Tuesday, February 27
Los Angeles, CA
2:00 PM
USC
at
UCLA
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Tennis
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Photo by: Hali Helfgott
No. 9 USC Men Visit No. 4 UCLA And No. 28 San Diego Before Pacific Coast Doubles
February 26, 2018 | Men's Tennis, Features
Trojans get their first shot at crosstown rival UCLA with a 2 p.m. nonconference clash on Tuesday in Westwood.
THIS WEEK
No. 9 USC has an interesting week ahead, with team play and individual action on tap. The Trojans will first take a trip across town to take on rival UCLA in a nonconference clash. USC and the No. 4 Bruins will square off at 2 p.m. on Tuesday (Feb. 27) at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Later, the Trojans head down to La Jolla Beach and Tennis Center to take on San Diego in another dual match at 12 p.m. on Thursday (March 1). The Trojans will also divide and conquer for doubles competition at the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships also at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Center from March 2-4.
ORACLE/ITA RANKINGS UPDATES
For the 11th straight season, the USC men's tennis team kicked off the new year ranked in the nation's top-10 of the Oracle/ITA rankings, ranked No. 5 in the land to start the spring season. The latest ITA team rankings (released Feb. 20) have the Trojans standing at No. 9. In the latest individual rankings (released Feb. 20), sophomore Brandon Holt remains the frontrunner for the Trojans, now ranked a career-best 8 in the nation in singles. Freshman Daniel Cukierman, meanwhile has his first national ranking of his Trojan career, sitting at No. 68 in singles, ahead of junior Jack Jaede at No. 112. In doubles, USC's Brandon Holt and Riley Smith have popped back on the radar, ranked No. 25 in the nation.
SCOUTING UCLA
The No. 4 Bruins are 12-2 overall after beating Portland 7-0 last week. UCLA has four players nationally ranked in singles: #3 Martin Redlicki, #60 Logan Staggs, #72 Keegan Smith and #102 Evan Zhu. In doubles, UCLA has #37 Redlicki/Zhu and #39 Rapp/Smith. In a series dating back to 1929, USC is 95-109 all-time against the Bruins after splitting matches 2-2 last year. The Trojans lost 4-1 when they last visited UCLA.
SCOUTING USD
The No. 28 Toreros are 4-3 overall after falling 4-3 to San Diego State last week. Washington has #96 Joel Gamerov nationally ranked in singles. USD has no ranked doubles teams. In a series dating back to 1973, USC is 38-3 all-time against the Toreros after a 6-1 win last year during ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
ITA INDOORS ACTION
In its 10th straight trip to the event, USC went 2-1 out at the 2018 ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle. The Trojans faced three top-10 opponents and knocked off two of them, topping No. 9 Oklahoma State in the first round to square off against No. 1 Wake Forest in the quarterfinals. The Demon Deacons would fend off the Trojans for a 4-2 decision that advanced the eventual champion to the semi. USC, meanwhile, would wrap its time in Seattle with a 4-1 upset of No. 4 Georgia. At the end of all the action, USC had doubles duo Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith named to the All-Tournament Team at the No. 3 doubles position. The pair won all three of their matches at the event to help anchor the Trojans.
BY THE NUMBERS
As dual match play heats up, five Trojans have hit double digits in the singles win column. Sophomore Brandon Holt leads the pack with 16 singles wins. Jake DeVine has 12 wins, with a trio of Trojans following close behind. Laurens Verboven grips 11 wins to date, while Logan Smith and Tanner Smith have 10 apiece. In the doubles realm, the hottest hands belong to Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven, who are off to a 12-4 start thanks in part to a perfect 7-0 record together during the month of January. Two Trojan tandems boast perfect records together to date, with Tanner Smith teaming up for perfect 6-0 marks with both Cukierman and Verboven so far.
SHERWOOD CHAMPS
In the opening individual action of the new year, the USC men's tennis team stretched its muscles at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup and found success on the doubles courts. In competition featuring players from UCLA, Stanford and Baylor, it was the Trojan doubles duo of Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven that emerged victorious, sweeping through to the double title today out at the Sherwood Country Club. One of two USC doubles duos in the mix for this one, the No. 3 seeded pairing of Jaede and Verboven proved a force to reckon with, surrendering no more than three games in each contest across the three-day event. The closest affair was the title match, where Jaede/Verboven took down top-seeded Genender/Kumar of Stanford with a 6-3 decision after having topped UCLA's No. 2 seeded Rapp/Smith decisively, 6-2, in the morning's semifinals. this season.
PRESEASON PICKS
The first set of 2017-18 individual rankings came out during the fall as preseason rankings, which had five Trojans ranked in singles and one ranked doubles team. Sophomore Brandon Holt was the frontrunner for the Trojans, ranked No. 11 in the nation in singles and No. 6 in doubles with trusty sophomore teammate Riley Smith. Next in line in singles was No. 54 junior Logan Smith, followed by No. 82 junior Jack Jaede, No. 96 senior Thibault Forget and No. 120 sophomore Riley Smith.
LAST SEASON
The 2017 Trojans — under the direction of head coach Peter Smith for the 15th season — locked up the Pac-12 Tournament Championship and went on to reach the NCAA Round of 16. Along the way, Smith gathered in his 600th career win as a head coach. Freshman Brandon Holt emerged as an ITA All-American in singles after going 35-9 overall and wrapping the year ranked No. 17 in the nation. Also named the ITA Southwest Region's Rookie of the Year and Player to Watch sophomore Logan Smith (23-18 overall) ended up No. 94 in the nation, while senior Nick Crystal (16-14 overall) completed his USC career ranked No. 107. Crystal also paired with USC sophomore Laurens Verboven at No. 73 in the land with a 24-7 overall record. Holt and Riley Smith finished their first season together as Trojans ranked No. 11 in the nation - just a spot short of All-American honors. As a team, USC finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 6 in the nation after posting a 27-6 overall record with a run to the NCAA Round of 16 in Athens, Ga.
No. 9 USC has an interesting week ahead, with team play and individual action on tap. The Trojans will first take a trip across town to take on rival UCLA in a nonconference clash. USC and the No. 4 Bruins will square off at 2 p.m. on Tuesday (Feb. 27) at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Later, the Trojans head down to La Jolla Beach and Tennis Center to take on San Diego in another dual match at 12 p.m. on Thursday (March 1). The Trojans will also divide and conquer for doubles competition at the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships also at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Center from March 2-4.
ORACLE/ITA RANKINGS UPDATES
For the 11th straight season, the USC men's tennis team kicked off the new year ranked in the nation's top-10 of the Oracle/ITA rankings, ranked No. 5 in the land to start the spring season. The latest ITA team rankings (released Feb. 20) have the Trojans standing at No. 9. In the latest individual rankings (released Feb. 20), sophomore Brandon Holt remains the frontrunner for the Trojans, now ranked a career-best 8 in the nation in singles. Freshman Daniel Cukierman, meanwhile has his first national ranking of his Trojan career, sitting at No. 68 in singles, ahead of junior Jack Jaede at No. 112. In doubles, USC's Brandon Holt and Riley Smith have popped back on the radar, ranked No. 25 in the nation.
SCOUTING UCLA
The No. 4 Bruins are 12-2 overall after beating Portland 7-0 last week. UCLA has four players nationally ranked in singles: #3 Martin Redlicki, #60 Logan Staggs, #72 Keegan Smith and #102 Evan Zhu. In doubles, UCLA has #37 Redlicki/Zhu and #39 Rapp/Smith. In a series dating back to 1929, USC is 95-109 all-time against the Bruins after splitting matches 2-2 last year. The Trojans lost 4-1 when they last visited UCLA.
SCOUTING USD
The No. 28 Toreros are 4-3 overall after falling 4-3 to San Diego State last week. Washington has #96 Joel Gamerov nationally ranked in singles. USD has no ranked doubles teams. In a series dating back to 1973, USC is 38-3 all-time against the Toreros after a 6-1 win last year during ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
ITA INDOORS ACTION
In its 10th straight trip to the event, USC went 2-1 out at the 2018 ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle. The Trojans faced three top-10 opponents and knocked off two of them, topping No. 9 Oklahoma State in the first round to square off against No. 1 Wake Forest in the quarterfinals. The Demon Deacons would fend off the Trojans for a 4-2 decision that advanced the eventual champion to the semi. USC, meanwhile, would wrap its time in Seattle with a 4-1 upset of No. 4 Georgia. At the end of all the action, USC had doubles duo Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith named to the All-Tournament Team at the No. 3 doubles position. The pair won all three of their matches at the event to help anchor the Trojans.
BY THE NUMBERS
As dual match play heats up, five Trojans have hit double digits in the singles win column. Sophomore Brandon Holt leads the pack with 16 singles wins. Jake DeVine has 12 wins, with a trio of Trojans following close behind. Laurens Verboven grips 11 wins to date, while Logan Smith and Tanner Smith have 10 apiece. In the doubles realm, the hottest hands belong to Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven, who are off to a 12-4 start thanks in part to a perfect 7-0 record together during the month of January. Two Trojan tandems boast perfect records together to date, with Tanner Smith teaming up for perfect 6-0 marks with both Cukierman and Verboven so far.
SHERWOOD CHAMPS
In the opening individual action of the new year, the USC men's tennis team stretched its muscles at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup and found success on the doubles courts. In competition featuring players from UCLA, Stanford and Baylor, it was the Trojan doubles duo of Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven that emerged victorious, sweeping through to the double title today out at the Sherwood Country Club. One of two USC doubles duos in the mix for this one, the No. 3 seeded pairing of Jaede and Verboven proved a force to reckon with, surrendering no more than three games in each contest across the three-day event. The closest affair was the title match, where Jaede/Verboven took down top-seeded Genender/Kumar of Stanford with a 6-3 decision after having topped UCLA's No. 2 seeded Rapp/Smith decisively, 6-2, in the morning's semifinals. this season.
PRESEASON PICKS
The first set of 2017-18 individual rankings came out during the fall as preseason rankings, which had five Trojans ranked in singles and one ranked doubles team. Sophomore Brandon Holt was the frontrunner for the Trojans, ranked No. 11 in the nation in singles and No. 6 in doubles with trusty sophomore teammate Riley Smith. Next in line in singles was No. 54 junior Logan Smith, followed by No. 82 junior Jack Jaede, No. 96 senior Thibault Forget and No. 120 sophomore Riley Smith.
LAST SEASON
The 2017 Trojans — under the direction of head coach Peter Smith for the 15th season — locked up the Pac-12 Tournament Championship and went on to reach the NCAA Round of 16. Along the way, Smith gathered in his 600th career win as a head coach. Freshman Brandon Holt emerged as an ITA All-American in singles after going 35-9 overall and wrapping the year ranked No. 17 in the nation. Also named the ITA Southwest Region's Rookie of the Year and Player to Watch sophomore Logan Smith (23-18 overall) ended up No. 94 in the nation, while senior Nick Crystal (16-14 overall) completed his USC career ranked No. 107. Crystal also paired with USC sophomore Laurens Verboven at No. 73 in the land with a 24-7 overall record. Holt and Riley Smith finished their first season together as Trojans ranked No. 11 in the nation - just a spot short of All-American honors. As a team, USC finished the 2016-17 season ranked No. 6 in the nation after posting a 27-6 overall record with a run to the NCAA Round of 16 in Athens, Ga.
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