The No. 3 seeded Utah men’s tennis team fell to the No. 1 seed USC in the Pac-12 Tournament Title Match Saturday evening with a 4-2 score.
This was the Utes first appearance in the Pac-12 finals in school history.
Utah started the match off strong by capturing the doubles point. Ute duo, Bruno Caula and Francisco Bastias picked up a 6-4 win in the No. 3 doubles spot over Wojtek Marek and Peter Makk. Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac narrowly lost 7-6 in a tiebreak in the No. 1 spot to Brad Frye and Learner Tien.
The doubles point came down to the No. 2 spot, where Geronimo Espin Busleiman and Franco Calpabo Ryan Colby and Stefan Dostanic. The Utes had to fight for the 7-5 win to claim the doubles point in favor of the Utes.
In singles action, USC wasted no time covering the ground the Trojans lost in doubles play. USC picked up wins in the No. 1, No. 6 and No. 3 spots to take a 3-1 advantage. Trhac was the first Ute to come away with a singles victory as he downed Frye with a 6-4, 6-2 score in the No. 5 spot.
Two courts remained left to finish. Busleiman won his first set 6-4 and dropped his second set 4-6. As he was about to start a third set, Caula finished on court four, leaving Busleiman’s match unfinished.
Despite a surge for a comeback, Caula fell 6-3, 6-4 to give USC the 4-2 overall match win and Pac-12 Championship title.
Utah now has a 23-5 overall record on the season and await their fate in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Regional Rounds will be announced Monday, May 1 at 4:30 p.m. (MT).
Championships // Saturday, April 29 // Libbey Park
Match 8: No. 1 USC 4 vs No. 3 Utah 2
DOUBLES
1. Brad Frye/Learner Tien (USC) def. Patrik Trhac/Berk Bugarikj (UTAH) 7-6 (3)
2. Franco Capalbo/Geronimo Espin Busleiman (UTAH) def. Ryan Colby/Stefan Dostanic (USC) 7-5
3. Fransisco Bastias/Bruno Caula (UTAH) def. Wojtek Marek/Peter Makk 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
SINGLES
1. Stefan Dostanic (USC) def. Franco Capalbo (UTAH) 6-0, 6-4
2. Learner Tien (USC) v. Geronimo Espin Busleiman (UTAH) 4-6, 6-4, unf.
3. Peter Makk (USC) def. Fransisco Bastias (UTAH) 6-1, 6-1
4. Wojtek Marek (USC) def. Bruno Caula (UTAH) 6-3, 6-4
5. Patrik Trhac (UTAH) def. Brad Frye (USC) 6-4, 6-2
6. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) def. Bruno Krenn (UTAH) 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 3, 1, 5, 4
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