Photo by Holly Roberts.
UCLA Upsets USC for Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Championships Title
OJAI, Calif. – UCLA jumped out to an early lead with the doubles point and allowed just two singles losses to clinch the Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Championship title, their second-consecutive tournament Championship and second overall.
The Bruins clinched the doubles point thanks to Marcos Giron and Mackenzie McDonald on court one and Karue Sell and Adrien Puget on court two. Sell and Puget opened the match with an 8-3 doubles victory over USC’s Roberto Quiroz and Nick Crystal. USC evened it up with an 8-3 victory for Max DeVroome and Eric Johnson on court three over Joey DiGiulio and Clay Thompson. But UCLA came back on court one with a dramatic 8-5 victory on court one for Giron and McDonald against Yannick Hanfmann and Ray Sarmiento to grab the doubles point.
In singles play, USC jumped out to a lead as Hanfmann and Sarmiento picked up singles wins on courts one and two over Giron and Thompson, respectively. Both Trojans handled their opponents in straight sets, with Hanfmann posting a 6-4, 6-2 win over Giron and Sarmiento defeating Thompson, 6-2, 6-4. Freshman Gage Brymer began the Bruin crusade after the two singles losses, defeating DeVroome of USC, 6-2, 6-4 to even the match at 2-2. Puget then knocked off USC’s Michael Grant on court five, 6-4, 6-1. Karue Sell then sealed the deal for the Bruins, defeating USC’s Johnson in two sets with the last set extending to four tiebreaker points.
The match will be played on Pac-12 Networks Sunday at 5 p.m. PT on all networks except for Pac-12 Washington.
No. 2 UCLA def. No. 1 USC, 4-2
Doubles
1. Marcos Giron/Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. Yannick Hanfmann/Ray Sarmiento (USC) 8-5
2. Karue Sell/Adrien Puget (UCLA) def. Roberto Quiroz/Nick Crystal (USC) 8-3
3. Max DeVroome/Eric Johnson (USC) def. Joey DiGiulio/Clay Thompson (UCLA) 8-3
Order of finish: 2,3,1
Singles
1. Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. Marcos Giron (UCLA) 6-4, 6-2
2. Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. Clay Thompson (UCLA) 6-2, 6-4
3. Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) vs. Roberto Quiroz (USC) 6-2, 2-6, 2-2 unfinished
4. Gage Brymer (UCLA) def. Max DeVroome (USC) 6-2, 6-4
5. Karue Sell (UCLA) def. Eric Johnson (USC) 6-3, 7-6(4)
6. Adrien Puget (UCLA) def. Michael Grant (USC) 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: 1,2,4,6,5
Topics: Ojai, Pac-12 Men's Tennis Championship, Tennis
OJAI TENNIS UCLA BEATS USC IN PAC 12 MEN’S – http://t.co/gyj19IwDgd @TheOjai @uclatennis @USCMensTennis #tennis #ojai #ucla #usc