LOS ANGELES – The 27
th-ranked Pepperdine men's tennis squad went to Troy on Friday and upset the #8 Trojans for their first win on USC soil in 21 years. Sophomore
Robert Shelton delivered the clinching blow on court five, going 7-6(7), 5-7, 6-3 and winning on a deciding point in the third.
RESULTS
#27 Pepperdine 4, #8 USC 3
DOUBLES
1.
Den Ouden/Oetzbach (PEPP) def. Frye/R. Smith (USC) - 7-5
2. Bulis/Weststrate (USC) def.
Shelton/Summaria (PEPP) - 6-2
3.
DeJonge/Fellin (PEPP) def. Holt/C. Smith (USC) - 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
1. #19 Riley Smith (USC) def.
Adrian Oetzbach (PEPP) - 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5)
2. Bradley Frye (USC) def.
Guy Den Ouden (PEPP) - 6-0, 6-4
3.
Daniel De Jonge (PEPP) def. #26 Mor Bulis (USC) - 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) def.
#90 Corrado Summaria (PEPP) - 6-0, 6-3
5.
Robert Shelton (PEPP) def. Jake Sands (USC) - 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-3
6.
Pietro Fellin (PEPP) def. Sean Holt (USC) - 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 4, 6, 1, 3, 5*
RECAP
The three-and-a-half hour match began in daylight and in doubles, where the pair of
Daniel De Jonge and
Pietro Fellin won big on court three, going 6-0 over USC's Holt and C. Smith. After a stumble on court two,
Guy Den Ouden and
Adrian Oetzbach never said die and pushed their match to an extra game, but eventually triumphed 7-5 over Frye and R. Smith to earn the doubles point for Pepperdine.
The Waves were down early at 1-2 after losses on courts two and four, sophomore Fellin earned yet another straight-set dub over Sean Holt on court six at 6-3, 6-3 to even the overall score back out to two apiece. USC gained the lead with a win on court one, but it was their last as De Jonge earned his first win back from injury. The junior fell in the first set at 6-4 but used his pent-up rage to defeat 26
th-ranked Mor Bulis 6-3, 6-3 in the last two sets for a three-all overall score.
All eyes fell upon court five, where
Robert Shelton and Jake Sands faced off for the win on either side. The sophomore earned the first set win after going into a tie break, but winning at 7-5(7). Sands got the best of Shelton in the second, however, as the Wave fell 5-7 to push to a third.
With the exception of a tie at two games apiece, Shelton led the entire set as each team gathered to cheer on their teammate. At the deciding point of 5-3, Shelton tossed the ball over the net as Sands sent it out of bounds for the Waves' win.
UP NEXT
The #27 Waves will head to Westwood for another top-30 showdown on Wednesday, as the guys will take on #17 UCLA.
