Jan. 27, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The #6 USC men's tennis team dealt the #54 USD Toreros a 6-1 defeat today at Marks Stadium. It was USD's season opener, and they will now return to Los Angeles this Friday to face Saint Mary's at 10 a.m. on the USC campus in the ITA National Indoor qualifying rounds. The Trojans swept the doubles matches to earn the doubles point, then won five of the six singles matches in straight sets. USD sophomore Dean Jackson earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jaak Poldma at No. 2 to pull the Toreros to 3-1 in the match, but the host Trojans would control the match the rest of the way.
Torero newcomers Nicola Bubnic and John Devillier dropped straight set matches at No. 4 and No. 5 singles as USD fell behind 3-0 in the match before Jackson pinned down a Torero victory. Robert Farah's 6-2, 6-3 win over USD's Charl Wolmarans sealed the deal with USC ahead 4-1, leaving matches going at No. 3 and No. 6. Junior Jason McNaughton knocked off his opponent first with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Nils Schive at No. 5. And putting the finishing touches on the match from his No. 3 slot was freshman Steve Johnson, who tacked up a 6-3, 6-4 victory with one last break to win it over Chris Coetzee.
ITA National Indoor qualifying starts up at USC's Marks Stadium on Friday (Jan. 30) with a 10 a.m. match between St. Mary's and San Diego. USC will follow with a 1 p.m. match against Mississippi State. On Saturday (Jan. 31) action continues with the winning teams facing off at 2:30 p.m. and the losing teams going at 5:30 p.m.
#6 USC 6, #54 San Diego 1
DOUBLES
(1) Farah/Johnson (USC) def. Jackson/Wolmarans (USD) - 8-1
(2) Magdas/Nguyen (USC) def. Coetzee/Devillier (USD) - 8-6
(3) Kells/Poldma (USC) def. Bubnic/Schive (USD) - 8-5
USC wins doubles point; Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
(1) Robert Farah (USC) def. Charl Wolmarans (USD) - 6-2, 6-3
(2) Dean Jackson (USD) def. Jaak Poldma (USC) - 6-3, 6-4
(3) Steve Johnson (USC) def. Chris Coetzee (USD) - 6-3, 6-4
(4) Abdullah Magdas (USC) def. Nicola Bubnic (USD) - 6-1, 6-2
(5) Matt Kecki (USC) def. John Devillier (USD) - 6-3, 6-0
(6) Jason McNaughton (USC) def. Nils Schive (USD) - 6-0, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2, 1*, 6, 3
RECORDS: #6 USC (3-0), #54 San Diego (0-1)
