Thursday, February 9
Los Angeles, Calif.
3 p.m.
University of San Francisco
1
at
6
USC
Zincirli Nabs Point at No. 9 Southern Cal
2/10/2017 12:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES – Freshman Mert Zincirli earned a point for the San Francisco men's tennis team, highlighting the match against No. 9 Southern California on Thursday at Marks Stadium.
The Dons (2-3) played against their toughest opponent to date, and the ninth-ranked Trojans (8-1) proved their mettle, taking both ends of the double-header against Northern California squads by a final score of 6-1.
"It was a hard fought competitive match with a strong USC team," remarked USF head coach Pablo Pires de Almeida. "We had very competitive matches at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6. Mert did a great job playing disciplined tennis and beating one of USC's top players in straight sets. The USC team is well coached and the players all fight extremely hard, so a win against them is very good for our freshman."
Moved up a day due to pending inclement weather moving into the area, the Trojans got the ball rolling by securing the doubles point. In singles play, USC took the next three consecutive points from the Nos. 4, 3, and 5 positions to clinch the match, but despite the final result being determined, the Dons battled to the end.
Zincirli's 7-5, 6-3 result against Thibault Forget from the No. 2 spot was the next court to finish as USF earned its lone scoring opportunity on the day. At No. 1, Johan Joenhagen was able to secure the second set by a 6-2 margin to push 35th-ranked Logan Smith to the tiebreaker. Woravin Kumthonkittikul's match at No. 6 also extended to a third-set tiebreak after he nabbed the 6-4 first-set win over Jens Sweaney before eventually dropping the match 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-7).
USF continues its non-conference gauntlet against ranked foes on Wednesday at 3 p.m., with a recently-added match against No. 20 Stanford. The Dons take on back-to-back Pac-12 opponents on the road before heading to Provo for its first conference match of the spring against BYU on Feb. 18.
No. 9 USC 6, San Francisco 1
Thursday, Feb. 9 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Singles competition – Order of finish (4, 3, 5*, 2, 1, 6)
1. #36 Logan Smith (USC) def. Johan Joehagen (USF); 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)
2. Mert Zincirli (USF) def. Thibault Forget (USC); 7-5, 6-3
3. #119 Jack Jaede (USC) def. Oliver Poysti (USF); 6-1, 6-1
4. Riley Smith (USC) def. Christian Brockstedt (USF); 6-1, 6-1
5. Laurens Verboven (USC) def. Paul Giraud (USF); 6-1, 6-4*
6. Jens Sweaney (USC) def. Woravin Kumthonkittikul (USF); 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles competition – Order of finish (2, 3)
1. #32 Holt/R. Smith (USC) vs. Joehagen/Zincirli (USF); DNF
2. #35 Crystal/Verboven (USC) def. Brockstedt/Poysti (USF); 6-1
3. Bellamy/Jaede (USC) def. Giraud/Kumthonkittikul (USF); 6-2
The Dons (2-3) played against their toughest opponent to date, and the ninth-ranked Trojans (8-1) proved their mettle, taking both ends of the double-header against Northern California squads by a final score of 6-1.
"It was a hard fought competitive match with a strong USC team," remarked USF head coach Pablo Pires de Almeida. "We had very competitive matches at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6. Mert did a great job playing disciplined tennis and beating one of USC's top players in straight sets. The USC team is well coached and the players all fight extremely hard, so a win against them is very good for our freshman."
Moved up a day due to pending inclement weather moving into the area, the Trojans got the ball rolling by securing the doubles point. In singles play, USC took the next three consecutive points from the Nos. 4, 3, and 5 positions to clinch the match, but despite the final result being determined, the Dons battled to the end.
Zincirli's 7-5, 6-3 result against Thibault Forget from the No. 2 spot was the next court to finish as USF earned its lone scoring opportunity on the day. At No. 1, Johan Joenhagen was able to secure the second set by a 6-2 margin to push 35th-ranked Logan Smith to the tiebreaker. Woravin Kumthonkittikul's match at No. 6 also extended to a third-set tiebreak after he nabbed the 6-4 first-set win over Jens Sweaney before eventually dropping the match 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-7).
USF continues its non-conference gauntlet against ranked foes on Wednesday at 3 p.m., with a recently-added match against No. 20 Stanford. The Dons take on back-to-back Pac-12 opponents on the road before heading to Provo for its first conference match of the spring against BYU on Feb. 18.
No. 9 USC 6, San Francisco 1
Thursday, Feb. 9 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Singles competition – Order of finish (4, 3, 5*, 2, 1, 6)
1. #36 Logan Smith (USC) def. Johan Joehagen (USF); 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)
2. Mert Zincirli (USF) def. Thibault Forget (USC); 7-5, 6-3
3. #119 Jack Jaede (USC) def. Oliver Poysti (USF); 6-1, 6-1
4. Riley Smith (USC) def. Christian Brockstedt (USF); 6-1, 6-1
5. Laurens Verboven (USC) def. Paul Giraud (USF); 6-1, 6-4*
6. Jens Sweaney (USC) def. Woravin Kumthonkittikul (USF); 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles competition – Order of finish (2, 3)
1. #32 Holt/R. Smith (USC) vs. Joehagen/Zincirli (USF); DNF
2. #35 Crystal/Verboven (USC) def. Brockstedt/Poysti (USF); 6-1
3. Bellamy/Jaede (USC) def. Giraud/Kumthonkittikul (USF); 6-2
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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