LOS ANGELES (UNLVRebels.com) – Senior Anton Ornberg earned the highest-ranked win of his collegiate career but it was not enough as UNLV put a scare in No. 7-ranked USC before falling 5-2 Saturday afternoon at Marks Tennis Stadium.  
 
The Rebels dropped to 4-2 while the Trojans of the Pac-12 Conference stayed perfect at 4-0.
 
The hosts took the doubles point, but just barely. The squads split at the top and bottom of the lineup but the Trojans rallied for a 7-5 win at No. 2 to clinch. UNLV's win came from Joseph Chen and Aaron Bailey on court three, 6-4, over Karl Lee and Niroop Vallabhaneni.
 
USC's singles lineup, which included a trio of ranked players, managed three straight-set victories but the other three all went to third-set super tiebreakers and the visitors took two of them. Taiyo Hirano improved to 6-0 in duals by outlasting Vallabhaneni on court six, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9) for UNLV's first point. And finally, at the top of the lineup, Ornberg rallied past 39th-ranked Peter Makk, 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6).
 
REBEL OF THE MATCH: Ornberg improved to 4-1 in dual matches with his big upset at No. 1.
 
QUOTABLE: "This was a competitive match against a Top 10 team but we could have won it so, ultimately, we are disappointed. Now we look forward to playing NAU, which finished far above us in last year's rankings."
-UNLV Head Coach Andy Jackson
 
UP NEXT: UNLV will host the Lumberjacks on Friday starting with doubles play at 3 p.m. All matches at Fertitta Tennis Complex are free of charge.
 
Men's Tennis Match Results
#USC 5, UNLV 2
Feb. 3, 2024, at Los Angeles
(Marks Tennis Stadium)

Singles competition
1. Anton Ornberg (UNLV) def. #39 Peter Makk (USC) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6)
2. #73 Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) def. Joseph Chen (UNLV) 6-2, 6-2
3. Volodymyr Iakubenko (USC) def. Aaron Bailey (UNLV) 6-4, 6-1
4. Samuel Rubell (USC) def. Illia Maksymchuk (UNLV) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
5. #94 Karl Lee (USC) def. Martin Jovenin (UNLV) 6-2, 6-1
6. Taiyo Hirano (UNLV) def. Niroop Vallabhaneni (USC) 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9)
 
 Doubles competition
1. Peter Makk/Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) def. Jackson Atherton/Anton Ornberg (UNLV) 6-3
2. Volodymyr Iakubenko/Samuel Rubell (USC) def. Illia Maksymchuk/Taiyo Hirano (UNLV) 7-5
3. Joseph Chen/Aaron Bailey (UNLV) def. Karl Lee/Niroop Vallabhaneni (USC) 6-4
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,2,3,4,6,1)