Nguyen receives honor


After helping USC topple its sixth top-10 opponent this year against No. 10 Florida on March 19, senior Daniel Nguyen was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for his resounding wins in doubles and singles action.

Nguyen began the day alongside USC sophomore Ray Sarmiento on court 2, where the No. 21 duo took an 8-2 doubles victory over Florida’s Tripper Carleton and Spencer Newman, who are ranked No. 26 in doubles.

After helping the No. 1 Trojans earn a 1-0 advantage, Nguyen transitioned to singles action with a faceoff against No. 56 Nassim Slilam on court three.

Slilam managed to take the first set 3-6, but Nguyen, who stands at No. 16 in singles, bounced back in the second set with a 6-4 effort. Nguyen then pulled away with a 10-2 finish in the 10-point tiebreaking set to give USC its final point in the 6-1 victory over Florida.

Nguyen’s ninth consecutive singles win tallied one more to his total of 24 for the season, while the victory in doubles put the pair at 17-4 overall.

After earning the conference honor, Nguyen helped the No. 1 Trojans (19-0) take their 39th consecutive victory in their final nonconference match against No. 42 Boise State Monday with another win in both doubles and singles.

As one of the two seniors on the squad, Nguyen has established a role as one of the leaders for the Trojans this season, who have not lost a match since last February and look to add a fourth straight NCAA title in May.

Nguyen has been a key player in USC’s three consecutive NCAA championships.

In the past two tournaments, Nguyen’s wins in singles play have been the championship clinchers for the Trojans.

This is the third time in his career that Nguyen has been named the Pac-12 Player of the Week.

He is the fifth Trojan to earn the honor this year, joining Sarmiento, senior Steve Johnson and freshmen Roberto Quiroz and Yannick Hanfmann.

Behind the leadership of Nguyen and Johnson, the Trojans will kick off Pac-12 play with a four-game road trip, beginning Friday in Seattle against the No. 22 Huskies.