USC
Saint Mary's
No. 2 USC Men Double Up With Opening Wins
January 22, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 22, 2011
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The No. 2 USC men's tennis team rolled out to a 2-0 start to 2011 in pinning up a pair of wins on a doubleheader day at Marks Stadium on Saturday. The Trojan rang up a 6-1 win over Sacramento State to snag their first dual-match win of the season and followed that up with a clean sweep of Saint Mary's in the afternoon match.
USC got a jump on a busy winning day with its 6-1 effort against Sacramento State. The pairing of Peter Lucassen and Ray Sarmiento at No. 3 opened the effort with a decisive 8-2 win, while a new pairing of Emilio Gomez - playing in his first match as a Trojan - and Daniel Nguyen worked together to overcome a 6-1 deficit at the No. 2 position to rally and tack up a 9-7 win that secured the first point of the day for USC.
Singles action was a pile of straight-set victories - all but one picked up by the Trojans. Senior Jaak Poldma kickstarted singles with a win at No. 2, and was soon joined in the win column by teammates Ray Sarmiento and JT Sundling as the match was clinched with Sundling's win at the No. 6 slot. Newcomer Emilio Gomez secured his first singles win as a Trojan next with a victory at the No. 5 position, and Daniel Nguyen made it a 6-0 USC lead with a win at No. 1. The Hornets got their lone point of the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win from Aliaksandr Malko over Peter Lucassen at No. 4, and that closed down the first match of the day for the Trojans as a 6-1 victory.
Next on the agenda for USC was visiting Saint Mary's, who saw the Trojans again pull ahead with a winning doubles push as the pairings of Poldma/Sundling and Gomez/Nguyen rounded out their second wins of the day while freshmen Michael Grant and Ray Sarmiento joined up for a doubles win as well.
Up 1-0 once again, the Trojans kept the pressure on in singles. This time USC rolled through to a clean sweep, although two Trojans had to make it a three-set battle in order to round out the 7-0 team win. Poldma, Sarmiento and Sundling all pocketed their second singles wins of the day, with Michael Grant seeing singles action and coming through with the clincher from the No. 5 slot. Peter Lucassen picked up a win at No. 3, and Joel Giger got a win at No. 6 in pulling out a victory in a 10-point tiebreak to decide the third set.
Now 2-0 on the year, the Trojans have more action set up for Marks Stadium next weekend. USC will host three teams for the ITA Kick-off Weekend, which will run Friday and Saturday (Jan. 28-29).
#2 USC 6, Sacramento State 1
Jan. 22, 2011 - Marks Stadium
DOUBLES
(1) #51 Poldma/Sundling (USC) def. Malko/Milan (SacSt) - 9-7
(2) Gomez/Nguyen (USC) def. Smith/Starcevic (SacSt) - 9-7
(3) Lucassen/Sarmiento (USC) def. Diaz/Lorentzen (SacSt) - 8-2
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
(1) #18 Daniel Nguyen (USC) def. Kiryl Harbatsiuk (SacSt) - 6-2, 6-4
(2) #94 Jaak Poldma (USC) def. Jason Smith (SacSt) - 6-2, 6-0
(3) #91 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. Marko Starcevic (SacSt) - 6-1, 6-0
(4) Aliaksandr Malko (SacSt) def. Peter Lucassen (USC) - 6-4, 6-4
(5) Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Javier Milan (SacSt) - 6-2, 6-1
(6) JT Sundling (USC) def. Josh Lorentzen (SacSt) - 6-2, 6-0*
Order of finish: 2, 3, 6*, 5, 1, 4
#2 USC 7, Saint Mary's 0
Jan. 22, 2011 - Marks Stadium
DOUBLES
(1) #51 Poldma/Sundling (USC) def. Ellison/Olivan (SMC) - 8-3
(2) Gomez/Nguyen (USC) def. Leon/Norstrom (SMC) - 8-3
(3) Grant/Sarmiento (USC) def. Benkirane/Tirelli (SMC) - 8-2
USC wins doubles point
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
SINGLES
(1) #94 Jaak Poldma (USC) def. Lucas Tirelli (SMC) - 6-0, 6-2
(2) #91 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. Maxime Olivan (SMC) - 6-1, 6-3
(3) Peter Lucassen (USC) def. Sherif Hamdy (SMC) - 6-2, 6-2
(4) JT Sundling (USC) def. Saad Benkirane (SMC) - 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
(5) Michael Grant (USC) def. Joakim Norstrom (SMC) - 6-2, 6-4*
(6) Joel Giger (USC) def. Gavin Leon (SMC) - 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5*, 3, 6, 4
Players Mentioned
