USC
Pepperdine
Hoskins Leads Tennis To 4-3 Win Over Pepperdine
March 19, 2004 | Men's Tennis
March 19, 2004
Malibu, Calif. - USC junior Drew Hoskins outlasted Pepperdine freshman Richard Johnson to win the decisive No. 5 singles match and lift the No. 6-ranked Trojan men's tennis team to a 4-3 victory over the 20th-ranked Waves on Friday afternoon at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
The win improved USC to 11-2 on the season, while Pepperdine dropped to 11-6. The Trojans were forced to play without senior Ruben Torres in the lineup due to injury.
"The bottom line is that we had a difficult time playing without one of our leaders on the court, but the team stepped up and came away with the win," said USC head coach Peter Smith, who spent five seasons at Pepperdine before coming to Troy in 2002. "Drew, Jamil, Parker and Daniel really carried the load and got the job done."
Pepperdine's Johnson rallied from a 4-1 deficit to win the second set and send the match into a decisive third. When Hoskins jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the final set, Johnson again climbed back to knot the score at 4-4. However, Johnson double-faulted to give the advantage back to Hoskins as the USC junior served out for the match-clinching victory.
Despite not having played together this season, the Trojans' Parker Collins and Jamil Al-Agba set the tone for the match by beating Kevin Borzenski and Johnson, 8-2, for the first victory of the afternoon. Hoskins and Daniel Langre then captured an upset victory over eighth-ranked Calle Hansen and Pedro Rico at center court, 8-4, to earn the doubles point.
That doubles point that would later prove to be the difference as each team captured three singles victories. Pepperdine won at courts one, two and six, while USC posted wins at the No. 3, 4 and 5 spots, in that order.
#6 USC 4, #20 Pepperdine 3
Doubles
(1) #12 Hoskins/Langre (USC) def. #8 Hansen/Rico (Pepp) - 8-4
(2) #45 Doerner/Alex Herrera (Pepp) def. Berg/Biasella (USC) - 8-3
(3) Collins/Al-Agba (USC) vs. Kevin Borzenski/Johnson (Pepp) - 8-2
USC wins doubles point.
Singles
(1) #45 Calle Hansen (Pepp) def. #56 Johan Berg (USC) - 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
(2) #26 Pedro Rico (Pepp) def. #25 Adriano Biasella (USC) - 6-4, 6-2
(3) #53 Jamil Al-Agba (USC) def. Alex Herrera (Pepp) - 6-2, 6-3
(4) Daniel Langre (USC) def. Scott Doerner (Pepp) - 6-2, 6-3
(5) #80 Drew Hoskins (USC) def. Richard Johnson (Pepp) - 6-4, 4-6, 6-4*
(6) Alexis Rafidison (Pepp) def. Parker Collins (USC) - 6-1, 7-5
* Match clinching victory
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5
Players Mentioned
