USC
UC Santa Barbara
Trojans Roll Through Opening Doubleheader-
January 22, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 22, 2012
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The top-ranked USC men's tennis team flexed its dual-match muscles for the first time this year and showed some power for the 2012 season in a winning doubleheader today at Marks Stadium. USC shut out visiting Loyola Marymount with a 7-0 sweep before another 7-0 win over UC Santa Barbara to take a 2-0 start to the year for the three-time defending NCAA champs.
USC served up a sweep of the Lions to start the day, initiating the Trojan newcomers to dual-match action with a full slate of competition in the opener. The freshmen all got the job done on day one, with Roberto Quiroz, Eric Johnson and Yannick Hanfmann all grabbing doubles and singles wins on the day. Jordi Vives also stepped up in singles and powered past his opponent as well to help the Trojans roll through the visiting Lions. Hanfmann and Eric Johnson teamed up for the first doubles win of the day with an 8-0 shutout. The relative veteran duo of Daniel Nguyen and Ray Sarmiento clinched the doubles point from court one with their 8-3 victory, followed by cousins Emilio Gomez and Roberto Quiroz with a matching 8-3 decision at the No. 2 slot to bring up singles play.
#48 ranked Gomez made short work of his opponent at the No. 1 singles match with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Alex Wilton to take USC ahead 2-0 in the match, and #33 Hanfmann put USC poised for victory with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Nicholas Bjerke on court two. Freshman Eric Johnson delivered the winning blow for the Trojans with a 6-2, 6-4 clincher on court four over Felix Van Kann to put USC ahead 4-0 in the match. USC's fifth and sixth singles wins were just moments apart, as Corey Smith finished off Tom Price in a 10-point tiebreaker to decide the match for a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9) comeback win by the Trojan sophomore. Wrapping up the match was freshman Vives, who broke Sebastian Bustamante for the win on court five in a 6-2, 7-5 decision.An hour and a half later, USC turned to take on visiting UC Santa Barbara for round two of the Trojans' doubleheader. That round, too, went to the Trojans as Nguyen/Sarmiento notched an 8-3 win at the No. 2 slot and Hanfmann paired with Vives at No. 3 for an 8-0 sweep to secure the first point. Gomez/Quiroz rounded out doubles from court one with an 8-4 win over Forget/Ndimande to push into singles.
Senior Daniel Nguyen stepped in for singles action and dropped a 6-0, 6-1 win on Mathieu Forget at the No. 1 spot to help spark USC's second sweep of the day. Freshman Jonny Wang got in on the youth movement with another newcomer debut win from his No. 6 position, and Gomez clinched the victory with another straight-set win at No. 3. Quiroz picked up his second win of the day soon after in a 6-3, 6-2 win from the No. 4 slot just before sophomore Ray Sarmiento delivered from court two with a 6-3, 6-2 win, and USC was off to the races. Eric Johnson put the finishing touches on the match with a 10-game pro-set win on court five, beating Zlad Sultan 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10-6) to top off the 7-0 sweep for USC.
USC senior Steve Johnson did not play in today's matches due to prior commitment to travel to Hawai'i for an upcoming ATP Challenger event.
USC's next action keeps the Trojans at Marks Stadium for next week's ITA Kickoff Weekend, when USC hosts UNLV, UNC Wilmington and South Florida for competition on Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 28-29).
#1 USC 7, Loyola Marymount 0
Jan. 22, 2012 -- Marks Stadium
DOUBLES
(1) Nguyen/Sarmiento (USC) def. Bjerke/Volmari (LMU) -- 8-3
(2) Gomez/Quiroz (USC) def. Northcutt/Van Kann (LMU) -- 8-3
(3) Hanfmann/E. Johnson (USC) def. Bustamante/Wilton (LMU) -- 8-0
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
(1) #48 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Alex Wilton (LMU) -- 6-1, 6-1
(2) #33 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. Nicholas Bjerke (LMU) -- 6-3, 6-3
(3) Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Todd Volmari (LMU) -- 7-5, 6-3
(4) Eric Johnson (USC) def. Felix Van Kann (LMU) -- 6-2, 6-4*
(5) Jordi Vives (USC) def. Sebastian Bustamante (LMU) -- 6-2, 7-5
(6) Corey Smith (USC) def. Tom Price (LMU) -- 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 4*, 5, 6, 3
#1 USC, UC Santa Barbara
Jan. 22, 2012 -- Marks Stadium
DOUBLES
(1) Gomez/Quiroz (USC) def. Forget/Ndimande (UCSB) -- 8-4
(2) Nguyen/Sarmiento (USC) def. Bouillin/Scott (UCSB) -- 8-3
(3) Hanfmann/Vives (USC) def. Recknagel/Smith (UCSB) -- 8-0
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
(1) #19 Daniel Nguyen (USC) def. Mathieu Forget (UCSB) -- 6-0, 6-1
(2) #18 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) -- 6-3, 6-2
(3) #48 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Greg Scott (UCSB) -- 6-1, 6-2*
(4) Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Axel Bouillin (UCSB) -- 6-3, 6-2
(5) Eric Johnson (USC) def. Zlad Sultan (UCSB) -- 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10-6)
(6) Jonny Wang (USC) def. Alexander Gryaznov (UCSB) -- 6-0, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 6, 3*, 4, 2, 5
Players Mentioned
