COLLEGE TENNIS : No. 2 USC Men Rally to Beat No. 1 UCLA

Capitalizing on several big comebacks, the USC men’s tennis team, ranked No. 2 in the country, defeated No. 1 UCLA, 5-2, Wednesday afternoon at the Los Angeles Tennis Center and ended the Bruins’ 53-match home winning streak.

The final two doubles competitions were halted as soon as Jon Leach and Andras Lanyi swept Bill Behrens and Jason Netter, 6-4, 6-4, to clinch the match for the Trojans (20-1).

Coach Dick Leach will wait to see if USC beats No. 3 Stanford at 1 p.m. Saturday at home before saying his team deserves a No. 1 ranking. But if the Trojans are at the top when the new poll comes out early next week, they can recall three points of light that showed the way against the Bruins, who didn’t even have many close calls before Wednesday in running up a 21-0 mark.

Comeback I: Freshman Brian MacPhie lost the first set to Mark Knowles, the nation’s 11th-ranked collegian, in No. 1 singles and came back to win, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Comeback II: Byron Black also dropped the first set in No. 2 singles, but steamrollered Netter the rest of the way to record a 6-7 (7-3), 6-2, 6-1 victory.

Comeback III: With the opportunity to tie the competition, at 3-3, heading into doubles, David Nainkin of UCLA had match point on Lanyi at 30-40 in the 10th game of the third set. Lanyi rallied and eventually forced a tiebreaker. There, he finished Nainkin, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

“The turning point is when we were down, 5-4, and had match point against us and came back to win,” said Leach, looking to reach No. 1 for the first time since 1987, when the Trojans were 32-0 before losing to Georgia in the NCAA semifinals. “When we had a 4-2 lead, I knew it would be very difficult for them (the Bruins).”