# #

Huskies Take Trojans To Limit In Pac-12 Final

by gohuskies.com
Apr 23, 2022

Pac-12 Championships
Apr. 20-23, Ojai, Calif.
Libbey Park

Wednesday, Apr. 20 - First Round
(8) Washington def. (9) Oregon, 4-2

Thursday, Apr. 21 - Quarterfinal
(8) Washington def. (1) Arizona, 4-2

Friday, Apr. 22 - Semifinal
(8) Washington def. (5) UCLA, 4-3

Saturday, Apr. 23 - Final
(2) USC def. (8) Washington, 4-1

OJAI, Calif. – Washington's historic run at the Pac-12 Tennis Championships ended a few points short of a title today, but the Dawgs continued to play at the high level that earned them their first ever spot in the tournament finals. Playing for the fourth day in a row, the Huskies left it all out on the Libbey Park courts, but 13th-ranked USC won its second-straight title with a 4-1 decision that didn't indicate the tightness of the match.
 
USC took a 3-1 lead with the doubles point and straight set wins at No. 3 and 4 singles, but Nedim Suko had a straight set win at No. 6 singles for the Dawgs. Freshman Cesar Bouchelaghem saved a match point at No. 5 singles to keep UW in it, as he won his second set, 7-5, from 4-5 down. At that point, the three remaining singles matches were all early in third sets, with the Dawgs needing to win all three.
 
Ultimately, USC senior Bradley Frye made one service break stand up at No. 2 singles against senior Jack Davis, clinching the win with a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 victory. At the time that match ended, 6th-ranked Clement Chidekh was at 3-3 in his third set with 5th-ranked Stefan Dostanic, and Bouchelaghem was down 1-3 in his third.
 
"I'm glad our fans were able to see the heart and fight that we've been playing with all weekend here," said Head Coach Matt Anger. "We were close to getting more points. Cesar saved another match point to keep the match alive. Clement and Dostanic they were playing an incredible match. Those guys, and a few others I'd put in the group, but they're the best in college tennis. Clement had a match point but just caught tape on one shot. Nedim was huge to get that point on the board. Jack Davis did a super job, and just had the one break in the third. I thought we might get back into that last game, but Frye made shots."

 
Washington (18-11) had to win the play-in first round against Oregon back on Wednesday, in what was a very close 4-2 win, just to get to face top-seed Arizona in the quarterfinals. UW had its biggest win of the year to upset the Wildcats, 4-2, and then earned another grueling 4-3 win over UCLA yesterday. USC, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, started play Thursday with a 4-0 win over Cal and had another 4-0 win yesterday against Stanford in the semis.
 
As the Pac-12 tourney runner-up, UW will hope that the lift to its ITA ranking will be plenty to lift it into the NCAA Championships, but the Dawgs have to wait until May 2 for selections.

 
"(Associate Head Coach) Rahim Esmail uses the expression 'our product,' and we feel our product is getting better, and we for sure want to keep going. I think our young guys not only are they talented but now they're used to playing on the road, and playing at a high level. I think we still need to get everyone on their high-level games on the same day and we can knock off these teams."
 
 
Washington Men's Tennis
Pac-12 Championships – Final
April 23, 2022
Libbey Park | Ojai, Calif.
 
#53 (8-seed) Washington – 1
#13 (2-seed) USC – 4
 
Singles
1. (#6) Clement Chidekh (UW) vs. (#5) Stefan Dostanic (USC) – 6-3, 5-7, 3-3, DNF
2. Bradley Frye (USC) def. Jack Davis (UW) – 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3
3. (#56) Peter Makk (USC) def. Ewen Lumsden (UW) – 6-1, 7-6 (4)
4. Ryan Colby (USC) def. Han-Chih Lin (UW) – 6-3, 6-1
5. Cesar Bouchelaghem (UW) vs. (#117) Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) – 4-6, 7-5, 1-3, DNF
6. Nedim Suko (UW) def. Samuel Rubell (USC) – 6-1, 6-4
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 3, 2
 
Doubles
1. (#5) Dostanic/Frye (USC) def. (#33) Davis/Lumsden (UW) – 6-1
2. Makk/Weststrate (USC) def. Chidekh/Suko (UW) – 6-3
3. Bouchelaghem/Wong (UW) vs. Rubell/Jackson (USC) – 2-5, DNF
Order of Finish: 1, 2
 
 

Related News & Videos