Men's Tennis Falls Just Short Of Stunner At No. 21 USC - University of Nevada Las Vegas Athletics

Sunday, February 8

Los Angeles, CA

10:00 AM PT

University of Nevada Las Vegas

USC

Photo by: Lucas Peltier

2/8/2026 3:03:00 PM | Men's Tennis

LOS ANGELES (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV men's tennis scored its most team points in history against 21-time national champion USC but could not finish out the No. 21-ranked Trojans in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss on Sunday at Marks Stadium.

The Rebels fell to 4-2 while the Trojans of the Big Ten Conference improved 5-3. It was the first time UNLV scored more than two points vs. USC in 18 all-time meetings. In fact, the hosts had to rally multiple times to pull it out.

The visitors took the opening point in a sensational session of doubles play. All three matches came down to the wire after the Rebels once led 5-4 on every court. First off was Ilia Snitari and Arda Karakas who outlasted Andrin Casanova and Jack McCarthy, 7-5, at the top of the lineup. The other two matches went to tiebreakers. USC's Max Exsted and Pablo Hoyos fought off Michael Koame and Taiyo Hirano, 7-6 (2) at No. 3 but Illia Maksymchuk and Marko Maksimovic downed Connor Church and Nathan Trouve on court two, 7-6 (2), punctuated on a Maksymchuk service ace to end things.

In singles, All-American Snitari, ranked 44th, continued to dominate at the top of the lineup, breezing by Trouve, 6-4, 6-1, to improve to 17-1 this season and 25-1 as a Rebel. USC took a pair of quick straight-setters on courts five and six before Maksimovic gave UNLV a 3-2 lead with a 6-4, 6-3 win over McCarthy at the second position.

The Trojans needed to take the final two matches to avoid the upset and did just that as they eked out first-set tiebreakers and then closed them out on courts three and four.

QUOTABLE: "Obviously we are improving but we have a lot of work to do to get where UNLV deserves to be."
-UNLV Head Coach Andy Jackson

REBEL OF THE MATCH: Maksimovic, a freshman playing his first collegiate match, won in both singles and doubles in his debut for the Rebels.

UP NEXT: UNLV will return to host Idaho State on Friday starting with doubles play at 10 a.m. Admission to all matches at Fertitta Tennis Complex is free of charge.

Men's Tennis Match Results
#21 USC 4, UNLV 3
Feb. 8, 2026, at Los Angeles
(Marks Stadium)

Singles competition
1. #44 Ilia Snitari (UNLVMT) def. Nathan Trouve (USC) 6-4, 6-1
2. Marko Maksimovic (UNLV) def. Jack McCarthy (USC) 6-4, 6-3
3. Max Exsted def. Illia Maksymchuk (UNLV) 7-6 (5), 6-2
4. Andrin Casanov (USC) def. Michael Kouame (UNLV) 7-6 (6), 6-1
5. Neils Hoffmann (USC) def. Taiyo Hirano (UNLV) 6-1, 6-1
6. Connor Church (USC) def. Vitaliy Horovoy (UNLV) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Ilia Snitari/Arda Karakas (UNLV) def. Andrin Casanova/Jack McCarthy (USC) 7-5
2. Illia Maksymchuk/Marko Maksimovic (UNLV) def. Nathan Trouve/Connor Church (USC) 7-6 (2)
3. Max Exsted/Pablo Hoyos (USC) def. Michael Koume/Taiyo Hirano (UNLV) 7-6 (6)

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