College Tennis News - No. 1 USC Men Step Into ITA Indoor Semis With Shutout Of No. 8 Stanford

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 1 USC men’s tennis team rang up its second win of the season over No. 8 Stanford — this one a smooth 4-0 shutout of the Cardinal in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wisc. The Trojans made a power move in doubles and kept charging on through singles, whipping up three straight-set victories capped by freshman Ryder Jackson’s first clincher of his Trojan career. USC improves to 7-1 overall with the win, which pushes the Trojans into tomorrow’s semifinals against No. 13 Michigan at 10 a.m. PT.

USC got right down to business in doubles, with #58 Daniel Cukierman and Riley Smith setting the pace with a 6-3 win on court one. Next, it was Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye who made short work of their Stanford foes with a 6-4 victory, and USC was on to singles with a 1-0 advantage.

Cukierman kept clicking, as the top-ranked player in the nation fired off a 6-2, 6-1 win over #16 Axel Geller on court one to make it 2-0 Trojans. On court three, #15 Mor Bulis kept up his winning ways in capturing his fifth straight victory on a swift 6-1, 6-2 decision over #57 Sangeet Sridhar. The remaining matches were raging on in tighter affairs, but freshman #69 Ryder Jackson dug in for his second-set tiebreaker and closed things out on his 6-2, 7-6 (1) victory over #98 Neel Rajesh on court five. The freshman’s first clincher put a stop to things, giving the Trojans some extra energy and momentum on the way into tomorrow’s semifinal bout with the Wolverines.

2020 ITA NATIONAL TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP

QUARTERFINALS
#1 USC 4, #8 Stanford 0
Feb. 15, 2020 | Madison, Wisc.

DOUBLES
(1) #58 Cukierman/R. Smith (USC) def. Geller/Rajesh (STAN) - 6-3
(2) Bulis/Jackson (USC) vs. Sah/Sridhar (STAN) - 5-4 susp.
(3) Dostanic/Frye (USC) def. Kopczynski/Rotsaert (STAN) - 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3
USC wins doubles point.

SINGLES
(1) #1 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. #16 Axel Geller (STAN) - 6-2, 6-1
(2) #33 Riley Smith (USC) vs. #21 Alex Rotsaert (STAN) 4-6, 5-5 susp.
(3) #15 Mor Bulis (USC) def. #57 Sangeet Sridhar (STAN) - 6-1, 6-2
(4) #65 Stefan Dostanic (USC) vs. Timothy Sah (STAN) - 6-3, 3-6, 4-1 susp.
(5) #69 Ryder Jackson (USC) def. #98 Neel Rajesh (STAN) - 6-2, 7-6 (1)*
(6) #119 Bradley Frye (USC) vs. Filip Kolasinski (STAN) - 7-6 (3), 4-4 susp.
Order of finish: 1, 3, 5*