University Southern California Trojans
Men's Tennis Travels To Bay Area
April 03, 2000 | Men's Tennis
April 3, 2000
This Week -- The 19th-ranked USC men's tennis team (12-6, 2-1 Pac-10) endured its second-straight 4-3 loss on Friday (March 31) against top-ranked UCLA. This week, the Trojans will travel to the Bay Area to face No. 35 Cal on Friday (April 7) at 1:30 p.m., and No. 3 Stanford on Saturday (April 8) at noon.
USC vs. Cal -- Friday's match will be the 143rd meeting between Cal and USC. Since 1927, the Trojans own a 114-25 series advantage and the two teams have played to ties three times. Last season, USC defeated the Golden Bears twice, 4-3 at home and 5-2 in Berkeley. Cal (9-4) is coming off two conference victories over Arizona, 5-2, and Arizona State, 4-3, last week.
USC vs. Stanford -- Next to UCLA, No. 3 Stanford is one of USC's oldest opponents. The two teams will meet on Saturday for the 151st time as the Trojans attempt to improve on a 88-62 series record. Last season, the Cardinal defeated USC twice by identical 6-1 scores. Currently undefeated (15-0, 3-0 Pac-10), Stanford posted two more conference victories last week by sweeping Arizona State (7-0) and Arizona (7-0).
The Trojans' Last Outing -- USC dropped a close match to No. 1 UCLA, 4-3, on Friday, after starting with a 1-0 lead by claiming two of three doubles matches. At the top spot, sixth-ranked Nicholas Rainey and Ryan Moore upset fourth-ranked Jong-Min Lee and Brandon Kramer in a 9-8, 7-3 tiebreaker. The Bruins followed with victories at No. 3, 4 and 6, while USC posted wins at No. 1 and 5, tieing the score at three apiece. The contest came down to the No. 2 singles match where UCLA's Kramer claimed the first set, 3-6, and jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second over Andrew Park. Park quickly answered by tieing the score as the two continued to alternate with the lead. Though UCLA was the first to reach match point, 6-5, Park posted the following point to force the contest into a second-set tiebreaker. Kramer clinched the match for the Bruins with a 3-6, 6-7 (4-7) final score.
USC News & Notes -- Four of the Trojans' six losses this season have come by 4-3 scores... Assistant Coach Glen Michibata has been named Princeton's head coach for the 2000-01 season... Freshman Daniel Langre owns the team's longest win streak of the season, winning 11-straight singles matches between Feb. 8 and March 17... Langre and senior Patrick Gottesleben went undefeated in singles matches at the USTA/ITA Team Indoor Championships (Feb. 24-27)... The Trojans' are 1-5 against top-25 ranked opponents in 2000... After finishing the 1999 season ranked 17th, USC jumped six spots (11th) in the ITA fall rankings... Three of USC's four ranked players in the fall rankings were only sophomores.
Head Coach Dick Leach -- Dick Leach enters his 21st season at the helm of the USC men's tennis program. In 20 years with the Trojans, he has amassed a 489-116 (.808) overall record and won three national championships (1991, 1993, 1994). His teams have garnered seven Pac-10 championships, for which Leach has been named conference coach of the year four times (1987, 1991, 1992, 1994). Last season, he guided USC to a 19-5 (.792) overall mark, third place finish in the Pac-10 (5-2), and second round appearance at the NCAAs.
Next Up -- The Trojans will travel to No. 22 Washington and Oregon next week. USC will face the Huskies on Friday (April 14) at 1:30 p.m., and the Ducks on Saturday (April 15) at noon.
