Keegan Smith & Maxime CressyKeegan Smith & Maxime Cressy

Cressy-Smith to Play for NCAA Doubles Title

Men's Tennis

UCLA pair defeated Tennessee's Stodder-Touliatos to reach Saturday's championship match.

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ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCLA men's tennis team will send a doubles pair to the NCAA Championships final round for the third time in four years, as the second-seeded tandem of Maxime Cressy and Keegan Smith overpowered Tennessee's Timo Stodder and Preston Touliatos 6-2, 6-1 in semifinal action Friday.

Cressy and Smith will try to follow in the footsteps of recent UCLA champions Mackenzie McDonald-Martin Redlicki (2016) and Redlicki-Evan Zhu (2018) when they take on Patrick Kaukovalta and Mazen Osama of Alabama in Saturday's championship match. First serve is set for 2 p.m., PT.

"It feels great," said Smith, who reached the semifinal round of last year's tournament before bowing out. "I think from the beginning of the year, we kind of clicked together, played great together. And we're friends off the court, too, so I think that always helps with the chemistry of the team.

"Feels awesome. Last year, came a little short, lost in the semis, so good to get some revenge for me and my partner last year, Austin Rapp."

Cressy-Smith took the first four games of the opening set, coming out on top of three deuce-point situations in the process. The teams traded holds of serve the rest of the way, giving the Bruins a 6-2 first-set win. A Cressy serve was returned into the net to seal it.

The Bruins continued to overpower their opponents in the second set. Stodder-Touliatos held to get on the board first, but Cressy-Smith answered by taking each of the next six games to lock up its 20th win of the year without a loss. Smith's return of a Volunteer serve proved to be the final shot of the match and sent the Bruins into Saturday's final.

"It feels unbelievable," Cressy. "We've been working so hard for this moment. It's a result of our hard work and dedication on and off the court. I've been very fortunate to play with Keegan. It's been an honor playing with him. He's such an amazing partner and, on and off the court, I've really enjoyed spending my time with him. It's been an unbelievable journey and hopefully [we] finish with a big win tomorrow."