University Southern California Trojans
Men's Tennis Wins 1000th Match in School History
June 21, 1999 | Men's Tennis
March 13, 1999
LOS ANGELES - It came down to a tiebreaker in the final set of the final singles match of the day, but USC senior Scott Willinski defeated Arizona State's Tim Hammond to give the No. 13 USC men's tennis team its 1000th victory in the history of the program and a 4-3 win over No. 13 Arizona State in a non-conference match on Saturday afternoon at Marks Tennis Stadium.
"It was unbelievable," USC head coach Dick Leach said. "It is probably one of the closest matches in my 20 years here. The big thing is how hard the players fought today. We're missing one of our best players in Ryan Moore, but Scott just went out there and won it. Everyone fought their guts out today."
USC is the first team in the Pacific-10 Conference to reach 1000 victories since the program first started at USC in 1924. Defending NCAA champion Stanford is second on the list with 907 overall victories.
With the win, the Trojans improved to 11-2 overall and completed a season sweep over the Sun Devils. USC defeated ASU by a score of 4-3 in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 29. With the loss, Arizona State fell to 8-2.
After splitting the first two sets, Willinski opened the deciding third set by winning the first five games. Trailing, 5-0, Hammond quickly regained his composure and fought back to take the next five games in similar fashion and tie the match at 5-5. Both players then held their serve in the next two games to force a tiebreaker.
In the tiebreak, Willinski jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead, but Hammond scored the next two points to pull within one at 4-3. However, Willinski recovered to win the next three straight points to win the set and clinch the victory for USC.
Earlier in the day, the Sun Devils jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead by sweeping all three doubels matches and claiming the doubles point. It was the first time the Trojans had been swept in doubles this season.
USC started strong in singles play, quickly evening the score at 1-1 with a victory by freshman Andrew Park over ASU's Gustavo Marcaccio in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Arizona State would regain the lead at 2-1 after Matt Klinger won a hotly-contested battle with USC's Nicholas Rainey on court No. 5. After splitting the first two sets of the match, Rainey battled back from a 1-4 deficit to tie the match at 5-5. The two then split the next two games to force a tiebreaker. With Rainey up 4-3 in the tiebreak, the chair umpire overruled a call by Rainey for the third time in the set which gave Klinger the game and the match, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
USC regained the lead after a pair of three-set victories by junior Patrick Gottesleben and sophomore Gregg Hill giving the Trojans a slim 3-2 advantage. But the Sun Devils did not quit as they tied the match at 3-3 with Alex Osterrieth's three-set victory over USC's Roman Kukal, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, setting the stage for the deciding singles match between Willinski and Hammond.
The complete results of the match follow:
Singles
1. Patrick Gottesleben (USC) def. Jeff Williams (Arizona State), 6-4, 5-7, 7-5
2. Andrew Park (USC) def. Gustavo Marcaccio (Arizona State), 6-4, 6-4
3. Alex Osterrieth (Arizona State) def. Roman Kukal (USC), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
4. Gregg Hill (USC) def. Ed Carter (Arizona State), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
5. Matt Klinger (Arizona State) def. Nicholas Rainey (USC), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6
6. Scott Willinski (USC) def. Tim Hammond (Arizona State), 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3)
Doubles (worth 1 point)
1. Williams/Carter (Arizona State) def. Gottesleben/Kukal (USC), 9-8 (7-5)
2. Marcaccio/Osterrieth (Arizona State) def. Rainey/Willinski (USC), 8-3
3. Hammond/Casey Was (Arizona State) def. Hill/Park (USC), 8-5
