Men’s tennis finishes second for third-straight year
The USC men’s tennis team faced some of the top collegiate tennis squads in Chicago this weekend for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The Trojans last won the tournament back in 2012, but finished as the runner-up in 2013 and 2014. During this year’s tournament, the Trojans cruised through the first three rounds of competition but fell to Oklahoma in the final to finish second in the tournament for the third year in a row.
USC entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and its first opponent was No. 16-seeded Penn State. The Trojans made quick work of Penn State, winning 4-0. In doubles play, sophomores Nick Crystal and Connor Farren beat Roman Trkulja and Michael Reilly 6-4. Then, junior Max de Vroome and senior Eric Johnson clinched the doubles point for the Trojans with their own 6-4 win over Alex Fennell and Matt Barry.
The Trojans carried their momentum into singles action, where they needed only three matches to clinch a first-round victory. Senior Roberto Quiroz was the first singles winner for the Trojans, taking down Fennell by a score of 6-3, 6-1. Johnson would give the Trojans their third point of the match when he beat Trkulja with a dominating 6-1, 6-2 performance. Senior Yannick Hanfmann won the match-clinching point for the Trojans with his defeat of Leonard Stakhovsky 6-1, 7-6 (4).
In the quarterfinals, the Trojans battled with No. 8-seeded Ohio State, the team that defeated the Trojans in last year’s final. This year’s outcome proved to be much different as the Trojans cruised over Ohio State 4-1. Like their first round match, the Trojans needed only two matches to seal the doubles point. Johnson and de Vroome were the first pairing to win a set in doubles play, beating Hunter Callahan and Chris Diaz by a score of 6-2. Hanfmann and Quiroz clinched the doubles point for the Trojans a short time later with a 6-4 victory over Ralf Steinbach and Kevin Metka.
The Trojans continued to dominate in singles play, needing only four matches to punch their ticket to the next round. Ohio State struck first in singles play when Herkko Pollanen defeated senior Jonny Wang in a 6-3, 6-2 victory, tying the score 1-1. The Trojans responded with three-straight singles victories, which would secure the Trojans a spot in the semifinals. Johnson started the rally with a hard fought 7-5, 6-4 victory over Steinbach. Quiroz earned the next Trojans point, taking down Mikal Torpegaard 6-1, 7-5. Hanfmann finished the match for the Trojans with a 7-6 (4), 6-1 win over Diaz. It was the second-straight singles match for Hanfmann where he needed a tiebreaker to win at least one set.
The Trojans faced a very familiar opponent in the semifinals: No. 4-seeded Georgia. The Trojans had beaten Georgia 4-0 earlier in the month during the Pac-12/SEC showdown. The Trojans showed that their dominating victory at the Pac-12/SEC showdown was no fluke as they took down Georgia easily once again, this time by a score of 4-1.
The lone point that Georgia won in the match was the doubles point. Crystal and Farren were no match for Georgia’s Paul Oosterbaan and Wayne Montgomery, who beat the USC pairing 6-1. A short time later, Hanfmann and Quiroz were bested by Ben Wagland and Austin Smith, who beat the Trojan pair 6-4 and earned Georgia the doubles point.
Singles play was a different story for the Trojans, who won every singles match until they clinched their spot in the championship round. Johnson was the first Trojan to finish his match, earning a convincing 6-1, 6-1 victory over Nick Wood. Crystal followed Johnson’s victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Oosterbaan. Wagland gave Max de Vroome a tough time in the first set of their singles match, but Wagland was no match for de Vroome in the second set and de Vroome won the third point for the Trojans with a 7-6, 6-1 victory. Quiroz clinched an appearance in the final round for the Trojans by winning the crucial fourth point with a 7-6 (2), 6-3 win over Smith.
In the final round, the Trojans took on the No. 2-seeded Oklahoma Sooners, the team that the Trojans beat last year to claim the NCAA title. The Trojans fought hard but fell to the Sooners 4-2 to finish second in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the third consecutive year.
All three doubles matches were needed to determine the winner of the doubles point. The Trojans drew first blood in doubles play, with Johnson and de Vroome beating Spencer Papa and Andrew Harris easily by a score of 6-1. The other two doubles matches were much closer, but the Sooners were able to close both of them out to earn the doubles point. Oklahoma’s Florin Bragusi and Alex Ghilea bested Crystal and Farren with a 7-5 win, and Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb edged Hanfmann and Quiroz in a 7-6 (4) victory.
The Sooners and the Trojans would continue to have tight matches in singles play. Webb extended his team’s lead to 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Wang. Then, Johnson earned the Trojans their first point with a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Papa. Next, Alvarez increased Oklahoma’s advantage to 3-1 with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over Quiroz. Crystal kept the Trojans alive with a three set, comeback win over Jose Salazar (3-6, 6-0, 6-4). The Trojans would not be able to complete the comeback, however, and Ghilea clinched both the match and the tournament title for the Sooners with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over de Vroome.
The loss against the Sooners is the first loss for the USC men’s tennis team this season, but the team still holds an impressive 9-1 record. The Trojans will now havwe time for a much deserved rest, as they don’t play again until Feb. 27 against Pac-12 rival Stanford at Marks Stadium.