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Mikey Wright and Alex Chang won in doubles at USC, but none of the Bears won in singles Friday in L.A.
LOS ANGELES – The 51st-ranked California men’s tennis team took a 1-0 lead over No. 54 USC on Friday at Marks Stadium. But the Golden Bears dropped four straight singles matches to lose to the Trojans, 4-1.
Cal (10-8, 3-2 Pac-12) came into the day riding a three-match win streak, while USC (6-13, 1-3) had lost eight straight.
Things started well for the Bears. The 41st-ranked duo of Alex Chang and Mikey Wright topped the 55th-ranked Peter Makk and Lodewijk Westrate, 6-3, on court one, and then Lucas Magnaudet and former Trojan Ryder Jackson defeated Oscar Weightman and Samuel Rubell, 6-4 on court two to give Cal the doubles point.
But the Bears faltered in singles.
USC took a 2-1 lead after the Trojans’ 82nd-ranked Makk beat the 81st-ranked Jackson, 7-5, 6-2, on court one and Rubell beat Magnaudet 6-3, 6-2 on court five. Chang ranked 123rd, fell to Vladymyr Iakubenko, 7-5, 6-2, on court three, and Cal trailed 3-1.
In the only match to go three sets, the 119th-ranked Carl Emil Overbeck fell to Westrate, 6-1, 2-6, 6-0, on court two to wrap up Cal’s loss.
“This was a tough one,” said Kris Kwinta, Cal’s Peter Wright Director of Men’s Tennis and a former USC associate head coach. “Doubles were good. We had the momentum. USC looked defeated and discouraged, but on their Senior Day, these guys were not going to roll over and die. They didn’t want to lose to their old coach, and we knew they were going to be tough.
“We didn’t show up with our best tennis, whether it was the place or the opportunity. We played tentatively – not everybody – but in general we didn’t take the momentum of doubles into singles. It was an average level from us today, and it wasn’t good enough. We lost five first sets in singles and some of them pretty easily. I was disappointed. Our guys are capable of playing better tennis.
“Now it’s time to regroup and show up in Westwood in a couple days.”
Cal plays at No. 28 UCLA on Sunday at noon PT.
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