Trojans travel to Chicago for elite national tournament


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The USC men’s tennis squad is heading to Chicago this weekend for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The tournament begins today and will continue until a champion is declared on Feb. 16. The tournament will feature 16 of the top 22 ITA Division 1 teams, with USC holding the No. 1 rank. The Trojans have performed well in this tournament over the past several years, winning in 2012 and finishing as runners-up the last two years.

The Trojans are a perfect 6-0 this season, including four victories in which they didn’t give up a singles match point to their opponent.

Senior Yannick Hanfmann holds a 12-2 overall record on the season and has won his last five singles matches. Senior Roberto Quiroz has notched 10 singles victories, including seven victories in a row.

Sophomores Nick Crystal and Rob Bellamy have combined for 27 singles victories, and both of them are currently riding a winning streak in singles matches. Additionally, senior Jonny Wang and junior Max de Vroome have 25 singles wins combined on the season.

Other notable teams competing in this year’s tournament include Pac-12 rivals No. 10 UCLA and No. 13 California. No. 3 Virginia and No. 8 Ohio State have caused problems for the Trojans the past two years, as each of them beat the Trojans in the tournament championship in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

The tournament also includes No. 4 Georgia, a team that the Trojans beat 4-0 earlier this month.

The Trojans will open their tournament play against                No. 16 -seed Penn State on Friday. Penn State holds a 3-2 record, but has lost two of its last three games. Some of Penn State’s key players include Matt Barry, Roman Trkulja and Aws Laaribi.

Barry is 8-3 overall and is riding a five-game singles winning streak. Trkulja is 8-5 overall but has three losses in his last five singles matches. Laaribi has a 7-4 record overall and has won five of his last six singles matches.

Depending on the outcome of the match against Penn State, the Trojans will face either Ohio State or No. 9 Texas. Meanwhile, No. 7 North Carolina will play UCLA in its opening game and then face either No. 2 Oklahoma or No. 15 Ole Miss. No. 5 Illinois will face California in the first round and then play against Georgia or No. 13 Columbia. Virginia will begin their tournament against No. 14 TCU and then face No. 6 Duke or No. 11 Baylor.

Assistant head coach Krzysztof Kwinta says the team has been working hard and should be able to adapt to the indoor playing conditions in Chicago. “We’ve been focusing [on the tournament] the past two weeks,” said Kwinta. “We’ve learned a little bit more aggressive style of game. You know, coming in, taking the ball early and shortening up the points, which you have to do playing indoors. We also played indoors at Georgia, so we’re kind of familiar with the indoor facility at the moment. So, I think the guys are excited for that type of play.”

Kwinta also said that he isn’t worried about the other teams that are competing. “I’m not that concerned about any team in particular,”  Kwinta said.

“I’m just concerned about our guys being ready to play 100 percent [and] stepping up to the game”, Kwinta added. “I believe when we do that, we are the toughest team to beat in the country, so that’s our main goal.”