_ctofeatured.jpg "Trojans advance to ITA National Team Indoor Championships with today's win.")
Trojans advance to ITA National Team Indoor Championships with today's win.
Univ. of Southern California Team Page
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The skies cleared up Saturday for the final day of men's ITA Kick-Off Weekend action, and the No. 2 USC men's tennis team made the most of the break in the weather to pin up a near-clinical 4-0 win over No. 69 Fresno State. The win puts the Trojans at 2-0 on the year, as USC punches its ticket to next month's ITA National Team Indoor Championships, where the Trojans go in defense of their 2012 title.
The doubles point got a little dicey after USC's No. 2 team of Emilio Gomez and Eric Johnson pinned up a solid 8-1 win. A tight match at the No. 3 spot went the way of the Bulldogs, who posted an 8-6 win over USC's Michael Grant and Jonny Wang to even things up. At the No. 1 position, Fresno State's DeLaubenfels/Papik rattled off four straight games to force a tiebreaker, but Trojans Max de Vroome and Roberto Quiroz took care of things under pressure. A booming ace from de Vroome wrapped it up as an 8-7 (3) win, putting the Trojans ahead 1-0 in the match going into singles play.
USC freshman looked to have veteran status at the No. 5 position as he peeled out of reach of Fresno State's Sam MacNeil for a 6-1, 6-1 win that added to USC's lead, up 2-0. Cousins Emilio Gomez and Roberto Quiroz stayed almost in stride side by side, but #27 Gomez pulled his off first with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Reid DeLaubenfels at the No. 1 slot. Quiroz, meanwhile, battled back from down 1-4 in the second set, winning five straight games to clinch victory for his Trojans with the #24 junior's 6-1, 6-4 win over Sai Kartik at the No. 3 slot.
That left the consolation match between San Diego State and Georgia Tech still raging on. The Aztecs followed up the doubles point with a straight-set singles win to take a 2-0 lead. Two three-settters were in the works, with SDSU going up 3-0 and then winning on the court five efforts of #123 Andranik Khachartyan for a 4-0 sweep of the Yellow Jackets.
Both matches were played out on three courts, beginning with doubles. After doubles, singles play began with No. 1, 3 and 5 singles and then filled down the line with Nos. 2, 4 and 6 pending a decision in the match.
ITA Kick-Off Weekend Championship
#2 USC 4, #69 Fresno State 0
Jan. 26, 2013 - Los Angeles, Calif. (Marks Stadium)
DOUBLES
(1) De Vroome/Quiroz (USC) def. DeLaubenfels/Papik (FSt) - 8-7 (3)
(2) Gomez/Johnson (USC) def. MacNeil/Quiroz (FSt) - 8-1
(3) Fritz/Kartik (FSt) def. Grant/Wang - 8-6
USC wins doubles point
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1*
SINGLES
(1) #27 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Reid DeLaubenfels (FSt) - 6-2, 6-3
(2) #61 Eric Johnson (USC) vs. Jeremy Quiroz (FSt) - 5-0 susp.
(3) #24 Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Sai Kartik (FSt) - 6-1, 6-4*
(4) #121 Jonny Wang (USC) vs. Nikolas Papic (FSt) - DNP
(5) Max de Vroome (USC) def. Sam MacNeil (FSt) - 6-1, 6-1
(6) Michael Grant (USC) vs. Felipe Fritz (FSt) - DNP
Order of finish: 5, 1, 3*
ITA Kick-Off Weekend Consolation
#66 San Diego State 4, #60 Georgia Tech 0
Jan. 26, 2013 - Los Angeles, Calif. (Marks Stadium)
DOUBLES
(1) #3 Hundal/Spir (GT) def. Bertsch/Nicholas (SDSU) - 8-6
(2) Khachartyan/Siddiqui (SDSU) def. Gordon/Segura (GT) - 8-7 (2)
(3) Sangwan/Simon (SDSU) def. Edwards/Rakitt (GT) - 8-6
SDSU wins doubles point
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2*
SINGLES
(1) Derek Siddiqui (SDSU) def. #32 Juan Spir (GT) - 6-4, 6-1
(2) Vikram Hungal (GT) vs. Thorsten Bertsch (SDSU) - 6-4, 0-1 susp.
(3) Hunter Nicholas (SDSU) def. Eduardo Segura (GT) - 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
(4) Nathan Rakitt (GT) vs. Marvin Tawasi (SDSU) - 0-1 susp.
(5) #123 Andranik Khachartyan (SDSU) def. Garrett Gordon (GT) - 6-7 (3), 6-1, 7-5*
(6) Anish Sharma (GT) vs. Juan Florez (SDSU) - DNP
Order of finish: 1, 3, 5*
