No. 8 USC Men Open NCAA Journey At Home For 13th Straight Year

THIS WEEK

No. 8 USC starts its 2019 NCAA Tournament journey on home turf for the 13th consecutive season, as the Trojans host the NCAA First and Second Rounds at Marks Stadium May 3-4. This year's batch of NCAA hopefuls opening up action on USC's courts will be Minnesota (16-9), Northern Arizona (22-6) and San Diego (20-4). Competition begins on Friday (May 3) with a 10 a.m. First Round matchup between Minnesota and San Diego. At 1 p.m., No. 8 seeded USC faces Northern Arizona. The winners of those two matches will move on to a 3 p.m. Second Round clash on Saturday (May 4) to decide who gets the ticket to next week's Round of 16. That match could play out at Marks Stadium as well if the Trojans are victorious this weekend. The final eight NCAA teams will head to Orlando, Fla., for the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship matches (May 16-19).

ORACLE/ITA RANKINGS UPDATES

For the 12th 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 nation to open the spring. The latest ITA team rankings (released May 1) have the Trojans at No. 8 in the nation. The latest individual rankings also were released May 1, with six Trojans ranked in singles and one ranked doubles team. Junior Brandon Holt leads the way at No. 6 in the nation in singles. Sophomore Daniel Cukierman stands at No. 24, with senior Laurens Verboven at No. 40. They're followed by fellow senior Tanner Smith at No. 57, senior Logan Smith at No. 84 and freshman Bradley Frye at No. 109. In doubles, USC has Holt and Riley Smith now ranked at No. 10 in the land.

NCAA NOTES

USC is making its 13th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, and 41st overall appearance. Now carrying a 20-7 overall record, the No. 8-seeded Trojans are looking to extend their stretch of reaching at least the NCAA Round of 16 in the past 12 seasons. With five NCAA crowns claimed since 2009, USC continues to lead the nation with 21 national championships all-time, and holds a 105-34 overall record in the NCAA Tournament. USC was a No. 10 seed last season in a run to the NCAA Quarterfinals in Winston-Salem. During USC's current 13-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 & 2019), 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 automatic qualification into the 2019 NCAA Tournament as champions of the 2019 Pac-12 Tournament, where the Trojans beat Washington 4-0 in the quarterfinals and Stanford 4-2 in the semifinals before posting a 4-0 win over Cal in the title match in Ojai. Now ranked No. 8 in the nation, Peter Smith's 2019 Trojans grip a 20-7 overall record to have secured USC's third consecutive 20-win season. Individually, as NCAA action begins, eight Trojans have hit double digits in the singles win column. Sophomore Daniel Cukierman leads the pack with 32 singles victories. Freshman Jake Sands is next in line with 19, followed closely by Brandon Holt and Jake DeVine with 18 apiece. Behind them in the singles win count entering NCAA action are Tanner Smith (16), Laurens Verboven (14), Riley Smith (12) and Logan Smith (11). In the doubles realm, the hottest hands belong to Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith, who are close to cracking the 20-win barrier with a 17-7 mark that is due in part to a current six-match win streak. Meanwhile, top guns Brandon Holt and Riley Smith are now 14-5 overall, and Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven have gathered in a 0-6 record together to date to round out the Trojans' formidable doubles lineup.

SCOUTING NAU

Northern Arizona (22-6) is making its first-ever NCAA appearance after winning the Big Sky championship last week. Coached by Maciej Bogusz, the Lumberjacks are riding a 19-match win streak and have #71 Tim Handel nationally ranked in singles. This will be the first-ever meeting between USC and Northern Arizona.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA

Minnesota (16-9) is making its third straight and 28th overall NCAA appearance, following last year's run to the NCAA Round of 16. The Gophers have secured an at-large bid into the 2019 team draw. Coached by Geoff Young, the Gophers are currently ranked No. 38 in the nation and have #89 Josip Krstanovic ranked nationally in singles and #79 Krstanovic/Levin ranked in doubles. In a series dating back to 1982, USC is 5-1 all-time against Minnesota, with the last meeting coming in the 2009 NCAA Second Round, which the Trojans won 4-0 en route to winning it all that year.

SCOUTING USD

San Diego (20-4) is making its ninth straight and 16th overall NCAA appearance as champions and automatic qualifiers out of the WCC. Last year, the Toreros reached the NCAA Second Round. Coached by Ryan Keckley, the Toreros are currently ranked No. 31 in the nation and have two players — #56 Gui Osorio and #103 August Holmgen — ranked nationally in singles, along with #50 Gamerov/Holmgren ranked in doubles. In a series dating back to 1975, USC is 35-3 all-time against USD after a 6-1 win when the teams met last year in La Jolla.

PAC-12 CHAMPS

USC worked its way to its fourth Pac-12 Tournament title after a strong showing in Ojai from April 25-27. The No. 2 seed in the tourney, USC cruised past No. 7 seeded Washington 4-0 in the quarterfinals to get to the semifinals for the eighth consecutive year. Against the Huskies, USC snagged a speedy doubles point and then pressed on to claim three straight-set singes victories on wins from Tanner Smith, Daniel Cukierman and Jake Sands. In the semis vs. Stanford, the Trojans again whipped up the doubles point and then moved ahead 3-0 with singles wins from Brandon Holt and Sands before the Cardinal answered back with two singles wins. On court two, however, USC had a determined Cukierman finish things off with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) win to lock up the 4-2 decision and take that ticket to the title match. In the title match for the seventh time, USC cleaned up a 4-0 sweep of No. 33 California to claim the Trojans' fourth Pac-12 Tournament Championship. While three three-setters raged in singles play, USC saw freshman Sands coolly claim a straight-set clincher to follow wins from Cukierman and Laurens Verboven to get USC the title, the ticket to NCAA action and another 20-win season.

NCAA INDIVIDUAL ACTION

USC will be well represented in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship stretch of the postseason, with four Trojans locked in for singles and one doubles duo in the mix. It'll be the first career NCAA appearance for sophomore Daniel Cukierman and senior Tanner Smith, and first NCAA singles stint for senior Laurens Verboven. Brandon Holt, meanwhile, is making his third journey into the NCAA singles draw and his third in doubles alongside fellow junior Riley Smith. Holt also has scored the No. 6 seed into the singles bracket. The 2019 NCAA Individual Championships will run May 20-25 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. Cukierman, Holt, Verboven and Tanner Smith are in the field of 64 singles players who will open competition on May 20, with Holt and Riley Smith paired up among a 32-team draw of doubles duos starting up on May 21.

SPREADING THE WEALTH

Riley Smith's match-clinching singles win vs. UCLA on Feb. 22 made him the seventh Trojan to clinch victory this year. In fact, USC's first seven wins had each been secured by a different Trojan. Daniel Cukierman (Cal Poly), Brandon Holt (Florida), Jake Sands (UC Santa Barbara), Logan Smith (UC Davis), Tanner Smith (San Francisco) and Laurens Verboven (South Carolina) all claimed a clincher apiece in USC opening stretch. Coming through with the double? That was freshman Sands, who snagged his second match-clinching victory in USC's road win at Utah. He's since clinched three more matches — including the Pac-12 Championship — to lead the team with five clinchers, while Verboven has four. Meanwhile, freshman Mor Bulis clinched his first match as a Trojan with a big win from court six at No. 3 Texas.

BULIS BREAKS THROUGH

USC freshman Mor Bulis dealt the deciding blow for the Trojans in their 4-2 upset of No. 3 Texas in Austin. For his heroics, he was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week. Standing tall on court six, Bulis stepped up to secure his first match-clinching singles win with a 6-2, 7-5 decision over Texas' Chih Chi Huang. Bulis' victory sealed the deal on a 4-2 win over the Longhorns, and claimed USC's second win over a top-5 opponent this season. Bulis, who joined the Trojans this spring, is now 4-4 overall in singles play after this clincher in Austin. He's the second Trojan to be named Pac-12 Player of the Week this season, following two selections for Brandon Holt, as USC now boasts 53 all-time picks for the conference's weekly award.

HOLT DOUBLES UP ON PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

Junior Brandon Holt has now snagged two Pac-12 Player of the Week honors, running his career total up to three and USC's all-time count to 52. On Jan. 29, Holt was honored after USC's 3-0 start to the season, in which Holt collected the first doubles win of the new year, winning on court one in USC's historic season-opening dual match against No. 25 South Carolina — played on the courts of the Australian Open in Melbourne. Then, back in Los Angeles, Holt swept through two singles and two doubles victories in USC's winning run at ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Most recently, Holt snagged three singles wins — two over ranked opponents — and went 2-1 in doubles during USC's run to the final at the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge in Indian Wells.

FALL SUCCESS

Several Trojans had impactful falls, with Daniel Cukierman winning the SoCal Intercollegiate title and reaching the Oracle ITA Fall Singles Final, Logan Smith winning the ITA Southwest Regional title, Laurens Verboven claiming the ITA Oracle Masters championship, and Tanner Smith reaching the ITA Southwest Regional final. In November, Jack Jaede would scoop up the Jack Kramer Collegiate singles title with a championship match win over teammate Jake DeVine. DeVine and Bradley Frye also had strong showings at the ITA All-American qualifying rounds.

AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURES

In the first-ever collegiate dual match to be played at a Grand Slam, No. 5 USC showed resilience under a warm Australian sun on its official 2019 opener, gutting out a 4-0 victory over No. 25 South Carolina on the courts of the Australian Open in Melbourne. The Trojans snagged a quick doubles point and looked in position for a swift string of singles wins until the Gamecocks dug in and forced three sets on four courts. USC was able to net straight-set wins from freshman Jake Sands and sophomore Daniel Cukierman before things got tangled, and then Laurens Verboven came through with the clincher to wrap USC's memorable visit to Melbourne and get USC a 1-0 start to the 2019 campaign. The doubles point was a quick fix for the Trojans, who rattled off two swift victories to pocket a 1-0 lead. At the No. 1 spot, Brandon Holt and Riley Smith peeled out to a 6-1 win, putting Daniel Cukierman and Bradley Frye in position to snag the opening point. The sophomore-freshman duo locked in with a 6-2 victory on court three, and the Trojans were off to singles play with the 1-0 advantage in their court. In singles, USC claimed first sets down the line, but the Gamecocks fired back on four courts. At the No. 6 spot, however, USC freshman Jake Sands held firm and scored USC's first singles win of the day on a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Jake Beasley to make it 2-0 Trojans. Next, USC's #8 Daniel Cukierman sidestepped a third and closed out a 6-2, 7-5 win over South Carolina's Yancy Davis on court two, and USC was up 3-0 with four courts tangled up in third sets. On court one, Brandon Holt rebounded from dropping the first set in a tiebreaker against #7 Paul Jubb, and the top guns would continue to battle in the third while the finish line neared on other courts. Jack Jaede and Riley Smith were both in tight third sets on courts four and five, respectively, while #19 Laurens Verboven also was in lockstep with South Carolina's Daniel Rodrigues on court three. Finally, Verboven found the finishing touch, getting one last break to clinch the match on his 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win. That suspended the remaining matches, and sent USC home to Los Angeles with a key win to build momentum in the early goings of the 2019 season.

LAST SEASON

USC went 20-9 overall last year with a run to the NCAA Quarterfinals, finishing the 2018 season ranked No. 11 in the nation. For the first time since 1993, USC men's tennis landed multiple Trojan doubles pairs on the ITA All-America honor roll. It also was 25 years ago that USC last finished a season with more than three ITA All-Americans, as the Trojans boasted four honorees for 2018 in Brandon Holt, Riley Smith, Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven. All but Holt were first-time All-Americans, with Holt adding 2018 singles and doubles All-American honors to his 2017 singles pick from his freshman campaign. Holt and Smith finished 2018 ranked as the No. 9 doubles team in the nation to secure their doubles All-American status, while Jaede and Verboven snagged their first All-American honors as a 5-8 seed in the NCAA Doubles draw as well as a No. 10 final ranking. A three-time All-American, Brandon Holt secured his second singles selection as a 9-16 seed in his second appearance in the NCAA Singles draw. Holt also powered through to the NCAA Round of 16 in singles and in doubles with Smith.

Players Mentioned

Mor Bulis

Daniel Cukierman

Jake DeVine

Bradley Frye

Brandon Holt

Jack Jaede

Jake Sands

Logan Smith

Riley Smith

Tanner Smith

Laurens Verboven