No. 10 USC Men Take 12th Straight Trip to NCAA Round of 16

THIS WEEK

The Trojans are all packed up for their 12th consecutive trip to the NCAA Round of 16, taking their two opening wins in the tourney to a cross-country journey to Winston-Salem, N.C., where Wake Forest hosts the NCAA Round of 16 and beyond as well as the coming NCAA Individual Championships. Seeded No. 10 in this year's bracket, USC looks to work its way to the program's 22nd national championship in the Trojans' 40th all-time appearance in the NCAA tournament. USC has won five titles in the last nine years and already holds the national record with 21 team trophies. USC's NCAA Round of 16 matchup pits the No. 10 Trojans against No. 7 seed North Carolina in a 9 a.m. ET clash on Friday (May 18) on the Lower Courts of the Wake Forest Tennis Complex. A win there would send USC on to the NCAA Quarterfinals at noon ET on Sunday (May 20) against either No. 2 UCLA or No. 15 Michigan. The men's NCAA Semifinals will be held on May 21, followed by the May 22 Championship match at 5 p.m. ET.

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 May 3) have the Trojans back in the top-10, now at No. 10 to stay in line with their No. 10 seed into NCAA action. In the latest individual rankings (released May 3), sophomore Brandon Holt remains the frontrunner for the Trojans, ranked No. 11 in the nation in singles. Freshman Daniel Cukierman, meanwhile, now sits at No. 74, with Logan Smith on the scene at No. 123. In doubles, USC's Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven still have a leg up over teammates Brandon Holt and Riley Smith in this week's national rankings. Jaede and Verboven now rank No. 9 in the nation, and Holt and Smith stand at No. 10 in the land.

NCAA NOTES

USC is making its 12th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, and 40th overall appearance. Now carrying a 19-8 overall record after beating UC Santa Barbara 4-1 and Harvard 4-0 in the NCAA First and Second Rounds at Marks Stadium last weekend, the No. 10-seeded Trojans are making their 12th straight trip to NCAA Round of 16. With five NCAA crowns claimed in the past nine years, USC continues to lead the nation with 21 national championships all-time, and holds a 104-33 overall record in the NCAA Tournament. USC was a No. 4 seed last season in a run to the NCAA Round of 16. The Trojans were seeded No. 10 in the 1016 tournament, also making a Round of 16 run that year. During USC's current 12-year run of NCAA appearances, USC has been seeded No. 1 (2012 & 2014), No. 2 (2011), No. 4 (2013 & 2017), No. 5 (2010), No. 7 (2015), No. 8 (2009), No. 10 (2016 & 2018) and No. 12 (2007) — with NCAA titles captured in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.

TROJANS TO DATE

The USC men earned an at-large bid into the 2018 NCAA Tournament after a second-place finish at the Pac-12 Tournament, where the Trojans upset No. 4 Stanford in the semifinals before falling to No. 2 UCLA in the title match in Ojai. Now ranked No. 10 in the nation, Peter Smith's 2018 Trojans grip a 19-8 overall record. Individually, as NCAA Round of 16 action begins, eight Trojans have hit double digits in the singles win column. Sophomore Brandon Holt leads the pack with 23 singles victories. Laurens Verboven is next in line with 20, followed closely by Jake DeVine's 18. Following that trio is Jack Jaede, who has collected 15 wins, Daniel Cukierman with 14, Tanner Smith and Thibault Forget with 11 apiece, while Logan Smith grips 10 singles wins. In the doubles realm, the hottest hands belong to Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven, who have long since cracked the 20-win barrier and now hold a 29-6 mark that is due in part to a perfect 7-0 record together during the month of January and a current nine-match win streak. Meanwhile, top guns Brandon Holt and Riley Smith are now 16-3 overall, and Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith have gathered in a 14-4 record together to date to round out the Trojans' formidable doubles lineup.

TOP COMPETITION

USC may be carrying eight overall losses, but each of those came in matches against highly ranked opponents. All eight losses have come to top-10 teams, while the Trojans have taken out four top-10 opponents, including a top-five win over then-No. 4 Georgia and an upset of then-No. 4 Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.

INDIVIDUAL ACTION

In their second trip to the NCAA Individual Championships, sophomore Brandon Holt and Riley Smith will have a couple Trojan teammates alongside them for this year's journey to Winston-Salem, N.C. Holt is back in the NCAA Singles draw, with Smith by his side again in the NCAA Doubles draw. Making their NCAA debuts this year will be juniors Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven, who have secured a 5-8 seed into the 2018 NCAA Doubles bracket. The four Trojans have all upgraded their rankings from last season on the way into the 2018 postseason. Jaede and Verboven stand tallest among them all, ranked as the No. 9 doubles team in the nation to help secure this year's high seed into their NCAA Doubles debut. Jaede/Verboven boast a 29-6 overall record together as of May 14, riding a nine-match win streak. Now ranked No. 10 in the nation, Holt/Smith holds a 16-3 mark as of May 14. Both teams went a perfect 7-0 in doubles play during the Pac-12 regular season. In the singles realm, Holt is again the Trojans' winningest player. The No. 11 singles player in the land, Holt is 23-9 overall as of May 14 and has a 9-16 seed into his second NCAA Singles campaign. Last year as freshmen, Holt and Smith fell in the first round in doubles, with Holt taking a three-set loss in the opening round of singles play in Athens, Ga. This year's NCAA Individual Championships will get underway after team play is complete, with NCAA Singles action opening on May 24 and NCAA Doubles starting May 23, both running through May 28.

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.

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

Nick Crystal

Daniel Cukierman

Jake DeVine

Thibault Forget

Brandon Holt

Jack Jaede

Logan Smith

Riley Smith

Tanner Smith

Laurens Verboven