STANFORD, Calif. – No. 19 Stanford stormed back after losing the doubles point with senior Brandon Sutter playing the clincher to ambush No. 5 USC 4-1 on Friday afternoon at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Stanford (13-4, 3-0 Pac-12) extended its winning streak to five and knocked off its third top-10 opponent of the season, with the Cardinal having already defeated No. 6 California and No. 8 Texas last month.
"I am incredibly happy for the team with this win over a quality opponent," stated Paul Goldstein, the Taube Family Director of Men's Tennis. "Everyone on the team has been playing great tennis and today they came out and executed our game plan. We lost the doubles point, which has been a strength of ours, but they didn't bat an eye and came out to win all six first sets in singles."
Tom Fawcett and Yale Goldberg paired up at the No. 1 spot to top No. 11 Brandon Holt and Riley Smith 6-4, but USC (19-4, 2-1 Pac-12) secured a hard-fought doubles point, notching wins at the Nos. 2 and 3 spots.
The Cardinal thoroughly dominated singles, ripping off four quick points. Sameer Kumar, David Wilczynski and Tom Fawcett all swept in straight sets inside the stadium at Nos. 1-3, before Brandon Sutter's 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory on court five provided the clincher.
"This win is wonderful for the team, our fans and the program," continued Goldstein, "but we aren't content with it. We want more and we know we can be better than we were today and will continue our progress towards that goal."
Stanford concludes its homestand on Sunday at 1 p.m. against No. 10 UCLA.
No. 19 Stanford 4, No. 5 USC 1
DOUBLES
1) Fawcett/Yale Goldberg (STAN) d. No. 11 Holt/R. Smith (USC) 6-4
2) Crystal/Laurens Verboven (USC) d. No. 69 Genender/Kumar (STAN) 7-5
3) Rob Bellamy/Jaede (USC) d. Sutter/Wilczynski (STAN) 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 17 Tom Fawcett (STAN) d. No. 19 Brandon Holt (USC) 6-4, 6-2
2) Sameer Kumar (STAN) d. No. 109 Nick Crystal (USC) 6-4, 6-2
3) David Wilczynski (STAN) d. No. 65 Logan Smith (USC) 6-1, 6-4
4) No. 110 Michael Genender (STAN) led Jack Jaede (USC) 7-6 (4), 3-3, susp.
5) Brandon Sutter (STAN) d. Thibault Forget (USC) 7-6 (5), 6-1
6) Riley Smith (USC) led William Genesen (STAN) 1-6, 6-4, 2-1, susp.
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 5