University Southern California Trojans
No. 2 USC Men Host NCAA Opening Rounds
May 10, 2011 | Men's Tennis
May 10, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format
TEAM PLAY
The back-to-back NCAA champs open defense of their title with a pair of home matches next week, as the USC men's tennis team secured the No. 2 seed and homecourt advantage for the first two rounds of the 2011 NCAA Team Championships. The host Trojans (21-2) kick off the postseason with a first-round matchup against Sacramento State (14-13) at 2 p.m. on Friday (May 13) while BYU (21-5) and San Diego (18-6) do battle in the other first-round match at 11 a.m. at Marks Stadium that day. The winners square off at 1 p.m. on Saturday (May 14) in the NCAA Second Round. Two wins at Marks Stadium would put the Trojans on a path toward a third straight NCAA crown, with the NCAA Round of 16 and beyond taking place in Palo Alto, Calif., starting on May 19.
NCAA NOTES
This year's NCAA appearance is the Trojans' fifth straight trip to the postseason and 33rd overall. With NCAA titles in 2010 in Athens, Ga., and in 2009 in College Station, Texas, the Trojans lead the nation with 18 national championships all-time. USC's overall NCAA tournament record is 74-29. In the past two seasons, USC has upset the top-seeded teams en route to winning the title. With a No. 2 seed this season, the Trojans wouldn't get a shot at the top seed until the title match, which is scheduled for May 24. USC's runs to the 2009 and 2010 national championships began with the Trojans holding No. 8 and No. 5 seeds, respectively.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live scoring and video from the NCAA First and Second Rounds at Marks Stadium will be AVAILABLE ONLINE.
SCOUTING SAC STATE
Sacramento State (14-13) is making its third straight NCAA appearance after securing an automatic berth by winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament. The Hornets have won 10 of their past 15 matches, and are led by three-time Big Sky MVP Kiryl Harbatsiuk who will enter the NCAA Tournament on a 23-match singles winning streak. Sacramento State is unranked as a team, but has Harbatsiuk ranked #29 in singles. This is Sacramento State's eighth overall NCAA Tournament appearance, with first-round losses in each of its other seven appearances -- all to regional host teams. This will be the second face-off of the year between the Trojans and the Hornets, as USC claimed a 6-1 win over Sacramento State in USC's home opener.
SCOUTING BYU
BYU (21-5) is making a return trip to Troy for the NCAA regional rounds after falling to Fresno State 4-2 last year in the NCAA First Round and Marks Stadium. The Cougars were an at-large inclusion last season and got the automatic berth this year as the Mountain West Conference champs. Head coach Brad Pearce was named the MWC Coach of the Year. BYU is ranked No. 35 as a team and has MWC Freshman of the Year Patrick Kawka ranked #112 in singles and no ranked doubles teams. USC is 28-1 all-time against the Cougars, but the programs haven't clashed since 2003 when USC notched a 7-0 win in Los Angeles.
SCOUTING USD
San Diego (18-6) is under the direction of former USC assistant coach Brett Masi, who was with the Trojans when they won the 2009 NCAA Team Championship. In his second season now with the Toreros, Masi has USD making its first NCAA appearance since 2006 after securing the Toreros' first West Coast Conference title since 1990. USD is ranked No. 31 in the nation with two ranked singles players (#33 Dean Jackson and #120 Nikola Bubnic) and one ranked doubles team (#16 Jackson/Pohlmann). USC is 30-3 all-time against USD, including a 6-1 win over the Toreros earlier this year at Marks Stadium.
SINGLES SCENE
USC will be well represented again in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, which kick off May 25 at Stanford's Taube Tennis Center. Making his third straight appearance in the NCAA Singles draw -- and scoring a high seed again for this year's journey -- is junior Steve Johnson. Joining Johnson in the mix on the men's singles side are junior Daniel Nguyen, senior Jaak Poldma and freshman Ray Sarmiento. Carrying a 25-match singles win streak into next week's NCAA Team competition, top-seeded Pac-10 singles and doubles champion Steve Johnson is looking to become the first Trojan since 1996 to win the NCAA singles title. Ranked #1 in the nation, Johnson totes a 38-3 record into the postseason as he looks to lead USC to a third straight national team title before going in pursuit of individual success. He reached the NCAA Singles first round last year and the NCAA doubles Round of 16 with teammate Robert Farah. As a freshman, Johnson reached the Round of 16 in both NCAA singles and doubles playing with Farah again. The rest of the Trojans in the NCAA mix this year are making their first appearances in the NCAA field of play. Poldma ranks #38 in the nation in singles, and Nguyen holds a #44 national singles ranking to make himself eligible for competition in the NCAA Men's Singles bracket. In his freshman season, Sarmiento currently ranks #47 in the nation in singles and is also through to NCAA Men's Singles play as the third Trojan in that bracket this year.
DOUBLES DUTY
The Trojans also have two doubles teams tagged for action in the NCAA Men's Doubles Championships. Senior Jaak Poldma teams up with sophomore teammate JT Sundling for that pair's first venture into NCAA doubles play as the #22 ranked team in the nation. Poldma/Sundling are joined by two more Trojans who are tabbed with double duty as Steve Johnson and Ray Sarmiento pair back up as the nation's #25 pair lined up for duty in the NCAA Men's Doubles draw.
CAMPBELL/ITA RANKING UPDATES
The latest 2011 Campbell/ITA national rankings were released May 2, with the back-to-back national champs ranked No. 2 in the nation. New individual rankings also were released May 2, with four Trojans ranked in the top-50 in singles and three doubles teams in the mix. Pac-10 singles champ Steve Johnson remains at the head of the pack as the nation's #1 singles player. Senior captain Jaak Poldma is next in line at #38 in singles ahead of two more Trojans: #44 Daniel Nguyen and #47 Ray Sarmiento. In doubles, USC's ranked teams are #22 Poldma/Sundling, #25 Pac-10 Doubles champs Johnson/Sarmiento and #80 Johnson/Nguyen.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR
USC was ranked No. 5 in the nation and was 19-3 overall entering last year's NCAA Tournament as the No. 5-seeded automatic qualifier as the higher ranked co-champion out of the Pac-10. The Trojans were carrying a 19-win record into the postseason for the fourth consecutive year. Five Trojans were ranked nationally in singles -- #3 Steve Johnson, #9 Robert Farah, #83 Daniel Nguyen, #89 Jaak Poldma and #121 Peter Lucassen -- with three ranked doubles teams (#2 Farah/Johnson, #60 McNaughton/Nguyen and #73 Johnson/Nguyen). In 2010, USC's run to a second straight NCAA championship also began at home. The Trojans beat Marist 4-0 and Fresno State 4-1 to punch their ticket to Athens, Ga. There, USC shut out No. 12 seed Kentucky and No. 4 seed Ohio State --- which the Trojans had beaten in the 2009 NCAA final -- and moved on to face No. 1 seed Virginia in the semifinals. That was another rematch for the Trojans, who had upset the top-seeded Cavaliers in the 2009 NCAA quarterfinals. The 2010 semifinal matchup with Virginia was a tight one, but USC prevailed 4-2 to step into the title match. There, USC went up against No. 2 seed Tennessee and fought back from losing the doubles point to win the match on a clinching victory from Daniel Nguyen to claim the 2010 NCAA crown. Virginia, once again, is the top seed in the NCAA Tournament field for 2011.
PAC-10 TEAM CHAMPS
USC's 4-3 win over rival UCLA last week in the conference finale wrapped up an undefeated Pac-10 season for the Trojans. That perfect 6-0 finish was the first for USC since 1987. Almost equally significant was the fact that the win snapped a six-year skid of the Trojans falling to the Bruins in their annual Pac-10 match. It's USC's third Pac-10 title in the past four seasons, but the first outright championship in that stretch. Overall, USC has now claimed 32 Pac-10 titles -- shared and solo combined.
PAC-10 POWER
Steve Johnson has made a home for himself in the Pac-10 history books, becoming the third Trojan in the past four years to sweep at the Pac-10 Championships. Johnson breezed through the 2011 Pac-10 Singles bracket with nonstop straight-set wins, capped with redemption in the title match to claim the Pac-10 singles crown. A few hours later, he was rounding out his day by holding aloft the Pac-10 Doubles trophy as well, joining with freshman Ray Sarmiento to capture the doubles championship in Ojai, Calif. In doing so, Johnson joins Robert Farah (2010) and Kaes Van't Hof (2008) as the latest Trojans to make a Pac-10 sweep with doubles and singles titles in Ojai. Johnson paired up with Farah last year in doubles play to claim the 2010 crown, and this year the junior successfully defended that title with teammate Ray Sarmiento by his side. Johnson and Sarmiento put the finishing touches on a winning day with a resounding 6-1, 6-2 championship win over UCLA's Hardie/Inbar in the title match. Johnson had opened the day with a bigtime win in the singles championship match. There, he faced rival Bradley Klahn of Stanford for the fifth time this season. Klahn could claim a couple big wins over Johnson in previous tournament title matches, most recently at the 2011 Sherwood Collegiate Championship and most notoriously in the 2009 Pac-10 Singles Championship match. But Johnson had pinned up three consecutive straight-set wins over Klahn in their last three meetings, and the USC junior also was toting a 24-match singles win streak into the 2011 singles bout. Both streaks are still intact. Johnson eked out a tiebreaker in the first set, then flexed some muscle against Klahn in the second and powered to a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory to stand tall as USC's newest Pac-10 singles champion and set the stage for a dominant day for the Trojans.
2011 TROJAN FINISHES IN OJAI
A look at the Trojans' runs at this year's Pac-10 Championships:
Steve Johnson -- won singles championship
Emilio Gomez -- reached singles quarterfinals
Ray Sarmiento -- reached singles quarterfinals
Daniel Nguyen -- reached singles Round of 16
Peter Lucassen -- reached singles Round of 32
Johnson/Sarmiento -- won doubles championship
Gomez/Nguyen -- reached doubles Round of 16
PAC-10 PRODIGIES
Not only did the Trojans dominate team play in the Pac-10 this season, the individual awards list also is weighed heavily in USC's favor. The Trojans claimed eight Pac-10 Player of the Week awards on the year, spreading the wealth among five different players who put together dominating weeks for USC. Jaak Poldma, Steve Johnson and Ray Sarmiento each picked up the honor on two different occasions, joined by Emilio Gomez and Peter Lucassen's first career Player of the Week awards this year.
POLDMA'S POWER
Senior captain Jaak Poldma is on a roll in his senior season. He holds a near-flawless 19-1 mark in dual-match singles play and currently sits at #38 in the nation. He'll carry a 29-4 overall singles record into his fourth straight NCAA Team Championships before making his first venture into NCAA Singles and Doubles. Playing largely at the No. 2 singles slot, Poldma beat 12 ranked players during a streak of 19 straight singles victories. He's on the board in doubles as well, ranked #22 with sophomore JT Sundling as the pair is 15-4 in dual match doubles and 21-5 overall.
TOP GUN
Junior #1 Steve Johnson now holds a 38-3 overall singles record, including a current 25-match winning streak over some of the country's stiffest competition to remain atop the latest ITA/Campbell National Rankings as the No. 1 player in men's collegiate tennis. Johnson came into the spring ranked #6 overall and his move to #1 puts him back in the top slot that he also held during parts of the 2010 season. Johnson's three losses have come against the country's current #3, #9, and #13 players. Since the start of the spring slate, Johnson has gone 29-1 in singles play and compiled wins in his last 25 matches. During his win streak, Johnson has secured wins over nine top-20 players, including three impressive straight-set victories over Pac-10 rival Bradley Klahn of Stanford to avenge the Trojan's only spring loss.
RAY GETS THE SPOTLIGHT
Freshman Ray Sarmiento pinned up two big straight-set wins in USC victories over No. 8 Stanford and No. 12 Cal to record his first Pac-10 Player of the Week award. Now with his second selection under his cap, he's ranked #47 in the nation and holds a 30-8 overall record and 17-2 dual-match mark.
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. He fell in his first set as a Trojan during USC's midweek clash with No. 27 Florida State, but lost just six games in the next six sets played. Gomez opened his USC career with a 4-0 singles mark and a 5-0 run in doubles with Daniel Nguyen. The first Trojan to win the weekly award this season. He's now 20-5 in singles play.
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 believes can make a real run at defending the Trojans' back-to-back titles.
INDOOR EFFORT
USC took its first and only 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. Since that bump in the road, USC has won 14 consecutive matches to put the Trojans on a path to the Pac-10 title and a high seed in the coming NCAA Tournament.
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.
FALL'S DOUBLE DOMINATION
Captain Jaak Poldma is the resident veteran of the team as he entered his fourth season as a Trojan ranked #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 19-5 overall record and a 13-4 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.
