The USC men's tennis team returned to the court where the Trojans have won three of their last six NCAA titles over the weekend in Athens, GA to face two prominent SEC tennis programs - the Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators. The Trojans continued their success at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex by sweeping the Pac-12/SEC Showdown courtesy of an outstanding performance from senior Roberto Quiroz.
The No. 68 ranked senior won every match he played over the weekend including a straight-set upset over the No. 15 ranked Georgia Bulldog, Nathan Pasha. The Pac-12 named Quiroz the conference's Player of the Week for his two straight-set singles victories as well as his two doubles victories with partner Yannick Hanfmann. This is the fifth time in the senior's four-year career that he's been named the Pac-12 Player of the Week. Quiroz is now 10-2 in singles play and 2-0 in dual matches for the season.
The Trojans swept the conference awards this week as women's tennis star Zoe Scandalis won her sixth career Player of the Week honor - a Pac-12 record for most career selections. The senior clinched the dual match for the No. 14 ranked Women of Troy in a hard-fought singles battle that went to a tiebreaker in the third set where she eventually captured the game, set and match for USC against No. 30 Pepperdine. Click here for the full recap of the USC women's tennis comeback win over Pepperdine.
The No. 1 ranked USC men's team was tested early on by the No. 17 ranked Florida Gators, but a doubles upset by Eric Johnson and Max de Vroome over the No. 49 ranked pair of Maxx Lipman/Elliott Orkin followed by a three-set tiebreak victory by the doubles duo of Quiroz/Hanfmann gave the Trojans the early 1-0 lead. Quiroz finished first in singles after a quick two-set victory, followed by Hanfmann who recovered after dropping the first set to put USC up 3-0. Jonny Wang and Eric Johnson both dropped their matches, but Nick Crystal and Rob Bellamy won their next two matches to seal a 5-2 Trojan victory. Click here for a full recap from Saturday's victory over the Gators.
The Trojans then faced their toughest opponent yet - the No. 7 ranked Georgia Bulldogs playing in front of a home crowd. USC won the doubles point again thanks to victories from the same two pairs from the day before. Then, Quiroz and Hanfmann both won in straight sets followed by a three-set clincher from Eric Johnson to give the Trojans the 4-0 victory. Click here for a full recap from Sunday's action.
The USC men's tennis team is now 5-0 on the season and heads home to face UC Irvine and San Diego State in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 2:30 p.m.
