No. 2 Trojans defeat No. 27 Florida State in first matchup between schools


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USC’s No. 1 singles player, junior Steve Johnson made his return to the courts after suffering an arm injury and battling the flu.

He did not particpate in the singles matches, but instead played alongside freshman Ray Sarmiento as the No. 1 seeded doubles pair.

His return didn’t go as planned as the pair ultimately fell to the Seminoles’ Vahid Mirzadeh and Clint Bowles, 8-6.

“We played a lot of balls today. It was a tough day for us, but we’ll bounce back [this weekend],” Johnson said. “I pretty much knew I was only playing doubles, so I wanted to give it my all. I didn’t serve very well and couldn’t keep it going.”

Despite the loss, the rest of the team picked up the slack, as the Trojans defeated the Seminoles, 6-1.

Doubles came down to the play of senior Jaak Poldma and sophomore JT Sundling and they didn’t disappoint, clinching a victory with an 8-4 win over Anderson Reed and Andres Bucaro.

Junior Daniel Nguyen and freshman Emilio Gomez defeated Clint Bowles and Blake Davis, 8-4, as well.

Singles play went more smoothly as Florida State made it clear that they were indeed a team to be taken seriously.

Though with Johnson out of the singles lineup, Nguyen took the No. 1 singles spot as Poldma and Sarmiento followed at No. 2 and No. 3. Gomez played at No. 4 followed by freshman Michael Grant and sophomore J.T. Sundling at No. 5 and No. 6.

Sarmiento rebounded from his doubles loss with Johnson to take his singles match against Florida State’s Connor Smith 6-1, 6-2.

“I like how I returned and I attacked him early on,” Sarmiento said. “I saw my opportunity and took it.”

Meanwhile, the Trojans continued their success in singles play with Poldma, Gomez, Grant and Sundling all winning their singles matches as well.

And as the season continues, the younger players will be crucial to the success of the team.

With that in mind, Sarmiento is willing to go the extra mile to play a vital role in the team’s success.

“USC is a great program,” Sarmiento said. “I’m honored to be on the team and will do whatever it takes to win.”