Coming off first loss, USC begins postseason quest

The regular season has come and gone and with the postseason ahead, the USC men’s tennis team’s quest for a fourth consecutive NCAA championship begins now.

Following their first loss in 14 months, the No. 1 Trojans (25-1, 6-1) look to rebound and begin a new streak at the Pac-12 tournament in Ojai, Calif.

The 3-4 loss to No. 5 UCLA (21-2, 7-0) at Marks Stadium last Friday snapped the Trojans’ 45-match win streak that dated back to February, 2011.

By finishing conference play undefeated, UCLA is slotted at the No. 1 seed in the tournament, while USC will be the No. 2 seed and will begin play in the semifinals Saturday at 3 p.m.

USC will likely play No. 10 Stanford (16-7, 5-2) in the semifinals. The Cardinal have one bye and will play either No. 70 Oregon or Utah in the quarterfinals.

The Trojans have swept Stanford twice this season, with the first 7-0 victory at Stanford in February and the latter at Marks Stadium on April 14.

“They’re going to want revenge,” senior Daniel Nguyen said. “They’re going to be a tough team and mix up their lineup a bit.”

Though the Trojans relish the chance of a rematch with the Bruins in the finals Saturday, they are careful not to look past the semifinal matchup.

“We better be careful with that. [Stanford is] a proud program,” USC coach Peter Smith said. “They’re certainly going to be swinging from the hip with nothing to lose.”

The last team standing will be crowned the Pac-12 champion and automatically qualify for the NCAA championships in Athens, Ga., in May.

The tournament will feature a dual-match team format for the first time in conference history. Before this year, the tournament consisted of 32 players and 16 pairs vying for individual singles and doubles titles.

“I was a big proponent of [the team format]. I’ve been pushing for it for about five years. I want to make Ojai relevant again,” Smith said. “I don’t know how we’ll do but we’re fired up.”

Last year, No. 2 senior Steve Johnson advanced through five rounds of singles play and emerged as the 2011 Pac-10 singles champion.

Johnson and No. 25 sophomore Ray Sarmiento also took home the doubles crown after four rounds of play.

With the new team format, the Trojans will look for consistency from their individual talent, which includes five ranked players in singles.

Alongside Johnson and Sarmiento, Nguyen is ranked No. 17 in the nation, while freshman Yannick Hanfmann and sophomore Emilio Gomez stand at No. 43 and No. 50, respectively.

In doubles, USC will feature the No. 3 pair in Johnson and freshman Roberto Quiroz and the No. 25 pair in Nguyen and Sarmiento.

Though USC’s streak has come to an end, Johnson is still in a groove with 58 consecutive singles wins and 12 straight in doubles with Quiroz.

Despite missing the opportunity to finish the regular season undefeated, Smith believes the loss to their crosstown rivals will remind the Trojans of the joy of victory and be essential to their journey for postseason glory.