University Southern California Trojans
No. 2 USC Men Start 2011 At Sherwood Cup
January 13, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 13, 2011
THIS WEEK
The No. 2 USC men are geared up to open the spring season this weekend, lining up for singles and doubles play at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup from January 14-16. The Trojans have three days of individual action on tap at the tournament, which boasts four top-10 programs coming to the plate to kick off 2011: No. 2 USC, No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Baylor and No. 8 Stanford.
ITA RANKING UPDATES
The first round of 2011 Campbell/ITA national rankings were released January 4, with the back-to-back national champs starting the year ranked No. 2 in the nation. On the individual side, USC has five Trojans ranked in singles and two doubles teams in the mix. Steve Johnson leads the pack as the nation's #6 singles player. His fellow junior Daniel Nguyen isn't far behind, ranking #18 in singles ahead of three more Trojans: #84 Peter Lucassen, #91 Ray Sarmiento and #94 Jaak Poldma. In doubles, USC's ranked teams are #29 Johnson/Nguyen and #51 Poldma/Sundling.
SHERWOOD SINGLES
There are 32 players entered in the singles action for this year's Sherwood Collegiate Cup. Three Trojans grabbed top-8 seeds for the draw. Steve Johnson is the tournament's top seed, with Daniel Nguyen the No. 3 seed and Jaak Poldma the No. 8 seed. The rest of the seeds include No. 2 Bradley Klahn (Stanford), No. 4 John Peers (Baylor), No. 5 Jordan Rux (Baylor), No. 6 Ryan Thacher (Stanford) and No. 7 Alex Clayton (Stanford).
SHERWOOD DOUBLES
Sixteen doubles teams are ready for battle at Sherwood, with each school boasting a seeded pair. Baylor's Maytin/Peers is the top seed, followed by Klahn/Thacher (Stanford) at No. 3, USC's Johnson/Nguyen at No. 3 and Inbar/Puget (UCLA) at No. 4. Last year, Steve Johnson teamed up with Robert Farah to win the 2010 doubles title at Sherwood.
CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
This year, half the USC ladder knows what it takes to win two NCAA Championships, and five players return from the 2010 title-winning team. Senior Jaak Poldma and juniors Steve Johnson and Daniel Nguyen each hold a pair of national championship rings. Senior Peter Lucassen and sophomore JT Sundling picked up their first last year, when USC finished as champs with a 25-3 overall record after taking second in the Pac-10 at 5-1. Altogether, it's a pool of experience that USC head coach and 2010 ITA National Coach of the Year Peter Smith is eager to dip into for a run at defending the Trojans' back-to-back titles.
2011 TROJANS TAKE SHAPE
As the nation's No. 6 ranked singles player, junior Steve Johnson is an easy fit back into the No. 1 singles position for the Trojans, with Jaak Poldma and Daniel Nguyen already proven winners and Peter Lucassen and JT Sundling also having gleaned plenty of winning experience after a year as Trojans. Added to the formula for this season are three new freshmen -- Michael Grant, Ray Sarmiento and Corey Smith. Grant and Sarmiento had strong fall seasons, with Sarmiento factoring in quickly as a doubles gun as well. Newcomer Emilio Gomez also enters the picture this season in coming to Troy from Ecuador this spring.
RANK AND FILE
The ITA national rankings already reflect a Trojan dominance in the 2011 picture. USC opens the spring ranked No. 2 in the nation as a team, just behind top-ranked Virginia. The Cavaliers were the top-seeded team in both the 2009 and 2010 NCAA tournaments, and USC served up an upset win over UVA both years en route to claiming its consecutive crowns. Individually, five Trojans are ranked in the ITA top-100 on the singles sheet.
FALL'S DOUBLE DOMINATION
Captain Jaak Poldma is the resident veteran of the team as he enters his fourth season as a Trojan ranked No. 94 on the singles scene. He had an extremely successful fall season in winning the Southern California Intercollegiate singles title as well as the doubles crown alongside teammate JT Sundling. Sundling and Poldma rank No. 51 as a doubles pair, following up the No. 29 team of Steve Johnson and Daniel Nguyen.
