 "Photo: May-Ying Lam")
Wins against top-10 opponents don't come easy. After defeating No. 9 USC (12-3) on Feb. 17 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, No. 4 Texas couldn't repeat, falling to the Trojans by a 4-3 margin Thursday evening at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin.
Sophomores Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala got things started for the Longhorns by tallying an
8-5 win over opponents Andrew Piotrowski and Jaak Poldma at the third position in doubles play. Junior Miguel Reyes Varela and senior Luis Diaz Barriga clinched the doubles point for Texas after posting an 8-5 win over Jason McNaughton and Gary Sacks at the two-spot, allowing the Longhorns to take a 1-0 lead into singles play.
No. 42 Kutrovsky, who was recently named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week after defeating Florida State's 24th-ranked Jean-Yves Aubone on March 8, continued to showcase his dominating singles play by upsetting USC's seventh-ranked Robert Farah in a hard-fought 6-4, 6-3 match.
Kutrovsky's performance put Texas up 2-0, but the Longhorns could not finish off USC. The Trojans won four consecutive singles matches, clinching their 12th win for the season as Abdullah Magdas, Poldma, Kaes Van't Hof and Sacks posted wins at the sixth, third, second and fourth positions.
With personal records on the line, Mihailovic gave the Longhorns their final point as he defeated McNaughton 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 at the fifth spot to close the match.
The loss drops Texas to 13-3 for the season - all three losses coming against top-10 opponents.
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