USC
Utah
No. 1 USC Men Upend Utah 5-2
April 06, 2012 | Men's Tennis
April 6, 2012
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- The No. 1 USC men's tennis team paid its first conference visit to Utah today and buckled down for the Trojans' 42nd straight win to remain undefeated on the year. Today's 5-2 win over the Utes puts USC at 22-0 overall this season and makes a move to 3-0 in Pac-12 action.
Two Trojans were upended in 10-point tiebreakers, but only after USC had cruised through a doubles sweep and four straight singles wins to put Utah behind 5-0 in the match. Steve Johnson and Roberto Quiroz proved an unbeatable pair once again, as the duo dished out their eighth straight doubles win together to clinch the doubles point before taking to the singles courts and also locking in victories there to bump USC ahead 3-0 in the match. Johnson's 6-1, 6-3 win over Benito Suriano on court one marked the #2 senior's 54th consecutive singles win, and gave USC a 2-0 edge. Quiroz, meanwhile, kept a streak of his own alive in his 6-2, 6-1 win over Ace Matias on court six, marking the freshman's 11th straight win as he helped USC to a 3-0 lead. Clinching things on the day was #53 sophomore Emilio Gomez from the No. 5 spot, where he dispatched Devin Lane 6-4, 6-4 to ice a 4-0 lead and the win for the Trojans.
Keeping in the theme of straight-set singles wins was #23 sophomore Ray Sarmiento next. He served up a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Dmytro Mamedov on court two to make it 5-0 before 10-point tiebreakers handed the Trojans a pair of losses on the day. #38 freshman Yannick Hanfmann slipped first in a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) loss to Rafael Davidian at the No. 4 position. That left #13 senior Daniel Nguyen in another tight spot in his No. 3 singles match with Slim Hamza. Hamza would force the issue with a tiebreak win in the second set, and take that momentum to push ahead of Nguyen in the decider, handing Nguyen his first loss in 13 matches with a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (13-11) decision that wrapped up a 5-2 USC final win.
The Trojans will now visit their fourth state in as many matches with tomorrow's trip to Arizona. USC takes on the Wildcats in their Pac-12 clash at 12 p.m. on Saturday (April 7) in Tucson.
#1 USC 5, Utah 2
April 6, 2012 -- Salt Lake City, Utah
DOUBLES
(1) #15 Johnson/Quiroz (USC) def. Mamedov/Suriano (UTAH) -- 8-6
(2) #18 Nguyen/Sarmiento (USC) def. Matias/Tasevac (UTAH) -- 8-5
(3) Gomez/Hanfmann (USC) def. Hamza/Lane (UTAH) -- 8-3
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
(1) #2 Steve Johnson (USC) def. Benito Suriano (UTAH) -- 6-1, 6-3
(2) #23 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. Dmytro Mamedov (UTAH) -- 6-1, 6-4
(3) Slim Hamza (UTAH) def. #13 Daniel Nguyen (USC) --3-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (13-11)
(4) Rafael Davidian (UTAH) def. #38 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) -- 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)
(5) #53 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Devin Lane (UTAH) -- 6-4, 6-4*
(6) Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Ace Matias (UTAH) -- 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 6, 2, 5*, 4, 3
Players Mentioned
