USC
USC vs. UNC-Wilmington
No. 1 USC Men Win In ITA Kick-Off
January 29, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 29, 2012
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The top-ranked USC men's tennis team secured at spot at the upcoming ITA National Team Indoor Championships with today's 6-1 win over #43 UNC-Wilmington. Now 4-0 overall on the year, the Trojans hold a 23-match winning streak that spans from last year's run to the national championship.
USC's doubles teams were led by a charging Daniel Nguyen and Ray Sarmiento on court two. The duo jumped to a 5-0 lead on Seahawks Reilly/Williams and delivered one last break for an 8-2 win. USC was up 6-3 on the other two courts, but it was Yannick Hanfman and Steve Johnson who slid home first on a couple powerful service games for an 8-3 win over Blank/Cooprider to pocket the first point of the match for the Trojans from court one. At No. 3, Emilio Gomez and Roberto Quiroz were up 6-4 on their opponents as play was suspended to bring up singles action.
In singles play it was straight sets all the way down the ladder, with only Nguyen stumbling to a tough Rafael Aita at the No. 2 singles spot. Senior Steve Johnson stepped back into the singles lineup for the first time this year, picking up where he left off from last year's NCAA singles championship run for his 36th straight collegiate singles win on a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Chris Cooprider on court one.
The push to today's USC victory was sparked by the Trojan youth movement, however. Freshman Yannick Hanfmann surrendered just a game a set as he steamrolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Kaue Periera on court five. Sophomore Ray Sarmiento delivered a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Pedro Mol at the No. 3 spot next, and the winning blow came from court six, where freshman Roberto Quiroz tacked up a 6-1, 6-1 win over Michael Reilly. With the win in-hand, the Trojans moved farther ahead on Johnson's win at the No. 1 spot. Nguyen would fall in USC's first dual-match singles loss of the year next, but sophomore Emilio Gomez ended the match on a winning note with his 6-2, 6-3 push past Kosta Blank on court four.
USC's next action takes the Trojans to the Bay Area next weekend. USC visits Stanford for a 1:30 p.m. match on Friday (Feb. 3) and then takes on California at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 4) in Berkeley.
The full day's results at Marks Stadium are below.
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 29, 2012 - Los Angeles, Calif. (Marks Stadium)
#1 USC 6, #43 UNC-Wilmington 1
DOUBLES
(1) Hanfmann/S. Johnson (USC) def. Blank/Cooprider (UNCW) - 8-3
(2) Nguyen/Sarmiento (USC) def. Reilly/Williams (UNCW) - 8-2
(3) Gomez/Quiroz (USC) vs. Aita/Mol (UNCW) - 6-4 susp.
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 1
SINGLES
(1) Steve Johnson (USC) def. Chris Cooprider (UNCW) -- 6-2, 6-4
(2) Rafael Aita (UNCW) def. #16 Daniel Nguyen (USC) -- 7-5, 6-2
(3) #12 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def Pedro Mol (UNCW) -- 6-1, 6-3
(4) #48 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Kosta Blank (UNCW) -- 6-2, 6-3
(5) #33 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. Kaue Pereira (UNCW) -- 6-1, 6-1
(6) Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Michael Reilly (UNCW) -- 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 5, 3, 6*, 1, 2, 4
CONSOLATION
#61 UNLV 4, #45 South Florida 2
DOUBLES
(1) Kilani/Sabogal (USF) def. Bull/Ruegamer - 8-3
(2) #60 Pramming/Yoshizawa (USF) def. Markel/Schoeman (UNLV) - 8-5
(3) Hagn/Salcedo (USF) def. Batyi/Sublette - 7-6 susp.
USF wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 1, 2
SINGLES
(1) Rene Ruegamer (UNLV) def. Wael Kilani (USF) - 6-3, 6-3
(2) Tamas Batyi (UNLV) def. Federico Sabogal (USF) - 6-1, 7-5
(3) Alex Bull (UNLV) def. Juan Carlos Acuna (USF) - 7-6, 6-4
(4) Tannick Yoshizawa (USF) def. Johannes Markel (UNLV) -6-0, 6-0
(5) Lucas Salcedo (USF) vs. Brian Kenyon (UNLV) - 2-6, 6-3, 5-2 susp.
(6) Willie Sublette (UNLV) def. Sebastian Hagn (USF) - 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 1, 6, 2, 3*
Players Mentioned
