University Southern California Trojans
USC Men Battle The Bruins Wednesday
March 01, 2011 | Men's Tennis
March 1, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format
THIS WEEK
The No. 7 USC men stoke the fires on their heated rivalry with UCLA tomorrow (March 2) in the Trojans' first clash with the Bruins since falling in Pac-10 play last season. That loss cost USC the conference crown for the fourth straight season. This year, USC looks to turn the tide and take the first step toward a season sweep of the Bruins since 1987. Ranked No. 6 just ahead of the Trojans, UCLA comes to town for a 3 p.m. showdown at USC's Marks Stadium.
ITA RANKING UPDATES
The latest 2011 Campbell/ITA national rankings were released March 1, with the back-to-back national champs now ranked No. 7 in the nation after sitting at No. 2 for the first stretch of the year. New individual rankings also came out March 1, with four Trojans ranked in singles and two doubles teams in the mix. Steve Johnson leads the pack as the nation's new #1 singles player -- a spot he last achieved a year ago. His fellow junior Daniel Nguyen also remains in the top-20, ranking #19 in singles ahead of two more Trojans: #44 Jaak Poldma and #56 Ray Sarmiento. In doubles, USC's ranked teams are #48 Johnson/Sarmiento and #64 Johnson/Nguyen.
SCOUTING UCLA
The Bruins are currently ranked No. 6 and are 9-2 overall after falling 5-2 to Cal last weekend. UCLA have four players ranked in singles (#43 Daniel Kosakowski, #52 Nick Meister, #99 Clay Thomson, #108 Maxime Tabatruong) and #47 Brigham/Inbar ranked in doubles. USC is 80-99 all-time against the Bruins after falling short of a three-win season over UCLA last year. USC beat the Bruins 4-0 at the 2010 National Team Indoors, then 6-1 in Westwood before taking a 4-3 loss to UCLA at Marks Stadium in the teams' Pac-10 match. USC hasn't managed a season sweep of the Bruins since 1987, when the Trojans beat UCLA three times that year. Since then, UCLA has served up at least one win over USC every year, and the Bruins have been the Trojans' lone Pac-10 loss the past four seasons.
LAST WEEK
Rain washed out USC's clash with Cal last week, but the Trojans were able to get in their match with Stanford the following day. The teams opted out of doubles play in order to beat the weather and start up singles. USC was looking to avenge a 4-3 loss to the Cardinal from the preivous weekend at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, and the Trojans proved ready to roll. In the marquee rematch of the day, USC's Steve Johnson dished out another straight-set win over Stanford's #7 Bradley Klahn at the No. 1 position to start things off right for the Trojans. Jaak Poldma was next with a win for USC, followed by Emilio Gomez on court five. Ray Sarmiento had sat out the previous match vs. Stanford due to injury, but was back in the lineup last weekend and came through with the clincher in his straight-set win at the No. 4 position. Daniel Nguyen also got some revenge after falling in his previous Cardinal clash, avenging a loss to Ryan Thacher with a 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-7) victory over Thacher for a 5-0 lead in USC's favor.
TOP GUN
Steve Johnson now holds a 21-3 overall singles record, including a current eight-match winning streak over some of the country's stiffest competition to land atop the latest ITA/Campbell National Rankings as the No. 1 player in men's collegiate tennis. Johnson came into the spring ranked No. 6 overall and his move to No. 1 brings him back to the top slot that he also held during parts of the 2010 season. Johnson's three losses have come against the country's current No. 3, 7, and 8 players. Since the start of the spring slate, Johnson has gone 12-1 in singles play and compiled wins in his last eight matches. During his win streak, Johnson secured wins over four top-15 players, including two impressive straight-set victories over Pac-10 rival No. 7 Bradley Klahn of Stanford.
INDOOR EFFORT
USC took its first losses of the year and first back-to-back defeats since 2008 with two tight losses at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle. The Trojans were edged out 4-3 by No. 17 Duke first, and then fell by the same score to No. 7 Stanford. USC rebounded on day three of the competition, however, and pounded its way to a 4-0 shutout of No. 12 Louisville to wrap things up. Steve Johnson and Jaak Poldma were the lone Trojans to win all three of their singles matches out in Seattle, and Poldma and JT Sundling were victorious all the way through on the doubles courts as well.
SENIOR STRENGTH
Senior Jaak Poldma snagged his second career pick as the Pac-10 Player of the Week after his strong singles showing in the Trojans' home win over Pepperdine. Poldma had the match-clinching singles win with his upset of the Waves' #14 Sebastian Fanselow at the No. 2 singles positions to get USC a 5-2 win over No. 20 Pepperdine. USC was ahead 3-2 in the match with the Waves when Poldma gutted out a second-set tiebreak to secure a 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory and net the seventh straight win of the year for the Trojans. Poldma entered the matchup ranked #94 in the nation in singles. Now #44 in the land, Poldma currently holds a 20-3 overall singles record and is riding a 10-match winning streak -- all straight-set wins -- with a perfect singles run in USC dual matches so far.
STREAKING STEVE
Steve Johnson shoved his way through three more highly ranked players at the ITA National Team Indoors, netting himself his second career honors as the Pac-10 Player of the Week. Then ranked #4, Johnson first took down #10 Henrique Cunha of Duke in three sets and then went on cruise control as he served up straight-set wins in his next two matches. The next victim was one of his top Pac-10 rivals, #7 Bradley Klahn of Stanford, whom he topped with a solid 6-2, 6-3 win after having fallen to Klahn in January at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup. Against Louisville, Johnson had the clinching win for the Trojans with his 6-3, 6-3 win over #11 Austen Childs.
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 6-3 in singles and 6-4 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.
SMOOTH SAILING
Two Trojans are now batting 1.000 in dual-match singles play to date. Jaak Poldma is a perfect 10-0, and Steve Johnson is a clean 8-0. Ray Sarmiento took his first loss when he had to retire from his eighth dual-match singles match due to injury, giving him an 8-1 mark to date.
FALL'S DOUBLE DOMINATION
Captain Jaak Poldma is the resident veteran of the team as he entered 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 remain USC's winningest doubles duo with a 14-3 overall record and a 7-2 mark in dual match action.
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 early ITA national rankings already reflected a Trojan dominance in the 2011 picture. USC opened 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 started the year ranked in the ITA top-100 on the singles sheet.
