Slideshow Tom Fawcett clinched Stanford's victory over USC at No. 1 singles. Photo by Harjanto Sumali. Axel Geller took care of the third point with a win at No. 2 singles. Photo by Harjanto Sumali. Dick Gould (left) is honored before Friday's match by current coach Paul Goldstein. Photo by Harjanto Sumali. Sameer Kumar won his match for Stanford. Photo by Harjanto Sumali. David Wilczynski ended the afternoon's festivities with a grueling victory. Photo by Harjanto Sumali. Previous Next

After honoring Stanford tennis legend Dick Gould, the 10th-ranked Stanford men's team went out and honored the program with a 6-1 victory over No. 5 USC in a nonconference match Friday at Taube Family Tennis Center.

The match represented the first leg of the inaugural Dick Gould Stanford SoCal Challenge, created in honor of the Hall of Fame coach whose 57-year association was highlighted by directing the Cardinal to 17 NCAA championships. The weekend closes with Stanford hosting No. 6 UCLA on Sunday at noon.

Fresh off a win over No. 22 Tulane last week that resulted in a ITA National Team Indoors berth, Stanford (4-0) remained unbeaten and topped the Trojans (3-1) at home for the second straight season.

"The three words for me with today's win are resiliency, courage and leadership," said Stanford coach Paul Goldstein. "Tom and Axel were down 5-1 at No. 2 doubles and they didn't give up, coming back to win it 7-5. Down 4-1 in the breaker at No. 3 doubles, David Wilczynski and Timmy Sah came back to win 8-6. All throughout the match, our senior David was working with our freshman Timmy, to get him to stay focused and present and he wins it. With the match already clinched, David fights back to win it at No. 4 singles. That's leadership."

The Cardinal took an early 1-0 lead after winning a hard-fought doubles point, thanks to a 7-6 (6) victory from Timothy Sah and David Wilczynski on court three.