Men’s tennis rallies to take second straight title

Oftentimes when describing a team accomplishment, the cliché “the sum is greater than its parts” comes to mind.

In many ways tennis is a very individual sport, but this past spring the USC men’s tennis team won the NCAA championship by validating that cliché and utilizing a collection of talent that performed at its best when acting as a whole.

The Trojans really needed a special performance in the championship match against No. 2 Tennessee, especially with many vocal Volunteer supporters in attendance.

“The most intense moment for us this year was after we lost the doubles point to Tennessee,” said junior Steve Johnson.  “We hadn’t won a match all year after losing the doubles point — which was added pressure, but we came together and came out very strong in the singles.”

A collective spirit was the main factor the players attributed to the ability to come back and win four of six singles matches to win the championship — following the loss of the doubles point.

“Everyone on court in singles and everyone around the team and around the courts showed big mentality to fight back,” said senior Peter Lucassen.

The Trojan singles lineup started off with some strong performances from the top two slots, with Johnson winning at the second slot and then-senior Robert Farah defeating the No. 1 ranked J.P. Smith in the top slot to tie the match score up at 2-2.

“We’ve got some really good players that believed in themselves,” said USC coach Peter Smith. “We had some really powerful performances with No. 1 and No. 2 singles winning in straight sets. That’s special.”

Lucassen followed his teammates with another straight-set victory, giving USC its first lead of the match.

After dropping the first set in a tiebreak, junior Daniel Nguyen dominated the rest of the match — only losing one game in the final two sets to capture the trophy.

The Tennessee match marked the second in a row that Nguyen clinched — he won the deciding match against top-ranked Virginia the day before in the semifinal round.

“I grew tremendously throughout the tournament, each match I prepared myself to exceed expectation,” Nguyen said. “I’m known to get really nervous throughout my matches and having one year of college tennis has helped me develop into a more mature player. The UVA and [Tennessee] matches were probably the biggest matches I’ve played, having my teammates and a great coaching staff have helped me win these huge matches.”

This championship was the second in a row for Smith’s squad, raising the Trojans’ all-time team championship total to 18 — the most among NCAA men’s tennis programs.

In comparing the two championships, the most recent proved more satisfying to those involved.

“The second championship was even better than the first one,” Johnson said. “To be able to come back and repeat as national champions really shows everyone how special of a team we had.”

Nguyen was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player for winning five matches during the course of the tournament.

“Its an honor to be named [Most Outstanding Player] because there are so many great tennis players competing in the NCAA team championships,” Nguyen said.

Along with Nguyen’s honor, five Trojans were also named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team: Farah and Johnson were awarded the  No. 1 doubles spot, with Nguyen and sophomore J.T. Sundling at No. 2 doubles. The No. 1 singles award went to Farah as well, with the second spot given to Johnson, the fourth to Nguyen and the sixth to Lucassen.

Later in the summer, the awards kept coming in for USC as Farah was awarded the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National College Player of the Year and Smith was named the ITA National Coach of the Year.

The stockpile of awards, along with the team’s second national championship in as many years, stands as a testament to USC‘s depth of talent, as well as the ability of all those involved with the team to succeed at the highest levels of collegiate tennis.

“The NCAA Championship was my best experience so far in my tennis career,“ Lucassen said. “To win this championship you need good players on the team. But I think we won the championship because we showed how good we are as a team not only with players, but with coaches and trainers as well.”