USC
Tulsa
No. 13 USC Men's Tennis Finishes Off Tulsa
March 16, 2009 | Men's Tennis
March 16, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The No. 13 USC men's tennis team beat No. 29 Tulsa with a 5-2 score on Monday (March 16) afternoon at Marks Stadium. The win brings the Trojans up to 12-3 overall and drops Tulsa to 13-7. The Trojans were led by the #4 combination of Robert Farah/Steve Johnson in doubles and Steven Johnson and Jaak Poldma in singles.
The Trojans swept the Golden Hurricanes in doubles, with #4 Robert Farah/Steve Johnson coming out of the No. 1slot to beat # 3 Arnau Brugues/Philip Stephens 8-3. Next to finish and clinch the doubles point for USC was No. 2 Abdullah Magdas/Daniel Nguyen who were down early in the match to Ross Cunningham/Ashley Watling but fought back to an 8-5 win. Rounding out the sweep was No. 3 Matt Kecki/Jaak Poldma who beat Victor Kolik/James Seagraves, 8-6.
In singles, #86 Steve Johnson, coming out of the No. 3 slot beat Victor Kolik 6-2, 6-3 to start the Trojans off with a win and bring the score to 2-0, Trojans. Next to finish was #1 Robert Farah, who lost to #3 Arnau Brugues 6-3, 6-2 from the No. 1 spot. No. 6 Jason McNaughton took the first set from Tulsa's Ross Cunningham 6-1, dropped the second set 6-4, and came out strong in the third set 6-1 to take the point for the Trojans and giving them a 3-1 match lead. No. 2 Jaak Poldma finished off Alberto Sottocorno 7-5, 6-3 to clinch the match for the Trojans, 4-1. Finishing off singles, No. 4 Abdullah Magdas won the first set 6-3 over Philip Stephens, but then dropped the last two sets 6-1, 6-3, putting the score at 4-2. No. 5 Matt Kecki won the first set over Ashley Waitling 6-3, lost the second set 6-4, but came back strong 6-3 to get the win and put the final score at 5-2, USC.
Next up for the Trojans is a difficult road trip, beginning with a match against No. 18 Texas A&M on Thursday (March 19). USC will then move on to No. 11 Baylor to face the Bears on Saturday (March 21) at 1 p.m.
#13 USC 5, #29 Tulsa 2
DOUBLES
(1) #4 Farah/Johnson (USC) def. #3 Brugues/Stephens (TUL) - 8-3
(2) Magdas/Nguyen (USC) def. Cunningham/Watling (TUL) - 8-5
(3) Kecki/Poldma (USC) def. Kolik/Seagrave (TUL) - 8-6
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
(1) #3 Arnau Brugues (TUL) def. #1 Robert Farah (USC) - 6-3, 6-2
(2) #102 Jaak Poldma (USC) def. Alberto Sottocorno (TUL) - 7-5, 6-3*
(3) #86 Steve Johnson (USC) def. Victor Kolik (TUL) - 6-2, 6-3
(4) Philip Stephens (TUL) def. #57 Abdullah Magdas (USC) - 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
(5) Matt Kecki (USC) def. Ashley Watling (TUL) - 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
(6) Jason McNaughton (USC) def. Ross Cunningham (TUL) - 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 6, 2*, 4, 5
Players Mentioned
