OJAI, Calif. – No. 4 Stanford fell short in its quest for a conference title, dropping a 4-0 decision to No. 12 USC Friday in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Men's Tennis Championships at Libbey Park.
The Cardinal, which had defeated the Trojans twice during the regular season, lost for just the third time this season and failed to record a point for just the second time in 24 matches this year.
At 21-3, Stanford now awaits its seeding and match-up in the NCAA Championships, revealed during the selection show this coming Tuesday.
The Trojans captured the doubles point in Friday's match, marking just the fifth time all season the Cardinal surrendered the doubles point.
The Trojans kept their momentum going in singles, as Laurens Verboven put USC up, 2-0, with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sameer Kumar at No. 3, handing the Cardinal junior just his fifth defeat in dual play.
Daniel Cukierman of the Trojans made it 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 2, as Axel Geller lost consecutive matches for the first time all season. Despite the defeat, the Cardinal freshman owns a 16-5 record in dual action.
Riley Smith sealed it for the Trojans with a 7-6 (1), 6-3 victory over David Wilczynski at No. 5. The defeated snapped a six-match winning streak for the Stanford senior.
Friday marked the Cardinal's sixth appearance in at least the semifinals of the Pac-12 Championships in the seven years of the conference's team tournament format. No. 12 USC 4, No. 4 Stanford 0
Doubles
1. No. 9 Brandon Holt/Riley Smith (USC) d. No. 37 Sameer Kumar/Michael Genender (STAN) 6-2
2. No. 7 Jack Jaede/Laurens Verboven (USC) d. No. 24 Tom Fawcett/Axel Geller (STAN) 6-2
3. Eric Fomba/David Wilczynski (STAN) led Daniel Cukierman/Tanner Smith (USC) 4-3
Order of Finish: 2,1
Singles
1. No. 9 Tom Fawcett (STAN) vs. No. 11 Brandon Holt (USC) 6-1, 2-6, 2-5
2. No. 82 Daniel Cukierman (USC) d. No. 74 Axel Geller (STAN) 6-2, 6-3
3. Laurens Verboven (USC) d. No. 92 Sameer Kumar (STAN) 6-1, 6-0
4. Eric Fomba (STAN) led Thibault Forget (USC) 6-4, 4-5
5. Riley Smith (USC) d. David Wilczynski (STAN) 7-6 (1), 6-3
6. Michael Genender (STAN) led Jack Devin (USC) 7-6 (4) 2-3
Order of Finish: 3,2,5
