No. 4 Trojans host Pac-12/SEC Showdown


The Pac-12 and the SEC are considered two of the most powerful football conferences in the nation. And though it might not be a well-known fact, these two conferences dominate collegiate  tennis as well.

True talent · Senior Ray Sarmiento is ranked No. 10 in the nation and plays at the top singles slot for the Trojans. He and his partner, junior Yannick Hanfmann, are unranked in doubles but have been dominant so far this season. - Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan

True talent · Senior Ray Sarmiento is ranked No. 10 in the nation and plays at the top singles slot for the Trojans. He and his partner, junior Yannick Hanfmann, are unranked in doubles but have been dominant so far this season. – Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan

That was USC men’s tennis head coach Peter Smith’s reasoning behind the creation of this weekend’s Pac-12/SEC Showdown, in which the Trojans will host conference rivals UCLA as well as SEC powerhouses Georgia and Florida.

The tournament, which Smith called his and UCLA head coach Billy Martin’s “brainchild,” will feature fierce competition, as UCLA, Georgia and USC are all ranked in the top five teams in the nation, at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Florida is the lowest-ranked team heading into the weekend, sitting just outside the top 10 at No. 11.

“To have three of the four teams be top five is special,” Smith said.

In addition to their high rankings, all four teams hosted and won their Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend tournaments, earning berths to next month’s ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

USC easily offed Santa Clara and Wichita State en route to its ITA Kick-Off Weekend title.

“We were so dominant,” Smith said. “Everything looked good, so I think we do need a little tougher test and that’s certainly going to happen this weekend.”

The Trojans didn’t drop a set throughout the tournament, and delivered some powerful individual performances, including senior captain Ray Sarmiento’s 6-0, 6-0 beatdown of his opponent from Wichita State in the championship match.

Sarmiento acknowledged that the level of competition in the Pac-12/SEC Showdown will be much higher than it was last weekend, as he will likely be matched up against the highest-ranked players from Georgia and Florida at the top singles slot. Sarmiento is ranked No. 10 in the nation in singles, while Georgia’s Austin Smith leads his team at No. 12 in the nation and  Florida’s Stephane Piro is ranked No. 28.

“Georgia and Florida are both talented teams, so we’ve got to come out ready and prepared,” Sarmiento said. “The best I can do is take care of the things I can control, and I believe that gives me the best chance of winning.”

Despite the steep increase in the level of competition and the fact that these tough matchups are coming early in the season, the Trojans aren’t worried about playing such highly ranked opponents.

“We just have to stay focused and play one point at a time and not get distracted by winning or losing,” junior Jonny Wang said. “We’re not really worrying too much about results this early. We want to be our best in May.”

Though in the past the Trojans have been unbeatable — putting together a 45-match winning streak from 2011-2012 — losing is a real possibility this weekend. USC will not play UCLA, which may come as a relief considering the Bruins beat the Trojans three times out of four last season, but the Trojans will have their work cut out for them with the Bulldogs and the Gators.

USC, Georgia and Florida each have five players ranked in the top 125 in singles, but Georgia also boasts the 12th-ranked doubles team in the nation, while one of Florida’s pairs ranks 13th. Meanwhile, none of USC’s doubles teams are ranked in the top 60.

In his past 11 years of coaching at USC, Smith has established himself as a fearless leader, and he lives up to his reputation heading into this weekend’s tough draw.

“I think this team needs this, I really do. Win, lose or draw, we need it,” Smith said. “We need to kind of find out how good we are and see how good everyone else is and we need to be pushed … I’m not afraid to lose and not afraid of challenges so I’m really looking forward to it.”

UCLA will take on Florida on  Saturday at 10 a.m. at Marks Stadium. USC will play Georgia next, at 1 p.m. On Sunday, UCLA will face Georgia at 10 a.m. before USC battles Florida at 1 p.m.