Strong Trojan Contingent Selected For NCAA Singles And Doubles Action

The USC men's tennis team will be well represented in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship stretch of the postseason, with four Trojans locked in for singles and one doubles duo in the mix. It'll be the first career NCAA appearance for sophomore Daniel Cukierman and senior Tanner Smith, and first NCAA singles stint for senior Laurens Verboven. Brandon Holt, meanwhile, is making his third journey into the NCAA singles draw and his third in doubles alongside fellow junior Riley Smith. Holt also has scored the No. 6 seed into the singles bracket.

The 2019 NCAA Individual Championships will run May 20-25 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. Cukierman, Holt, Verboven and Tanner Smith are in the field of 64 singles players who will open competition on May 20, with Holt and Riley Smith paired up among a 32-team draw of doubles duos starting up on May 21.

No. 6-seeded junior Brandon Holt had his highest career singles ranking at No. 4 in the land to open up this 2018-19 season. Since then, Holt has collected an 18-5 overall singles record while holding strong as the No. 10-ranked singles player for the past two rankings cycles. That has secured him as the highest ranked Pac-12 singles player to lock him in as an automatic qualifier. As the No. 6 seed, Holt is also assured his fourth set of ITA All-American honors. Holt and his longtime doubles partner Riley Smith started the 2018-19 campaign ranked No. 2 in the nation. They were slotted at No. 11 in the land as of the latest national rankings (April 23) to help punch their ticket into the NCAA doubles draw for the third straight season. All-Americans in doubles together last year, Holt/Smith reached the 2018 NCAA Round of 16 after a first-round appearance in their 2017 NCAA debut. This year, Holt and Smith are currently 14-5 overall in doubles.

For senior Laurens Verboven, his final season at Troy sees him make his first career trip to the NCAA singles draw. An ITA All-American in doubles last year, Verboven has a chance to score singles honors as he sets his course into that 2019 draw. The Oracle ITA Masters Champion in the fall, Verboven enjoyed his highest career singles ranking at No. 19 in the nation in November 2018. As of today, Verboven ranks No. 27 in the land and holds a 14-6 overall singles record as he preps for the postseason.

New to the NCAA scene this season are sophomore Daniel Cukierman and senior Tanner Smith. In his second season as a Trojan, Cukierman set his career-high singles mark at No. 4 in the nation this February. He's USC's winningest singles player with his powerful 32-9 overall record while he currently weighs in at No. 20 in the national singles rankings. Already this season, he claimed the SoCal Intercollegiate singles crown and reached the final of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. Smith — the eldest of USC head coach Peter Smith's three sons — will close out his Trojan career with his first NCAA appearance. Currently ranked No. 61 in the nation, Smith is 16-6 overall for a personal season-high singles win count. He reached the ITA Southwest Regional singles final in the fall, just before working up to a career high No. 34 national ranking in November 2018.

TROJANS IN 2019 NCAA SINGLES & DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIPS
Singles
[6] Brandon Holt
Daniel Cukierman
Tanner Smith
Laurens Verboven
Doubles
Brandon Holt / Riley Smith

Players Mentioned

Daniel Cukierman

Brandon Holt

Riley Smith

Tanner Smith

Laurens Verboven