Univ. of Southern California Team Page
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The No. 1 USC men's tennis team earned another trip to the NCAA Round of 16 today with a 4-1 win over Oklahoma State at Marks Stadium. The top-ranked Trojans (28-3) got off on the right foot in doubles against the No. 29 Cowboys (22-7) to begin play on Mother's Day.
On court one, junior Yannick Hanfmann and senior Ray Sarmiento, the No. 1 doubles team in the nation, topped Oklahoma State's #14 Jakob Sude and Arjun Kadhe, 8-5. With the win, Hanfmann and Sarmiento improved to 15-2 together on the season.
The Cowboys roared back on court two, though, when Sebastian Sachs and Lucas Gerch beat USC's junior Roberto Quiroz and freshman Connor Farren, 8-2. It was just the second time Farren has been on the court for the Trojans since the end of February, when he sustained a foot injury that sidelined him until Saturday's first round match against Idaho.
This left all eyes on court three, where the Trojans have been able to count on USC's junior Eric Johnson and sophomore Max de Vroome all season. The duo came through once again for the Trojans, defeating Oklahoma State's Brady Bohrnstedt and Matt Campbell, 8-3. Johnson and de Vroome will head into the third round of the NCAA tournament with a 26-9 overall record on the season.
Heading into singles play, it appeared that Farren and Quiroz dealt with their doubles loss very differently. Farren faced off against Oklahoma State's Nicolai Ferrigno on court six, and fell behind early. Though he rallied in the first set to win two games, the Foster City, Calif. native could not overcome the early deficit, eventually falling 6-2, 6-0.
On court three, however, #42 Quiroz bolted out to an early lead against #116 Kadhe. The Ecuadorian put the Trojans ahead again with a 6-2, 6-2 victory, extending his win streak to an impressive 18 matches.
With USC ahead 2-1, Johnson was the next Trojan to step up, delivering a 6-4, 6-4 win over Bohrnstedt on court five. This left #9 Sarmiento, #10 Hanfmann and #98 de Vroome all vying for the match-winning point against their opponents. On court four, de Vroome cruised to a 6-2 win in his first set over Oklahoma State's Gerch, but the Cowboy won the second set, 6-3, to force a third. Despite his characteristic hustle and impressive ball placement, Sarmiento dropped the first set to Oklahoma State's #77 Sude on court two.
On court one, though, Hanfmann appeared in control throughout the match. The German utilized solid groundstrokes and serves to take down #96 Sachs, 6-1, 6-3, to clinch the match for the Trojans. With the win, Hanfmann improved to 21-5 overall in singles play this season and increased his winning streak to seven consecutive matches.
The Trojans now advance to Athens, Ga., where top-seeded USC will face No. 16 seed Columbia at 9 a.m. ET on May 16 in the NCAA Round of 16.
NCAA SECOND ROUND
#1 USC 4, #29 Oklahoma State 1
May 11, 2014 - Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) #1 Hanfmann/Sarmiento (USC) def. #14 Sude/Kadhe (OKST), 8-5
(2) Sachs/Gerch (OKST) def. Farren/Quiroz (USC), 8-2
(3) de Vroome/Johnson (USC) def. Bohrnstedt/Campbell (OKST), 8-3
USC wins the doubles point
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3*
SINGLES
(1) #10 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. #96 Sebastian Sachs (OKST), 6-1, 6-3*
(2) #77 Jakob Sude (OKST) vs. #9 Ray Sarmiento, 7-5, 2-3 susp.
(3) #42 Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. #116 Arjun Kadhe (OKST), 6-2, 6-2
(4) # Max de Vroome (USC) vs. Lucas Gerch (OKST), 6-2, 3-6, 0-1 susp.
(5) Eric Johnson (USC) def. Brady Bohrnstedt (OKST), 6-4, 6-4
(6) Nicolai Ferringo (OKST) def. Connor Farren (USC), 6-2, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 3, 5, 1*
