March 28, 2009
STANFORD, Calif. - The fourth-ranked Stanford men's tennis team suffered its third-straight nail-biting 4-3 loss this afternoon, falling to eighth-ranked USC at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. With the loss, the Cardinal drops to 12-4 on the season and 0-2 in the Pac-10.
The Trojans swept doubles to begin things, taking the point with a pair of 8-5 wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. USC also took the third doubles match in a tiebreaker as freshmen Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher fell 8-7(3) to Matt Kecki and Jaak Poldma.
After giving up the doubles point, Stanford suffered a stroke of bad luck, as sophomore No. 13 Alex Clayton rolled his ankle on the first point of his match. After taking a medical timeout, Clayton elected to continue playing but dropped the third singles match to end to No. 101 Poldma, 6-3, 7-6(5).
Freshman Bradley Klahn picked up his ninth win in a row, taking down No. 92 Steve Johnson in straight sets, 7-6(6), 6-2 to tie the match at 1-1, but USC went back on the advantage 3-1 with the Poldma's win over Clayton and a win at No. 6 singles.
Junior No. 113 Richard Wire pulled the Cardinal closer with a win at the No. 5 position, defeating Jason McNaughton, 6-1, 7-6(7), and just when it looked like the Trojans would seal the deal, senior Matt Bruch accomplished a stunning comeback, battling his way back into the match from a 5-2 deficit in the third set to defeat Kecki 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
"To come back and win five straight like that speaks a lot about Matt’s talent and fight. I don’t care what the score is, I don’t believe he’s ever out of a match until it’s over. That was a great effort, and it put us in position to win.”
USC eventually would play the spoiler though, as moments later No. 75 Abdullah Magdas stymied Thacher 7-6(), 6-7(2), 7-5 to steal the final point.
It’s been an incredible year of college tennis for us so far,” said head coach John Whitlinger. Almost every match has gone down to the wire and I am so proud of the effort our guys give, as always. It wasn’t looking good for us for a bit, but we fought back and got into a position to win. We just couldn’t pull it off. It has been a tough three-match stretch for us, coming off not competing during finals week, but I am excited about what's coming up for this team. We keep getting better and better, and we keep learning lessons in these tough situations that will help us down the stretch.”
Stanford will be back on the courts Tuesday, March 31, at home against Cal Poly at 1 p.m.
Mar. 28, 2009 - Stanford, Calif.
No. 8 USC 4, No. 4 Stanford 3
Doubles
1) No. 6 Farah/Johnson (USC) d. Bruch/Muller (STAN) 8-5
2) Magdas/Nguyen (USC) d. Thacher/Klahn (STAN) 8-7(3)
3) Kecki/Poldma (USC) d. Wire/Kelly (STAN) 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1) No. 101 Jaak Poldma (USC) d. No. 13 Alex Clayton (STAN) 6-3, 7-6(5)
2) No. 53 Bradley Klahn (STAN) d. No. 92 Steve Johnson (USC) 7-6(6), 6-2
3) No. 75 Abdullah Magdas (USC) d. Ryan Thacher (STAN) 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 7-5*
4) Matt Bruch (STAN) d. Matt Kecki (USC) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
5) No. 113 Richard Wire (STAN) d. Jason McNaughton (USC) 6-1, 7-6(7)
6) Daniel Nguyen (USC) d. Blake Muller (STAN) 7-5, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 6, 1, 5, 4, 3*
* denotes clinching victory