No. 10 USC Men Open NCAA Action On Home Turf Once Again

THIS WEEK

The Trojans have their 40th ticket to NCAA action in-hand as USC takes aim at a 12th consecutive journey into the NCAA Tournament. Seeded No. 10 in this year's bracket, USC looks to work its way to the program's 22nd national championship. USC has won five titles in the last nine years and already holds the national record with 21 team trophies. This year, USC will serve as a host for the NCAA First and Second Rounds for the 12th straight season at Marks Stadium on May 12 and 13. On Saturday (May 12), No. 17 Oklahoma State (20-8) and No. 31 Harvard (20-6) will square off first at 12 p.m. followed by a 3 p.m. matchup between No. 10 USC (17-8) and UC Santa Barbara (18-6). On Sunday (May 13), Saturday's winners will face off at 1 p.m. to determine which team advances to the NCAA Round of 16 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

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 17-8 overall record, the No. 10-seeded Trojans are looking to extend their stretch of reaching at least the NCAA Round of 16 in the past 11 seasons. 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 102-33 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 17-8 overall record. Individually, as NCAA action begins, eight Trojans have hit double digits in the singles win column. Sophomore Brandon Holt leads the pack with 22 singles victories. Laurens Verboven is next in line with 19, followed closely by Jake DeVine's 18. Following that trio is Jack Jaede, who has collected 14 wins, Daniel Cukierman with 13 and Tanner Smith with 11, while Logan Smith and Thibault Forget each grip 10 apiece. 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 28-6 mark that is due in part to a perfect 7-0 record together during the month of January and a current eight-match win streak. Meanwhile, top guns Brandon Holt and Riley Smith are now 14-3 overall, and Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith have gathered in a 13-4 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. 7 doubles team in the nation to help secure this year's high seed into their NCAA Doubles debut. Jaede/Verboven boast a 27-6 overall record together this season and are currently riding a seven-match win streak. Now ranked No. 9 in the nation, Holt/Smith holds a 14-3 mark. 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 22-9 overall 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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No. 10 USC Men Open NCAA Action On Home Turf Once Again

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