End of regular season comes to a close at home for USC
After concluding regular-season road play with a perfect record, the USC men’s tennis team will return home to take on a hefty trio of great squads to finish the season.
The No. 1 Trojans (23-0, 4-0) will begin their homestand with a back-to-back, starting with No. 12 California (11-7, 4-0) Friday at 1:30 p.m., followed by No. 11 Stanford (14-5, 4-0) Saturday at 1 p.m.
Tough to beat · Freshman Jonny Wang has helped the Trojans pull off 43-straight victories. USC plays Cal on Friday and Stanford on Saturday. - Chris Roman | Daily Trojan
Though some might see the back-to-back and a date with No. 6 UCLA next Friday as a rough way to end the season, the Trojans would not have it any other way.
“This is going to be a good way to prepare for the NCAAs. Each match is going to be tough, but it’s definitely an advantage for us,” senior Daniel Nguyen said.
Fellow senior Steve Johnson agreed.
“The competition is only going to make us stronger for the NCAAs,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be a fun weekend.”
Johnson and Nguyen, who are ranked No. 2 and No. 17 in singles, respectively, have led the Trojans as they ride a 43-match win streak dating back to last February.
Johnson currently holds a 55-match win streak in singles, while Nguyen looks to rebound after Utah’s Slim Hamza snapped his 12-match win streak last Friday.
USC has three other ranked singles players in No. 20 sophomore Ray Sarmiento, No. 43 freshman Yannick Hanfmann and No. 56 sophomore Emilio Gomez.
Though the Trojans feature an accomplished corps of singles players, their doubles pairs, led by the No. 15 duo in Johnson and freshman Roberto Quiroz, have not dropped a game since March 15.
“You get a lot of confidence from your doubles points, and all of us have improved on our doubles,” Nguyen said.
While the Trojans hold plenty of momentum, they are aware that their winning streak could end at any moment, especially against the upcoming competition.
“Stanford was missing their number one guy when we were up there. He’s back in the lineup so that’s definitely going to make them much stronger,” Johnson said. “Cal is always a dangerous team. They’re good any given day.”
The Golden Bears are led by the trio of No. 41 Ben McLachlan, No. 55 Nick Andrews and No. 57 Carlos Cueto. In their last match-up in February, USC took a 5-2 win from Berkeley.
No. 46 Bradley Klahn, who was absent from Stanford’s 0-7 loss to USC in February because of a back injury, stands alongside No. 30 Ryan Thacher for the Cardinal.
“We just have to take care of what we do every single day,” Gomez said. “We have to be ready for whatever circumstances come up on Friday and Saturday.”
As the regular season winds down and the postseason quickly approaches, the graduating seniors have found time to appreciate the luxury of having their last three matches all at home.
“It’s special. Being a senior, it’s going to be my last matches, and to end Daniel’s and my career at home is going to be something special for both of us,” Johnson said.