LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 5 USC men’s tennis team pulled double duty today at Marks Stadium and emerged with a near-perfect day, dropping just two doubles matches in a busy day’s work that saw the Trojans take down visiting UC Davis 6-1 and San Francisco 7-0 today. With some new doubles pairings in the mix, Mor Bulis and Jack Jaede would come through with two doubles wins apiece along with singles victories to help pace the Trojans to two wins and a 5-0 overall record after today’s action. Daniel Cukierman an dJake DeVine also captured two singles wins apiece on the day.

 

In doubles against the Aggies, USC got an early leg up in finding a winning combination with a new pairing of freshman Mor Bulis and senior Jack Jaede, who whipped up a 6-1 win on court two. UC Davis would fire back with a 6-4 decision on court one, however, with Goulak/Thanna topping USC’s Brandon Holt and Logan Smith 6-4. That put all eyes on court three, where the Aggies had fought back from down 2-5 to force a tiebreaker. In the breaker, USC’s Jake DeVine and Jake Sands saw their UC Davis opponents Jalali/Swanson fend off another deficit, down 2-4 and winning the breaker 7-4 to get the opening point in the Aggies’ column on the 7-6 (4) decision.

 

USC would have to rebound in singles play, and the Trojans showed their resilience in snagging first sets on five courts. At the No. 6 spot, redshirt junior #56 Jake DeVine churned out a 6-0, 6-4 win over Dariush Jalali to snarl things up 1-1. Moments later, Brandon Holt stayed the course for a smooth 6-1, 6-1 win on court one over Ivan Thamma to tug the Trojans into the lead. From the No. 5 spot, senior Jack Jaede pulled his Trojans into position for a clincher with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Arjith Jayaraman, and USC was up 3-1. With two USC courts closing in on the finish line, it was senior #32 Logan Smith who came through with the clinching victory. He’d post a 6-0, 7-5 win over Chethan Swanson on court four to seal the win at 4-1, and the teams played on. On court two, #8 Daniel Cukierman hammered out a 6-3, 6-3 win over David Goulak to make it 5-1 USC, and there was just one three-setter raging on on court three. There, USC newcomer Mor Bulis was in a battle against UC Davis’ Nil Giraldez in the match’s finale. After dropping the first set 4-6, Bulis powered up and took the second 6-1 just before the match had been clinched by Smith. In the third, Bulis turned the tide and got up two breaks and wrapped things up on a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 comeback win to make it a 6-1 USC victory over UC Davis. 

 

A half hour later, the Trojans turned to take on San Francisco. With a new-look doubles lineup, USC picked up the opening point with a strong showing down the line. Back in action on court two was #45 Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith, who got back into winning form with a 6-3 victory. Courts one and three, both Trojan duos were on a mission to hit the finish line first. At the No. 3 spot, Jack Jaede and Jake Sands drummed up a 6-4 win just moments before Mor Bulis and Riley Smith mirrored that score at the top spot. That plugged a 1-0 lead onto the scoreboard for the Trojans and brought up singles action. 

 

The Trojans would haul in first sets down the line, and USC jumped out to a 3-0 lead fairly swiftly, with Riley Smith knocking out a 6-0, 6-3 win over Paul Giraud from the No. 2 slot. Next, #56 Jake Devine stayed perfect on the day with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Oz Daniel at No. 5, and USC was in reach of the clincher, up 3-0. With doubles teammates Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith neck-and-neck in pursuit of the clinching win, it would be #34 Smith who drummed up the 4-0 Trojan lead with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 4 over Phuc Huynh. The match played on, and Bradley Frye was the next to join the win column, netting a 6-3, 6-3 win on court six over David Woodland for a lift to 5-0 for his Trojans. At the top slot, #8 Daniel Cukierman was all business in his second-set tiebreaker to finish out a 6-0 lead on his 6-0, 7-6 (2) victory over Ryan Marker, leaving just one match still underway. At the No. 3 spot, freshman Jake Sands whipped up the capper, topping Nitzan Ricklis 6-4, 6-4 to wrap the day’s action on a winning doubleheader for the Trojans.

 

USC’s next competition brings Cal and Stanford to town next week. In two nonconference meetings, the Trojans host Cardinal at 3 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 8) and then take on the Golden Bears at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 9) at Marks Stadium

 

#5 USC 6, UC Davis 1

Feb. 1, 2019 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)

DOUBLES

(1) Goulak/Thamma (UCD) def. Holt/L. Smith (USC) - 6-4

(2) Bulis/Jaede (USC) def. Landa/Scemanenco (UCD) - 6-1

(3)  Jalali/Swanson (UCD) def. DeVine/Sands (USC) - 7-6 (4)

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

UC Davis wins doubles point.

SINGLES

(1) Brandon Holt (USC) def. Ivan Thamma (UCD) - 6-1, 6-1

(2) #8 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. David Goulak (UCD) - 6-3, 6-3

(3) Mor Bulis (USC) def. Nil Giraldez (UCD) - 4-6, 6-1, 6-2

(4) #32 Logan Smith (USC) def. Chetham Swanson (UCD) - 6-0, 7-5*

(5) Jack Jaede (USC) def. Arjith Jayaraman (UCD) - 6-4, 6-2

(6) #56 Jake DeVine (USC) def. Dariush Jalali (UCD) - 6-0, 6-4

Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 4*, 2, 3

 

#5 USC 7, San Francisco 0

Feb. 1, 2019 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)

DOUBLES

(1) Bulis/R. Smith (USC) def. Giraud/Marker (USF) - 6-4

(2) #45 Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) def. Daniel/Huynh (USF) - 6-3

(3)  Jaede/Sands (USC) def. Ricklis/Woodland (USF) - 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

USC wins doubles point.

SINGLES

(1) Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. Ryan Marker (USF) - 6-0, 7-6 (2)

(2) Riley Smith (USC) def. Paul Giraud (USF) - 6-0, 6-3

(3) Jake Sands (USC) def. Nitzan Ricklis (USF) - 6-4, 6-4

(4) #34 Tanner Smith (USC) def. Phuc Huynh (USF) - 6-4, 6-4*

(5) #56 Jake DeVine (USC) def. Oz Daniel (USF) - 6-2, 6-2

(6) #47 Bradley Frye (USC) def. David Woodland (USF) - 6-3, 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 5, 4*, 6, 1, 3