LOS ANGELES – No. 10 Stanford erased a 3-1 deficit and senior Sameer Kumar captured a three-set thriller to clinch a 4-3 victory over No. 5 USC Friday evening at Marks Stadium.
Stanford improved to 5-1 with the victory and handed USC (5-1) its first loss of the season. The Cardinal has won its last two matches against the Trojans in Los Angeles and four of its last five against USC overall.
The Cardinal, which dropped the doubles point on Friday, used a straight-set win from Michael Genender at No. 5 to even things early on.
However, in a pair of head-to-head ranked matchups, USC's Brandon Holt captured the win over Axel Geller at No.1 and Daniel Cukierman knocked off Alexandre Rotseart at No. 2 to surge ahead 3-1.
Momentum quickly shifted, as freshman Sangeet Sridhar took a first-set tiebreaker and captured the win with a 6-4 second set.
Next, it was William Genesen, who responded from a first-set defeat with a 6-4, 6-2 second and third set to tie the match at 3-3 and set up Kumar's dramatic win.
Kumar was in a battle with USC's Mor Bulis, splitting the first two sets. The senior would not be denied, earning a 6-3 win in the deciding set to clinch the top-five road win.
The task does not get any easier, as Stanford faces No. 7 UCLA on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Stanford is in the middle of a stretch of six consecutive top-20 opponents on the road.No. 10 Stanford 4, No. 5 USC 3
DOUBLES
1) Axel Geller/Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN) d. Brandon Holt/Riley Smith (USC) 6-4
2) Jake Jaede/Laurens Verboven (USC) d. Sameer Kumar/Timothy Sah (STAN) 7-6 (6)
3) No. 21 Daniel Cukierman/Tanner Smith (USC) d. Jack Barber/William Genesen (STAN) 6-4
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
SINGLES
1) No. 56 Brandon Holt (USC) d. No. 10 Axel Geller (STAN) 6-2, 6-4
2) No. 4 Daniel Cukierman (USC) d. No. 61 Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN) 6-4, 6-1
3) No. 33 William Genesen (STAN) d. Riley Smith (USC) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
4) No. 43 Sameer Kumar (STAN) d. Mor Bulis (USC) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
5) Michael Genender (STAN) d. No. 94 Jake DeVine (USC) 6-0, 6-2
6) Sangeet Sridhar (STAN) d. Jake Sands (USC) 7-6 (4), 6-4
Order of Finish: 5,2,1,6,3,4
