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No. 15 Men’s Tennis tops No. 9 USC, 4-3
03.15.2022 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns rallied from a 3-1 deficit, capturing three-straight singles matches in which they started down a set.
Los Angeles – No. 15 Texas Men's Tennis rallied from a 3-1 deficit to top No. 9 USC, 4-3, at the David X. Marks Tennis Stadium in Los Angeles on Tuesday. During the comeback, the Longhorns captured three-straight singles matches in which they started down a set.
It marks the third-straight win for Texas over USC and the fourth in the last five meetings. That includes a pair of 4-3 wins last year with one coming at the ITA National Indoors and the other in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship.
With Texas trailing, 2-0, senior No. 32 Richard Ciamarra got the Longhorns on the board with a win at No. 2. After USC extended its lead to 3-1, the Longhorns' victories came from sophomore Siem Woldeab at No. 4, who won his match in a dramatic third-set tiebreaker, sophomore Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3, and junior Chih Chi Huang, who clinched it at No. 5.
Ciamarra collected the only straight-sets win of the night for Texas with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Wojtek Marek. After opening on serve, Ciamarra recorded the first break of the match to take a 3-1 lead that he consolidated to 4-1 on serve. Marek then held serve and pulled within 4-3 with a break in the next game on what would be the first of six-straight deuce point games. Ciamarra immediately answered the break with one and served out to take the set with another. In the second, Marek opened with a hold on deuce, but Ciamarra would grab the last two of the streak to start a 5-0 run that he completed with one more deuce. Marek got one game back on serve after that, but Ciamarra closed out the match to cut the USC lead to 2-1.
Shortly after that, the Trojans pushed the lead back to 3-1 with a 7-5, 6-4 win by No. 7 Stefan Dostanic over sophomore No. 38 Micah Braswell. Both sets were evenly contested until Dostanic picked up key breaks at the end. In the first, the set stayed on serve up to 4-4 when it was Braswell who secured the first break at 5-4. However, Dostanic was able to answer the break, then hold and break again to take the frame. Despite four deuce points along the way, the second set stayed on serve all the way to a 5-4 lead for Dostanic when he again got the break he needed to close.
That left three matches on the court that were all bound for third sets. Woldeab's had moved quickly for most of the way against No. 116 Bradley Frye with each player taking a dominant 6-1 set with only one deuce point in the whole span. Both sets also featured the same scoring pattern with the trailing player taking their lone game at 3-1. Frye won the first, followed by Woldeab, sending them to the third where Frye used a break at 3-1 to register a 4-1 lead. Woldeab responded with a 3-0 run of his own, including deuce point wins in the last two. Frye regained the lead at 5-4 with a deuce-point hold, and the final three games also stayed on serve to a tiebreaker. Frye took the first point of that on serve on his way to a 3-1 start, but Woldeab claimed the next two points to even it before Frye moved back in front, 4-3. From there, the players alternated points the rest of the way until Woldeab was finally able to break through for his first lead at 7-6 and did not let it go, taking the next point, as well, for his 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6) final.
As Woldeab completed his match, Spizzirri had just gone up a break in his third set against No. 30 Peter Makk on his way to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. Makk jumped out in the opening game with what would be the only break of the first set. Spizzirri came close to a break of his own in the final game, getting it to deuce point, but Makk was able to hold for the win. After Spizzirri held to begin the second, he again had a deuce-point break opportunity, but Makk was able to deflect it. With the third time being the charm, Spizzirri once again pushed Makk's serve to deuce, but this time he was able to get the break at 3-1 that he then turned into a 4-1 lead on serve. The last four games also stayed on serve to send it to the third set. There, Spizzirri broke and held on a deuce point to get out to a 2-0 lead, but Makk got the break back on a deuce point as part of a 3-0 run to give him the lead and put the set back on serve. However, Spizzirri would answer with a 3-0 run of his own for the lead and not look back on his way to evening the overall match at 3-3.
That left it Huang on court 5 against Ryder Jackson, who broke Huang's serve in the opening game and held on a deuce point for a 2-0 lead. That would be the first of four-straight deuce points, all of which stayed on serve, as did the remainder of the set to give it to Jackson, 6-4. The second set would also feature only one break, but this time it was Huang's on a deuce point for a 3-1 lead that he consolidated to 4-1 on serve before winning at 6-3. Between the end of the second set and the beginning of the third, 13-straight games stayed on serve, leaving the third set knotted at 4-4 and Jackson serving. Huang had won deuce points to hold at 1-1 and 3-3 in the third, while Jackson secured one to hold at 4-3 before Huang evened it again. It would then be Huang to finally snap the streak by securing a deuce-point break, setting him up to serve for the match. However, in an unusual set of circumstances with Huang leading, 30-0, the match was moved to court 1 due to court conditions where he served out to complete the comeback and send his teammates rushing to him.
That winning moment! Chih Chi Huang comes through for the victory! #HookEm 🤘🎾 https://t.co/wjPvZ35zlg pic.twitter.com/rCoCt5K9DL
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) March 16, 2022
In the other singles match of the night, Ryan Colby had downed sophomore Evin McDonald, 6-4, 6-0 at No. 6 to give USC its 2-0 lead following its winning of the doubles point. Colby had won all three deuce points of the set, including one to break for a 4-2 lead that he turned into 5-2 on serve before McDonald got the break back to get within 5-4. However, Colby broke again for the set and to start a 7-0 run to his win.
The doubles point had been close in all three matches, but USC was able to come out on top at Nos. 1 and 3 for the win. At No. 1, the No. 14 duo of Dostanic and Frye topped Braswell and Huang, 6-4, in a match the Longhorns had led 4-2, but the Trojans went on a 4-0 run capped by a break on a deuce point that could have evened it for Texas. The match at No. 3 pitting Woldeab and McDonald against Makk and Lodewijk Weststrate stayed on serve up to 4-4 before USC took its first lead with a break at 5-4. The Longhorns broke right back, but the Trojans broke again and held for a 7-5 win to clinch the point. The remaining match at No. 2 featured Ciamarra and Spizzirri against Jackson and Marek and was even at 5-5 when play stopped.
Next up, the Longhorns (9-7) complete their west coast road trip against No. 27 Pepperdine on Friday, March 18, at 2 p.m. PT/4 p.m. CT.
#15 Texas 4, #9 USC 3
Singles – Order of Finish (6,2,1,4,3,5)
1. #7 Stefan Dostanic (USC) def. #38 Micah Braswell (UT) 7-5, 6-4
2. #32 Richard Ciamarra (UT) def. Wojtek Marek (USC) 6-3, 6-2
3. Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #30 Peter Makk (USC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #116 Bradley Frye (USC) 1-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6)
5. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Ryder Jackson (USC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Ryan Colby (USC) def. Evin McDonald (UT) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. #14 Stefan Dostanic/Bradley Frye (USC) def. Micah Braswell/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-4
2. Ryder Jackson/Wojtek Marek (USC) vs. Richard Ciamarra/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 5-5, unf.
3. Peter Makk/Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) def. Evin McDonald/Siem Woldeab (UT) 7-5
Players Mentioned
