Cowboy Tennis Drops No. 5 USC in a Thriller

Saturday, February 10

Stillwater, OK

1:00 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Southern California

February 10, 2024 | Cowboy Tennis

BOX SCORE (PDF)

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State men's tennis defeated No. 5 USC, 6-1, at Greenwood Tennis Center Saturday to move to 7-2 on the season.

This marked the Pokes' first win over an ITA top-5 ranked opponent since Feb. 21, 2020, when they defeated No. 4 Michigan at Greenwood Tennis Center.

The Cowboys started their upset with a comeback doubles point.

Starting on court three, OSU's Francisco Pini and Leighton Allen lost to the Trojans' Karl Lee and Oscar Weightman, 6-1. At centre court, Tyler Zink and Alex Garcia kept it competitive with a dominant win over USC's Peter Makk and Lodewijk Weststrate, 6-3. The win moved the Zink and Garcia duo to 4-0 on the season.

With the doubles point on the line, Isaac Becroft and Alessio Basile won for the Pokes on court two, defeating Volodymyr Iakubenko and Samuel Rubell, 6-4, to give OSU a 1-0 lead going into singles.

Singles play featured multiple tiebreakers and third sets.

In his first match on court five this season, Basile extended the Cowboys' lead to 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-2, victory over Rubell.

OSU freshman Erik Schiessl improved to 6-0 on the year with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Lee on court four. Schiessl has not surrendered a set this season.

USC got on the board with a win on court two, as No. 96 Westrate scored a 6-2, 7-6(5) win over No. 32 Garcia.

Becroft clinched the dual for OSU with a 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-0 win over Iakubenko on court three.

With the match closed out, the Cowboys didn't seem to let up.

No. 18 Tyler Zink played a remarkable match against USC's No. 38 Peter Makk on court one. Up, 4-1 in the first set, Zink gave up ten straight games to fall behind, 4-6, 0-5. With his back to the wall, he won six of the next seven games to force a tiebreaker, which he won, 7-5. Down, 3-2 in the third set, Zink won four of the next five games to take the match and the point for the Cowboys. It was OSU's fifth win over a ranked opponent this year and the longest match of the season, featuring 33 games.

The last match to finish was on court six, where OSU's Pini took down Niroop Vallabhaneni in a three-set thriller. Pini was able to close it out with a controlling third set, winning, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

The Cowboys look to extend their winning streak to when they host Princeton at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

Oklahoma State 6, No. 5 USC 1
Singles competition
1. No. 21 Tyler Zink (OSU) def. No. 38 Peter Makk (USC) 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4
2. No. 96 Lodewijk Westrate (USC) def. No. 32 Alex Garcia (OSU) 6-2, 7-6(5)
3. Issac Becroft (OSU) def. Volodymyr Iakubenko (USC) 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-0
4. Erik Schiessl (OSU) def. Karl Lee (USC) 6-2, 6-4
5. Alessio Basile (OSU) def. Samuel Rubell (USC) 6-3, 6-2
6. Francisco Pini (OSU) def. Niroop Vallabhaneni (USC) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Tyler Zink/Alex Garcia (OSU) def. Peter Makk/Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) 6-3
2. Isaac Becroft/Alessio Basile (OSU) def. Volodymyr Iakubenko/Samuel Rubell (USC) 6-4
3. Karl Lee/Oscar Weightman (USC) def. Leighton Allen/Francisco Pini (OSU) 6-1

Order of finish:
Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,2,3,1,6)