No. 9 USC men's tennis dropped the doubles point in both its Pac-12 home matches last Friday and Saturday, but the Trojans roared back in singles competition to beat No. 16 Cal, 4-2, and then No. 36 Stanford, 6-1, to move to 3-1 in conference play and 13-4 overall.Senior Max de Vroome is growing into his role as the lead dog on this USC team, winning all four singles matches in Pac-12 play. Against the Bears, he rallied back from a set down to clinch the dual match (5-7, 6-2, 6-1), and then when faced with a higher ranked Cardinal opponent, he made it look easy, winning 6-3, 7-5. For the second time this season, de Vroome was named Pac-12 Player of the Week.
The Trojans had been on the road for a month before finally returning to officially open the newly renovated Marks Stadium. The comfort of the home courts played into the results, according to head coach Peter Smith.
It was great to open the facility with the energy we had today," Smith said. "The energy from our crowd transferred to our team. It was just a gritty performance from the boys."
Unfortunately, the home stay is short lived for the Trojans who hit the road again this week to face Utah and Colorado. Be sure to mark your calendars for USC's home finale on April 17 against rival UCLA.
Here are John McGillen's photos from the win over Cal:
