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MALIBU, Calif. - The No. 8 seed in the tournament proved too much for Guanarteme Nuez as the senior fell in straight sets on Friday afternoon in the Oracle ITA Masters Round of 16 hosted by Pepperdine. 

USC's Laruens Verboven, ranked No. 81 in the ITA Preseason Rankings, took advantage of his break-point opportunities to break open the first set, as well as building up an early lead he wouldn't give up in the second. 

"Teme played really well here today but was going up a good opponent that was playing at a very high level," UTA coach Diego Benitez said. "Today's match was a good learning experience for the type of competition he'll continue to face in the team's top spot, as well as in the rest of a strong fall tournament schedule that we have. We have the ITA All-American coming up in which he'll get another shot at a tough field."

Tied 3-3 in the first set and at 40-40 in the seventh game, Nuez double faulted on serve to give up the break point. Verboven took advantage to hold off Nuez late in the set as the UTA senior attempted to break back into the set. After picking up 83-percent of his first serve points on Thursday, Nuez was just 6-of-12 in the opener. 

The second set saw the momentum continue for the USC side. Verboven broke open the set with an early break, and held on to take the finale 6-2. 

Winning his first two mixed doubles with Vanderbilt's Fernanda Contrereas, the pair's run came to a hault, falling 6-0 on Friday morning. The mixed doubles competition was a bonus feature of the Masters tournament. 

Nuez, and the Maverick men, will be back in action to continue the fall slate at the ITA All-American hosted by Tulsa. The qualification draw begins on Sept. 29. Fans can follow the Mavs on Twitter at @UTAMavsTennis.