USC
Pepperdine
Top-ranked Trojans Crash The Waves 6-1 In Malibu
February 10, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 10, 2012
MALIBU, CALIF. - The No. 1 USC men's tennis team topped another top-20 team today with a winning trip to Malibu for a 6-1 victory over No. 12 Pepperdine. USC squeezed through a tight doubles point before rattling off three strong singles wins to tack up the Trojans' seventh straight win of 2012. That sets up the 7-0 Trojans with a now-26-match overall winning streak on the way into next week's ITA National Indoor Championships to avenge the only losses USC took last year.
In today's clash with the Waves, USC leveled the score on the doubles courts with a win at the No. 3 spot to answer Emilio Gomez and Roberto Quiroz's loss on court three. Daniel Nguyen and Ray Sarmiento's win on court two put the first point of the match dangling up for grabs at the No. 1 position. That's where USC's Yannick Hanfmann and Steve Johnson kicked into high gear for the deciding tiebreaker to get the win, 9-8 (1) over Pepperdine's Llompart/Tearney.
Singles action saw the Trojans get down to business with straight-set wins down the line until Pepperdine managed to grab a point with a win on court two. By that time, however, Steve Johnson had drilled out a win over #21 Sebastian Fanselow on court one, followed by #3 Yannick Hanfmann's win over #106 Hugh Clarke at the No. 5 slot. The clincher came from USC's #12 Ray Sarmiento soon after, as he swept up a 7-5, 6-1 win over #49 Mousheg Hovhannisyan at the No. 3 position. Following suit with decisive singles wins next were #48 Emilio Gomez on court four and then Roberto Quiroz on court six to take USC ahead 6-0 in the match. At the No. 2 spot, #16 Daniel Nguyen fell to #35 Finn Tearney 6-3, 7-6 (5) as Pepperdine finally gathered in a singles win for the day.
USC's trip to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships comes next week with action in Charlottesville, Va., running Feb. 17-20.
#1 USC 6, #12 Pepperdine 1
Feb. 10, 2012 - Malibu, Calif.
DOUBLES
(1) Hanfmann/S. Johnson (USC) def. Llompart/Tearney (PEP) - 9-8 (1)
(2) Nguyen/Sarmiento (USC) def. Fanselow/Turner (PEP) - 8-3
(3) Clarke/Sofaer (PEP) def. Gomez/Quiroz (USC) - 8-2
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
(1) Steve Johnson (USC) def. #21 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) - 6-3, 6-2
(2) #35 Finn Tearney (PEP) def. #16 Daniel Nguyen (USC) - 6-3, 7-6 (5)
(3) #12 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. #49 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) - 7-5, 6-1*
(4) #48 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Alex Llompart (PEP) - 6-4, 6-1
(5) #33 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. #106 Hugh Clarke (PEP) - 6-4, 6-3
(6) Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Jenson Turner (PEP) - 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 5, 3*, 4, 6, 2
Players Mentioned
