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No. 6 Men’s Tennis sweeps No. 5 USC, 4-0
02.16.2019 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns advance to the semifinals of the ITA Indoors and will face top seed No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday.
Chicago – The No. 6 Texas Men's Tennis team swept No. 5 USC, 4-0, on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championship in Chicago. The Longhorns, who are now 11-0 this season, will next face the tournament's top seed No. 2 Ohio State at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The win puts Texas in the semifinals of the tournament for the second time in program history with the other coming in 2010 when the Longhorns also defeated USC in the quarterfinals. It also snapped USC's five-match winning streak in the all-time series with Texas.
Senior Harrison Scott led things off in singles with a 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 31 Laurens Verboven in fourth singles. It marked the second time this season Scott has beaten a ranked USC player after he defeated then-No. 4 Brandon Holt at the ITA Fall National Championship in November. In topping Verboven, Scott jumped out to a 2-0 lead and used three breaks to pick up the first set win. He dropped the first game of the second set, but won three games on deuce points to run the table and pick up the Longhorns' first singles point.
Senior Colin Markes followed with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Riley Smith in fifth singles for his 11th straight win of the year. Markes and Smith were tied, 3-3, in the first set, but Markes used a break to take a 5-3 lead before finishing the set. Smith picked up the first game of the second set, but Markes claimed the next five. Riley made a push to get back within 5-4, but Markes held him off by taking the next game and providing a 3-0 lead for the Longhorns.
The clinching point came down to a photo finish as junior No. 14 Yuya Ito took down No. 4 Daniel Cukierman in second singles, 6-2, 7-5. Ito fell behind 2-0 in the first set, but rallied for six straight games with three breaks. The second set was then knotted, 5-5, when Ito grabbed the final two games two capture the team win. It was also Ito's 14th-straight singles victory.
Meanwhile, senior No. 91 Leonardo Telles came up just a couple of points shy of earning the clincher himself, as his match against Jack Jaede in third singles was left unfinished at 6-4, 5-4 (30-15).
Texas had won all six singles first sets against USC, and when the match ended, junior No. 6 Christian Sigsgaard had split sets with No. 56 Holt, 6-4, 3-6, while freshman Chih Chi Huang had done the same with Mor Bulis, 6-3, 2-6.
Earlier, Texas had claimed a pair of 7-5 wins to take the doubles point and a 1-0 lead. With No. 13 Scott and Sigsgaard having fallen, 6-2, to Holt and Smith, Ito and Huang broke the serve of No. 21 Cukierman and Tanner Smith to break a 5-5 tie and take a 6-5 lead. They then finished on serve to win their match. That left Markes and Telles on the court with Verboven and Jaede. With the score tied, 4-4, the pairs alternated breaking serve until Markes and Telles emerged with 6-5 lead following a deuce point win. They then held their serve for the 7-5 win and the point.
The Longhorns will return to the court for the semifinals against top-seeded No. 2 Ohio State at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. The other semifinal match-up will take place at noon as No. 1 and third-seeded Wake Forest faces No. 8 and seventh-seeded North Carolina.
Tournament Bracket and Results
No. 6 Texas 4, No. 5 USC 0
Singles – Order of Finish (4,5,2)
1. No. 6 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) vs. No. 56 Brandon Holt (USC), 6-4, 3-6, unf.
2. No. 14 Yuya Ito (UT) def. No. 4 Daniel Cukierman (USC), 6-2, 7-5
3. No. 91 Leonardo Telles (UT) vs. Jack Jaede (USC), 6-4, 5-4, unf.
4. Harrison Scott (UT) def. No. 31 Laurens Verboven (USC), 6-1, 6-1
5. Colin Markes (UT) def. Riley Smith (USC), 6-3, 6-4
6. Chih Chi Huang (UT) vs. Mor Bulis (USC), 6-3, 2-6, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3,2)
1. Brandon Holt/Riley Smith (USC) def. No. 13 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard, 6-2
2. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT) def. Laurens Verboven/Jack Jaede, 7-5
3. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) def. No. 21 Daniel Cukierman/Tanner Smith, 7-5
Players Mentioned
