Smith both came out firing. The Bruin team jumped out to a 3-2 lead and never looked back, as it took the first win of the day, 6-3. Redlicki-Zhu completed its regular season with a 16-3 record, riding a six-match winning streak. The Trojans quickly answered on Court 3, however, as the tandem of Rob Bellamy and Jack Jaede cruised to a 6-2 victory over Maxime Cressy and Ben Goldberg.
That left it up to Court 2 to decide the doubles point. The Trojans' No. 85 team of Nick Crystal and Laurens Verboven jumped out to a 2-1 lead and quickly inched closer at 3-2. UCLA's underdog pair of Austin Rapp and Joseph Di Giulio, however, rallied back for four straight games to improve their seasonal mark to 13-5, and, more importantly, clinch the first point of the day for either team.
Evan Zhu of UCLA (18-4, 6-0) bounced No. 79 Logan Smith in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, to keep momentum on the side of the Bruins to begin singles action. Logan Staggs finished just behind the frosh, as the junior out of Tracy, Calif. extended his Court 4 record to 10-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jack Jaede. Thibault Forget of USC (22-5, 5-2) chipped away at the Bruin advantage with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Austin Rapp on Court 5 to give the Trojans a chance.
No. 21 Gage Brymer and No. 57 Martin Redlicki both looked poised to claim the match, as each player took a first set from his opponent. Redlicki used a dramatic 11-9 tiebreaker in an attempt to Crystal on Court 2. The Trojan senior countered, though, as he took a 6-5 second-set lead. No. 22 Holt also countered Brymer with an identical advantage on Court 1. The highly-ranked Trojan freshman would ultimately force a third set, but Court 2 went to yet another tiebreaking set.
The Bruin junior would not allow his opportunity to clinch slip away. Redlicki powered to a 7-2 win to claim the set, match and Pac-12 title for UCLA.
Next up for the Bruins is a trip to Ojai, where they will take part in the Pac-12 Championships, which will span from April 26-29 at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club. UCLA will not participate in the first two days of the team competition, as they have earned byes until Match No. 5 at 12:00 p.m. on Friday.
UCLA also celebrated Senior Day, as Brymer, Di Giulio, Michael Guzman, Travis Martin and Nishanth Yamani were honored following doubles action Friday.
Tennis Match Results
USC vs UCLA
Apr 21, 2017 at Los Angeles, CA
(Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts)
#8 UCLA 4, #6 USC 1
Doubles competition
1. #12 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) def. #10 Holt/R. Smith (USC) 6-3
2. A. Rapp/Di Giulio (UCLA) def. #85 Crystal/Verboven (USC) 6-3
3. Bellamy/Jaede (USC) def. Cressy/Goldberg (UCLA) 6-2
Singles competition
1. #21 Gage Brymer (UCLA) vs. #22 Brandon Holt (USC) 6-2, 5-7, 0-1, unfinished
2. #57 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. Nick Crystal (USC) 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (7-2)
3. Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. #79 Logan Smith (USC) 6-2, 6-4
4. Logan Staggs (UCLA) def. Jack Jaede (USC) 6-3, 6-4
5. Thibault Forget (USC) def. Austin Rapp (UCLA) 6-2, 6-4
6. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA) vs. Riley Smith (USC) 5-7, 6-6, unfinished
Match Notes:
USC 22-5; National ranking #6
UCLA 18-4; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,4,5,2)
T-2:25
Players Mentioned
