University Southern California Trojans
February 08, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 8, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format
THIS WEEK
The No. 2 USC men will tune up for next week's ITA National Team Indoor Championships with one dual match at Marks Stadium this week. At 1:30 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 11), the Trojans (6-0) will go up against No. 20 Pepperdine for a shot at stretching USC's win streak to seven straight.
ITA RANKING UPDATES
The latest 2011 Campbell/ITA national rankings were released Feb. 8, with the back-to-back national champs still ranked No. 2 in the nation. Individual rankings came out Jan. 4, with 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.
SCOUTING PEPPERDINE
The No. 20 Waves are 5-1 overall after blanking LMU and Santa Clara last week. Pepperdine has #14 Sebastian Fanselow, #40 Alex Llompart and #112 Finn Tearney ranked nationally in singles and #35 Clarke/Tearney ranked in doubles. USC is 41-13 all-time against the Waves after a 6-1 Trojan win last season in Malibu.
LAST WEEK
USC grabbed a tight doubles point before rattling off three straight singles wins on the way to building a 6-1 win over visiting No. 47 San Diego on last week at Marks Stadium. The Trojans got the match-clinching singles win from freshman Ray Sarmiento, as USC pinned up its sixth straight dual-match win behind more singles wins from Steve Johnson, Jaak Poldma, Daniel Nguyen and Peter Lucassen.
ITA KICK-OFF WEEKEND WINNERS
The Trojans welcomed three teams to Troy for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend last week, picking up a pair of wins during the two-day competition to earn a place at the upcoming ITA National Team Indoors. USC opened up with a 6-1 win over No. 52 San Diego State first to move into the championship matchup against No. 46 Indiana, which had edged out No. 43 BYU 4-3 in the opening match. Against the Hoosiers in the decider, the Trojans swept through and pinned up a 7-0 win to lock in on a trip to Seattle for the ITA National Indoors. Back in singles action after illness was Steve Johnson, who came up with a pair of wins at the No. 1 slot. Daniel Nguyen and Emilio Gomez also notched two singles wins at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, with Gomez and Nguyen also joining up for doubles-point-clinching victories in both matches.
SMOOTH SAILING
Six Trojans stand with perfect in dual-match singles actions with appearances in at least half USC's matches to date. Michael Grant, Steve Johnson and JT Sundling are 3-for-3 in their dual-match singles appearances, while Jaak Poldma is a perfect 5-0, and Ray Sarmiento leads the pack with six wins in six matches played to date.
WELCOME TO THE PAC
In just his second week of competition with the Trojans, freshman Emilio Gomez earned his first selection as Pac-10 Player of the Week. Gomez hit his stride in picking up three doubles and three singles victories in a winning week of action for USC. Playing doubles with Daniel Nguyen, Gomez clinched the doubles point for USC in all three matches. In singles, Gomez fell in his first set during USC's midweek clash with #27 Florida State, but lost just six games in the next six sets played as he went 3-for-3 in singles action as well. His win against San Diego State clinched the match for the Trojans. Gomez openedhis USC career with a 4-0 singles mark and a 5-0 run in doubles with Nguyen. Gomez is the first Trojan to win the weekly award this season. He's now 4-1 in singles and 6-0 in doubles with Nguyen.
STARTING AT SHERWOOD
USC gathered up some good wins in its 2011 kickoff at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup, with Steve Johnson reaching the singles title match while his Trojan teammates managed to sweep the consolation crowns. JT Sundling rebounded from an opening loss to work his way to the consolation singles title, while Daniel Nguyen and Peter Lucassen replicated that effort on the consolation doubles courts.
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.
