SEATTLE – In its first home match since March 7 and first outdoor home match of the year, Washington Men’s Tennis took down USC for the first time since 2016, and just the sixth time in program history. The Huskies got their second-straight Pac-12 win with a 4-2 victory over the 49th-ranked Trojans, with a dramatic clinching tiebreak victory at the No. 1 singles spot from Cesar Bouchelaghem.
UW finished a lengthy six-match road trip last week with a 4-0 win at Utah to get its first conference win, and backed that up today to get to 2-2 in Pac-12 play, and 8-10 for the season. The Huskies will have another huge opportunity on Sunday when 25th-ranked UCLA comes in for a 1 p.m. match.
DUBS ?? Washington downs USC ??
Cesar puts some extra sauce on a final backhand winner as UW beats USC for the first time since 2016 ??#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/1OzWCi1QCZ
— Washington Men’s Tennis (@UW_MTennis) April 6, 2024
The Huskies needed one more point to put away the Trojans with Bouchelaghem trying to upset 64th-ranked Peter Makk on the top court. After the two traded sets, Bouchelaghem came back from 0-3 down in the third to serve for the match at 5-4, and he had match point at 40-30, but Makk saved it and then won the deciding point to keep things going. Bouchelaghem held firm and forced a tiebreak, where he took a 5-1 lead before Makk scored three straight. But Bouchelaghem earned another match point chance with a service winner, and then he ripped a backhand passing shot on the final point to clinch it, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4).
Brett Pearson earned a big 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles over Niroop Vallabhaneni which made it 3-0 Huskies thanks to a USC default at No. 6, and a crucial doubles point win from the Dawgs that opened the match on a positive note.
Head Coach Rahim Esmail was impressed with Bouchelaghem’s composure at earning a second chance to get the victory after the first one slipped away.
“Teams like USC, they’ve been in these positions a lot and have won national championships and they know how to play in these moments, so when you have your first opportunity you’d love to capitalize, but the key is you have to keep yourself together and make sure you earn the next opportunity, and Cesar did a great job of that,” said Esmail. “He kept focused on his tactics and he earned that at the end. It was one of our best fights. Brett did a great job putting his foot on the gas but every court was a fight and that’s what these matches…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Washington Athletics…