No. 9 USC men’s tennis to compete in National Indoor Championships


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The No. 9 men’s tennis team will be leaving the friendly confines of Marks Stadium and heading out to Charlottesville, Va. this weekend to compete in the ITA Division I National Indoor Championships.

Sixteen of the top Division I teams will meet in Virginia across the next four days all vying for the coveted ITA Indoor National Championship. The championship itself dates back to 1973 and has been held every year since.

Fifteen teams qualified for this event at the 2017 ITA Kick-Off Weekend four-team regional. USC secured its bid in October during the Southwest Regional Championships held in Malibu. Meanwhile Virginia received an automatic bid for hosting.

Last year, No. 5 North Carolina topped hosting school and No. 1 Virginia in 2016 and looks to repeat the magic again. Other competing schools include No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Cal, crosstown rival No. 8 UCLA and No. 2 Wake Forest, which boasts ITA No. 1 ranked players in both singles and doubles.

Also making appearances are both No. 12 Georgia and No. 7 Florida. USC suffered its first and only loss of the season against Florida only to upset then-No. 5 Georgia during the annual Pac-12/SEC challenge. Whether USC will play these two SEC powerhouses remains to be seen. Each team is guaranteed at minimum three matches and a repeat of the challenge may very well be in store for the Trojans.

At last year’s tournament USC achieved less than favorable results. After a strong showing on the opening day against South Florida by way of a 4-3 victory, the Trojans suffered consecutive losses to TCU in the quarterfinals and to Wake Forest in the consolation matchup.

Boasting three doubles pairings in the ITA Top 50 including freshmen Brandon Holt and Riley Smith as well as a singles top 15 ranking by way of Holt, the Trojans hope to continue their midseason surge when they open against rival UCLA on Friday at 6:30 p.m. EST.