Men's Tennis | March 16, 2019

INDIAN WELLS, CALIF. — The No. 16 USC men's tennis team served up another shutout in Indian Wells to make a power move into the title match at the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge. Today in the semifinals, the Trojans tacked up a 4-0 win over Arizona State with another rally through doubles before a string of straight-set singles wins capped by a clincher from freshman Jake Sands. The win improves USC to 10-4 overall and takes the Trojans into the title match tomorrow against either Baylor or California.

Doubles play unfurled much like the previous day, with senior duo Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven whipping up the first win of the day. Jaede/Verboven issued a 6-2 defeat to ASU's #55 Rakotomalala/Roberts on court two. The remaining matches were a bit tighter. On court one, however, USC's #28 Brandon Holt and Riley Smith got the job done, winning 6-4 over ASU's #49 Kellovsky/Ponwith to etch the 1-0 lead for the Trojans on the board and bring up singles play.

Once again, after snagging a doubles win, #16 Brandon Holt tore his way through to the first singles victory. Holt's winning momentum carried him to a 6-2, 6-4 win over ASU's #73 Nathan Ponwith on court one to tug the Trojans ahead 2-0. Soon after, #6 Daniel Cukierman zipped his way to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Dominik Kellovsky at the No. 2 spot, taking USC ahead 3-0 with two Trojans closing in fast on the clincher. Freshman Jake Sands hit the finish line first, halting the match as a USC 4-0 win with his 6-3, 6-2 victory over Makey Rakotomalala on court six. Senior Laurens Verboven had match point on court three, but Sands beat him to the punch with his clincher from court six, and USC was officially on through to tomorrow's title match in Indian Wells.

BNP PARIBAS OPEN COLLEGIATE CHALLENGE (Indian Wells, Calif.)

SEMIFINALS
#16 USC 4, Arizona State 0
March 16, 2019 | Indian Wells, Calif.
DOUBLES
(1) #28 Holt/R. Smith (USC) def. #49 Kellovsky/Ponwith (ASU) - 6-4
(2) Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. #55 Rakotomalala/Roberts (ASU) - 6-2
(3) Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) vs. #39 Bolla/Ruehl (ASU) - 3-4 susp.
Order of finish: 2, 1
USC wins doubles point.
SINGLES
(1) #16 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #74 Nathan Ponwith (ASU) - 6-2, 6-4
(2) #6 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. Dominik Kellovsky (ASU) - 6-4, 6-1
(3) #23 Laurens Verboven (USC) vs. Andrea Bolla (ASU) - 6-2, 5-4 susp.
(4) Riley Smith (USC) vs. Justin Roberts (ASU) - 7-5, 4-5 susp.
(5) Mor Bulis (USC) vs. Tim Ruehl (ASU) - 5-7, 1-2 susp.
(6) Jake Sands (USC) def. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) - 6-3, 6-2*
Order of finish:  1, 2, 6*