No. 13 USC Men Wrap Regular Season With Saturday Clash Vs. Utah

THIS WEEK

USC men's tennis is set to wrap the regular season on home turf this weekend. Ranked No. 13 in the nation, the Trojans (14-7, 5-2 Pac-12) are already secured as the No. 3 seed in the coming Pac-12 Tournament. The regular-season finale will come this Saturday (April 21) in a 12 p.m. clash against No. 38 Utah (19-6, 2-4) at USC's Marks Stadium.

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 April 17) have the Trojans standing at No. 13. In the latest individual rankings (released April 17), sophomore Brandon Holt remains the frontrunner for the Trojans, ranked No. 16 in the nation in singles. Freshman Daniel Cukierman, meanwhile, now sits at No. 83, with Logan Smith on the scene at No. 115. In doubles, USC's Brandon Holt and Riley Smith rank No. 10 in the nation, with teammates Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven having risen to No. 11 in the land.

SCOUTING UTAH

The Utes are 19-6 overall and 2-4 in Pac-12 play after falling to Washington 4-2 and to Oregon 4-3 last week. Utah has #107 Dan Little nationally ranked in singles and no ranked doubles teams. In a series dating back to 1962, USC holds a 33-1 all-time record over Utah. The teams met twice last season, with USC winning 7-0 in the Pac-12 regular-season match in Los Angeles and then winning 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Pac-12 Tournament in Ojai.

LAST ACTION

USC made it a Pac-12 road sweep last week, visiting and beating Arizona 4-0 and No. 33 Arizona State 4-1 to improve to 5-2 in Pac-12 play and lock in on the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament in Ojai. Against the Wildcats, USC cruised to a shutout win to snag the first Pac-12 road victory of the weekend. The Trojans outlasted the Wildcats in an extended doubles stint, with Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven breaking the tie with a tiebreaker victory on court two to get the first point of the day. In singles, USC had Riley Smith and Jake DeVine net wins to set the table for Brandon Holt's clincher at the top spot. Two days later in Tempe, USC cleaned up the Pac-12 road sweep with a 4-1 victory over No. 33 Arizona State. The Trojans fired off the opening point with doubles wins on courts one on two again before ASU snagged its first point of the match in singles. USC would rattle off the next three singles wins, capped by Jake DeVine's clincher, to close out the victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

As dual match play rolls along, eight Trojans have hit double digits in the singles win column. Sophomore Brandon Holt leads the pack with 20 singles wins. Laurens Verboven and Jake DeVine are next in line with 17 apiece. Following that trio is Jack Jaede, who has collected 13 wins, and Tanner Smith with 11, while Logan Smith, Daniel Cukierman and Thibault Forget each grip 10 apiece. In the doubles realm, the hottest hands belong to Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven, who have cracked the 20-win barrier and now hold a 24-6 mark that is due in part to a perfect 7-0 record together during the month of January and a current six-match win streak. Meanwhile, Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith have gathered in a 12-3 record together to date, and top guns Brandon Holt and Riley Smith are now 12-2 overall while riding an eight-match win streak.

TOP COMPETITION

USC may be carrying seven overall losses, but each of those came in matches against highly ranked opponents. All seven losses have come to top-10 teams, while the Trojans have taken out three top-10 opponents, including a top-five win over then-No. 4 Georgia.

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.

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 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. Jaede and Verboven have continued to impress as USC's winningest doubles duo, gripping a 21-6 overall record and an 11-5 mark together in dual-match play.

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