No. 14 USC Men Post Up At Home For Two Pac-12 Clashes

THIS WEEK

No. 14 USC returns from a week off of competition fresh and ready to dig into another round of Pac-12 play. The Trojans (11-5, 2-0 Pac-12) will host California and Stanford this week in two crucial conference clashes. USC first takes on the No. 30 Golden Bears (8-4, 1-0) in a 3 p.m. matchup on Friday (March 30) before getting a second look at the No. 3 Cardinal (14-1, 2-0) at 1 p.m. on Saturday (March 31).

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 March 27) have the Trojans standing at No. 14. In the latest individual rankings (released March 20), sophomore Brandon Holt remains the frontrunner for the Trojans, now ranked No. 9 in the nation in singles. Freshman Daniel Cukierman, meanwhile, now sits at No. 67, with Logan Smith back on the scene at No. 125. In doubles, USC's Brandon Holt and Riley Smith rank No. 16 in the nation, with teammates Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven having risen to No. 23 in the land.

SCOUTING CALIFORNIA

The No. 30 Golden Bears are 8-4 overall and 1-0 in Pac-12 play after getting three wins at the BNP Paribas Challenge, beating Purdue 4-0, Baylor 4-2 and Arizona State 4-3 out in Indian Wells. Cal has #57 Billy Griffith nationally ranked in singles. In doubles, Cal has #13 Griffith/Nishimura in the rankings. In a series dating back to 1927, USC holds a 140-34 all-time record over California. The teams met twice last season, with USC winning 4-0 in a regular-season Pac-12 match in Berkeley before a 4-1 win over the Bears in the 2017 Pac-12 Semifinals in Ojai.

SCOUTING STANFORD

The No. 3 Cardinal is 14-1 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 play after beating Air Force 4-0 and Army 7-0 in their last action. Stanford has four players nationally ranked in singles: #10 Tom Fawcett, #50 Alex Geller, #71 Sameer Kumar and #124 Jack Barber. In doubles, Stanford has #25 Fawcett/Geller and #75 Genender/Kumar in the rankings. In a series dating back to 1925, USC holds a 114-79 all-time record over Stanford. The Cardinal beat the Trojans 6-1 when the teams met last month in a nonconference clash in Palo Alto. Last year, the teams split, with USC winning 4-3 in Los Angeles before a 4-1 loss in the Pac-12 match in Palo Alto.

LAST ACTION

USC had a competitive Spring Break two weeks ago, facing three top-10 opponents and coming away with a win and two losses in that stretch. Against No. 4 Ohio State, rain delayed the start of the match, leaving the bulk of the action to play out under the lights at Marks Stadium. USC claimed a tight doubles point and would work out to a 3-1 lead in singles before the Buckeyes pulled off the final three matches going, including two three-setters to clinch the win. The next day, USC secured its third win over a top-10 opponent with a solid 5-2 victory over No. 10 Texas at Marks Stadium. Playing singles for just the third time this season, sophomore Riley Smith came through with the clincher with a three-set victory on court five. He and doubles partner Brandon Holt had earlier claimed their eighth doubles win of the year with an upset over Texas' No. 3-ranked pair to help USC get a 1-0 advantage in this one. The winning tone had been set on court two, however, with USC's Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven combining forces for their 20th doubles win together to get the Trojans on a winning course. Jaede and Verboven would go on to collect singles wins as well to help USC improve to 11-4 overall on the year. From there, the Trojans packed up for a trip to the site of the coming NCAA Tournament to take on the top-ranked team in the nation and fell 4-1 to No. 1 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. Jake DeVine secured the lone point for the Trojans with his singles win on court four.

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, seven Trojans have hit double digits in the singles win column. Sophomore Brandon Holt leads the pack with 19 singles wins. Jake DeVine has 15, and Laurens Verboven holds 14, with a set of Trojans following close behind. Jack Jaede has collected 12 wins; Tanner Smith has 11; while Logan Smith and Daniel Cukierman grip 10 apiece. In the doubles realm, the hottest hands belong to Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven, who are off to a 20-6 start thanks in part to a perfect 7-0 record together during the month of January. Meanwhile, Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith have gathered in a 10-2 record together to date.

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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Players Mentioned

Daniel Cukierman

Jake DeVine

Thibault Forget

Brandon Holt

Jack Jaede

Logan Smith

Riley Smith

Tanner Smith

Laurens Verboven