STANFORD, Calif. - No. 10 Stanford stormed past No. 5 USC 6-1 on Friday afternoon at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Friday's match represented the first leg of the inaugural Dick Gould Stanford So/Cal Challenge, created in honor of the Hall of Fame coach whose 57-year association was highlighted by directing the Cardinal to 17 NCAA championships. The weekend closes with Stanford hosting No. 6 UCLA on Sunday at noon.
Fresh off a win over No. 22 Tulane last week that resulted in a ITA National Team Indoors berth, Stanford (4-0, 0-0 Pac-12) remained unbeaten and beat USC (3-1, 0-0 Pac-12) at Taube for the second straight season.
"The three words for me with today's win are resiliency, courage and leadership," said Stanford's Taube Family Director of Men's Tennis, Paul Goldstein. "Tom and Axel were down 5-1 at No. 2 doubles and they didn't give up, coming back to win it 7-5. Down 4-1 in the breaker at No. 3 doubles, David Wilczynski and Timmy Sah came back to win 8-6. All throughout the match, our senior David was working with our freshman Timmy, to get him to stay focused and present and he wins it. With the match already clinched, David fights back to win it at No. 4 singles. That's leadership."
The Cardinal took an early 1-0 lead after winning a hard-fought doubles point, thanks to a 7-6 (6) victory from Timothy Sah and David Wilczynski on court three.
Sameer Kumar followed with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Laurens Verboven at the No. 3 spot, increasing Stanford's lead to 2-0.
Axel Geller delivered a 6-4, 7-5 win over Logan Smith at the No. 2 position to make it 3-0, seconds before Tom Fawcett's 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 triumph over Brandon Holt at the top spot of the lineup provided the clincher.
USC collected its only point on court six, where Jake DeVine outlasted William Genesen 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Wilczynski and Eric Fomba also contributed victories for the Cardinal.
No. 10 Stanford 6, No. 5 USC 1
DOUBLES
1) Holt/Smith (USC) d. Genender/Kumar (STAN) 6-4
2) Fawcett/Geller (STAN) d. Jaede/Verboven (USC) 7-5
3) Timothy Sah/Wilczynski (STAN) d. Smith/Smolicki (USC) 7-6 (6)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
1) No. 101 Tom Fawcett (STAN) d. No. 13 Brandon Holt (USC) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
2) Axel Geller (STAN) d. No. 49 Logan Smith (USC) 6-4, 7-5
3) Sameer Kumar (STAN) d. Laurens Verboven (USC) 6-3, 6-3
4) David Wilczynski (STAN) d. Jack Jaede (USC) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
5) Eric Fomba (STAN) d. Thibault Forget (USC) 7-5, 7-6 (5)
6) Jake DeVine (USC) d. William Genesen (STAN) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1, 5, 6, 4