Men’s tennis claims regular season title
Backed by a rowdy crowd at Marks Stadium, No. 11 men’s tennis (16-7, 6-2 Pac-12) surged to beat the No. 19 Utah Utes (21-4, 6-2 Pac-12) 4-1 Sunday afternoon. Following the completion of a three-match sweep against rivals UCLA (12-9, 3-5 Pac-12) Wednesday, the Trojans’ win against Utah during Senior Day crowned them Pac-12 regular season champions.
“[I’m] just super proud of the team,” said Head Coach Brett Masi in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “This is always something that we always have as a goal and to reach your goal and to accomplish your goal, you should be super proud of it.”
In a closely contested doubles match, freshman Learner Tien and graduate student Bradley Frye took down the No. 41 doubles pairing of freshman Berk Bugarikj and senior Patrik Trhac by a score of 7-5. Even though sophomore Wojtek Marek and sophomore Peter Makk dropped their match 6-4, sophomore Ryan Colby and senior Stefan Dostanic won the doubles point for the Trojans with their 7-5 win.
Since Tien joined the team in December, he has never lost a doubles match alongside Frye, a representation of just how good the duo is. In the ninth game of the first set, Tien and Frye found themselves down 40-15. Fighting against adversity, the duo battled back and won the game and match, swaying the momentum in the Trojans’ favor.
“Being a little bit older than [Tien, just] got to keep him calm,” Frye said. “Just show him like, ‘Hey, [even though] we’re down 40-15 4 all, luckily we can get it right back. Just stay in this match as much as possible.’”
Booming with confidence going into the singles, Makk, Marek and junior Lodewijk Weststrate all won their matches in two sets, giving the Trojans the points they needed to beat the Utes. In Frye’s last regular season match for USC, Senior Day sparked a reflection of what he has meant for the men’s tennis program.
“Bradley’s been captain since my day one,” Marek said. “He’s been leading me and guiding me through school and through the season, so he’s a role model and, hopefully, I can take his role someday. He’s been giving me the right example.”
Following Sunday’s match, Frye stands at No. 120 in the singles rankings, with a winning percentage of .634 over the course of his career at USC. Frye was also a part of the 2020 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National championship-winning team as a sophomore.
“[Frye]’s just a great, humble, hard-working kid who wants this team to do well,” Masi said. “He’s here for the right reasons, and that’s to help try to get USC to the top. That’s his goal every single day, and you can’t go wrong when you get guys like that on your team.”
Although the Trojans’ schedule had them on the road for much of the season, they finished with four straight home matches, all of which they won by at least 3 points. With the Pac-12 tournament starting in just two days, USC looks to keep the momentum going.
“[We] got to keep our head down, got to stay humble, got to stay focused on what’s important,” Masi said. “At USC, winning these trophies and winning trophies that you see [at Marks Stadium] are what’s always at the forefront, and we’ve gotta be ready to do that … We’ve got to start looking to improve and playing better.”
In addition to the unusual amount of road games, USC is also battle-tested after playing 11 top-25 ranked teams throughout the season, including currently-ranked No. 1 Texas (22-3, 5-0 Big-12) and No. 3 Texas Christian (22-2, 4-1 Big-12). Thanks to its tough schedule, USC feels prepared for postseason play.
“[Nothing] changes for us,” said Marek. “We’re practicing the same way as we’ve been before, and I think we’re peaking right now.”
USC’s next match will be Thursday against the winner of Arizona State (13-10, 2-6 Pac-12) and Oregon (13-12, 2-6 Pac-12).