Posted: Jan 26, 2020
LOS ANGELES – Featuring a deep lineup consisting of five players ranked in the top-64, including the number one player in the nation, third-ranked USC advanced out of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend regionals when they defeated Santa Clara men's tennis 4-0 on Sunday at Marks Stadium.
The Trojans (2-0) won the four-team regionals they hosted blanking UNC-Wilmington 4-0 on Saturday followed by Sunday's win over the Broncos (1-3) by the same score. They will next play at the Oracle ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wisconsin from Feb. 14-17.
Mors Bulis and Ryder Jackson clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Nick Cmager and Mann Shah on court two to put USC up 1-0.
In singles play, Jesus Tapiador Barajas and Shah each won their first sets. Tapiador Barajas against No. 26 Riley Smith on court two and Shah against No. 37 Stefan Dostanic on court four, however their matches went unfinished as the Trojans prevailed on the other courts.
Bradley Frye defeated Cmager 6-1, 6-0, on court six to put the Trojans up 2-0, followed by No. 9 Bulis' victory over Vasileios Iliopoulos 6-1, 6-1 on court three.
The match clincher came on court one when the top-ranked player in the nation Daniel Cukierman took care of Arthur Neuhaus 6-4, 6-2.
The Broncos finished the ITA Kick-Off Weekend with a 1-1 record after beating UC Santa Barbara 4-3 on Saturday in a thrilling fashion with freshman Cmager clinching the match.
NEXT UP:
Santa Clara travels for the third straight weekend, this time to the Pacific Northwest when they face Oregon on Saturday and Portland State on Sunday.