Ducks Suffer 5-2 Setback at No. 16 USC

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Joshua Charlton and Quinn Vandecasteele recorded a win over the No. 2 doubles team in the country, and the Ducks won the doubles point at 16th-ranked USC but ultimately suffered a 5-2 setback Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Oregon is now 13-4 overall with a 1-4 mark in conference play.
 
The doubles win for Charlton marked the 100th combined victory for Charlton in his UO career.
 
How it Happened: Charlton and Vandecasteele gave the USC duo of Daniel Cukierman and Riley Smith just its second loss of the season. The Oregon pair improve to 7-2 overall and are now 4-1 in the Pac-12. USC (16-5, 4-1) won at No. 2 doubles but Brandon Lam and Ryoma Matsushita clinched the point with a 6-4 triumph at No. 3 doubles.
 
Oregon has won the doubles point in 14 of 17 matches this season.
 
The home team rattled off the first three points of singles play at No. 1, 6 and 3, respectively, before Oregon pulled to within one—USC leading 3-2—with Lam's straight-set win in the five spot. Lam rallied from a second-set hole to complete a tight 7-5, 7-5 victory over Lodewijk Weststrate.
 
USC secured the match with another close victory, 7-6(4), 6-4 with No. 28 Riley Smith over No. 91 Emmanuel Coste at No. 2 singles.
 
Up Next: The Ducks travel to Seattle next weekend to play Washington, the second matchup between the two teams this season. Oregon posted a 4-3 win over the Huskies on Feb. 21 in Eugene. The Ducks' next home match is April 16 against Stanford.
 
#16 USC 5, #49 Oregon 2
Doubles
1. #70 Charlton/Q. Vandecasteele (ORE) d. #2 Cukierman/Smith (USC) – 6-3
2. Dostanic/Frye (USC) d. Coste/Klöv-Nilsson (ORE) – 6-3
3. Lam/Matsushita (ORE) d. Jackson/Weststrate (USC) – 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
 
Singles
1. #26 Daniel Cukierman (USC) d. Joshua Charlton (ORE) – 6-1, 6-1
2. #28 Riley Smith (USC) d. #91 Emmanuel Coste – (ORE) 7-6(4), 6-4
3. #87 Stefan Dostanic (USC) d. Quinn Vandecasteele (ORE) – 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
4. Bradley Frye (USC) d. Jesper Klöv-Nilsson (ORE) – 4-6, 7-6(4), 1-0(8)
5. Brandon Lam (ORE) d. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) – 7-5, 7-5
6. Ryder Jackson (USC) d. Luke Vandecasteele (ORE) – 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 3, 5, 2*, 4
* - clincher
 
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