Men’s and women’s tennis prepare for stretch run


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The men’s team has a tough match against No. 3 Texas while the women’s team seeks a conference victory over Oregon. (Feitong Du/Daily Trojan)

Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams enter the stretch run looking to build momentum into their respective conference tournaments in late April. While the two teams have experienced different results thus far, both have the talent to make a splash in postseason play, and the process of fulfilling those expectations continues for both teams this weekend.

After finishing in second place at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge present by Oracle, the USC men’s tennis team is looking forward to its upcoming road matchup Saturday against No. 3 Texas.

“They’re a great team they just beat the number one team in the country so it’ll be a cool opportunity to play a higher ranked team and hopefully pick up a win,” said junior Riley Smith.

The Longhorns will prove to be a tough matchup for the Trojans as they are fresh off of an upset win over Ohio State in which they dominated the Buckeyes 4-1, a victory that puts Texas at an astounding 16-1 overall record. The Trojans, however, are optimistic about their chances.

“We look at all the matches on paper and it looks like all the matches can go either way, but we’re in a really good spot and I’m looking forward to it,” Smith said of this weekend’s matchup.

The now-No. 15 Trojans have not lived up to their preseason expectations when they started the year No. 5 in the nation. Part of this has to do with a difficult stretch which saw the Trojans lose five out of six matches. Before falling to No. 6 Baylor this past weekend, however, the Trojans had won four in a row.

“It’s going good, we’re just constantly improving,” Smith said. “This isn’t the start that we necessarily wanted with that many losses but we’re getting better and playing better as a team.”

Smith added that one of the team’s strengths is holding each other accountable for individual performance and that this atmosphere pushes each player to improve.

“I’ve been playing better lately, getting in better shape, I mean my teammates are really pushing me. I’ve been working hard with the coaches and I’m happy at where I am at now,” Smith said about his individual performance.

This weekend will provide a difficult test for the Trojans and will provide a marker to see if the recent hot streak was a sign of things to come as the season wraps up. USC has to prove that the win streak wasn’t just a flash in the pan. It can’t continue to lose close matches against better ranked opposition. With eight matches left, the Trojans will need to get hot once again and close out the season strong to try and meet their preseason expectations of being national championship contenders.

As for the women’s tennis team, the Trojans come back from the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge present by Oracle with a 4-2 win over Baylor. Now sitting at 11-2, USC will travel to Eugene to take on Oregon Saturday.

The Trojans are riding a seven-game win streak which includes a statement win over No. 3 UCLA just a few weeks ago. Now ranked No. 11 in the country and with a 2-0 in Pac-12 play, USC will look to continue its hot streak as it takes on an Oregon team that has lost six matches in a row.

With home matches against Cal and Stanford looming next weekend, this weekend’s match has the potential to be a trap for the young Trojans. They will need to remain focused and disciplined before looking ahead to the upcoming rivalry matchups.

The resurgent women’s tennis program is led by freshman Danielle Willson, who is undefeated in dual match play at 11-0. Willson’s hard work was recognized a few weeks ago when she was awarded an athletic scholarship.

With 10 matches left to play this season, there is still a lot that can happen. For now, this season has been impressive for the women’s tennis team and, with some strong play, the Trojans could see themselves qualify for the NCAA tournament.