LOS ANGELES – A doubles point win and a gritty team effort fell just shy Friday afternoon as the 35th-ranked Cardinal fell 4-3 to No. 12 USC at Marks Stadium.
The Cardinal (6-2) opened the match with Sameer Kumar and Michael Genender pairing up in the No. 2 spot where the duo quickly disposed of Nick Crystal and Laurens Verboven 6-3 before David Wilczynski and Brandon Sutter put away the point with a 7-5 win at No. 3 to move their win streak to four in a row and take a 1-0 lead.
USC (13-2) ensured the Cardinal's lead was short-lived as Jack Jaede ripped past Jack Barber in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 to tie it before USC took the lead for good as No. 27 Brandon Holt topped No. 12 Tom Fawcett 6-4, 6-2.
The Cardinal was put on the ropes by Riley Smith defeating Brandon Sutter in a three-set gritfest that the Trojan took the first set 6-4 before Sutter matched him in the second until Smith closed it out with a 6-3 win.
The Cardinal wasn't finished though as it made it a 3-2 match with Sameer Kumar won his fourth career three-set match in the No. 2 spot, but the clincher was awaiting at No. 3 where Michael Genender fell in a close 7-6 first set only to rally back 6-3 in the second. The third saw the Trojan dominate to take a 6-1 win and clinch the match.
David Wilczynski closed out the match at No. 5 with a three-set win of his own, taking 7-6 wins in the first and third set to take his second three set win of the year.
The Cardinal returns to action tomorrow as it faces No. 15 UCLA at 1 p.m. in Los Angeles.
No. 12 USC 4, No. 35 Stanford 3
DOUBLES
(1) #29 Holt/R. Smith (USC) vs. Fawcett/Goldberg (STAN)- 6-5 susp.
(2) Kumar/Genender (STAN) def. Crystal/Verboven (USC)- 6-3
(3) Wilczynski/Sutter (STAN) def. Bellamy/Jaede (USC)- 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3
SINGLES
(1) #27 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #12 Tom Fawcett (STAN)- 6-4, 6-2
(2) Sameer Kumar (STAN) def. Nick Crystal (USC)- 6-3, 6-7, 6-2
(3) #42 Logan Smith (USC) def. #73 Michael Genender (STAN)- 7-6, 3-6, 6-1
(4) Jack Jaede (USC) def. #77 Jack Barber (Stan.)- 6-4, 6-2
(5) David Wilczynski (STAN) def. Thibault Forget (USC)- 7-6, 2-6, 7-6
(6) Riley Smith (USC) def. Brandon Sutter (STAN)- 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 6, 2, 3*, 5