No. 11 USC Men’s Tennis Falls To No. 10 Kentucky In ITA National Indoors Round of 16

SEATTLE — The No. 11 USC men's tennis team came up against a tough No. 10 Kentucky squad today in the Round of 16 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle, falling 4-0 to the Wildcats. USC goes to 6-2 overall with the loss and moves into the consolation draw at the event.

Seeded No. 7 in the draw, Kentucky captured the doubles point with strong wins on courts two and three, with #22 Lapadat/Mercer topping Trojans Peter Makk and Wojtek Marek 6-1 before Musitelli/Zemel beat USC's Paul Barretto and Ryan Colby 6-3 to suspend action on court one with USC's #3 Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye up 6-5.

In singles, the Wildcats claimed first sets on four courts, while the Trojans' top guns had the early advantage on courts one and two. At the No. 3 spot, USC's Bradley Frye had his hands full with Kentucky's #5 Gabriel Diallo, who got the Wildcats up 2-0 on a 6-3, 6-2 decision on that court. Frye's fellow Trojans continued to fight, with Ryan Colby battling back to force a third set on court six, although teammate #59 Lodewijk Weststrate was unable to extend his battle with #37 Josh Lapadat, as Kentucky moved ahead 3-0 on a  6-3, 7-6 (3) decision on court five. At the No. 6 spot, Colby would lose his tangle with Yasha Zemel as Kentucky pocketed the victory 4-0 when Zemel nabbed the 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 decision.

That suspended competition on three courts, with USC"s #4 Stefan Dostanic and Wojtek Marek each leading their respective matches on courts one and two, while #36 Peter Makk was looking to extend his match on court four to a third set.

USC now moves into the consolation bracket, facing either No. 2 seed Baylor or No. 15 seed Ole Miss tomorrow (Feb. 19) at 3:30 p.m. at Seattle Tennis Club.

ITA NATIONAL TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP (Seattle, Wash.)

ROUND OF 16
#10 [7] Kentucky 4, #11 [10] USC 0
Feb. 18, 2022 | Seattle Tennis Club
DOUBLES
(1) #3 Dostanic/Frye (USC) vs. Draxl/Hurrion (UK) - 6-5 susp.
(2) #22 Lapadat/Mercer (UK) Makk/Marek (USC) - 6-1
(3) Musitelli/Zemel (UK) def. Barretto/Colby (USC) - 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3
Kentucky wins doubles point.
SINGLES
(1) #4 Stefan Dostanic (USC) vs. Liam Draxl (UK) - 7-5, 4-6, 3-2 susp.
(2) Wojtek Marek (USC) vs. Millen Hurrion (UK) - 7-6 (4), 5-5 susp.
(3) #5 Gabriel Diallo (UK) def. Bradley Frye (USC) - 6-3, 6-2
(4) #46 Peter Makk (USC) vs. Francois Misitelli (UK) - 5-7, 6-6 susp.
(5) #37 Josh Lapadat (UK) def. #59 Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) - 6-3, 7-6 (3)
(6) Yasha Zemel (UK) def. Ryan Colby (USC) - 6-3, 3-6, 6-3*
Order of finish: 3, 5, 6*