Conquest Chronicles

USC 4-Peat Tennis--championship point

2012-05-23T08:41:48Z

USC 4-Peat Tennis--championship point

USC Trojan Tennis 4 Virginia 2 for 4th championship in a row.

2012-05-23T05:47:10Z

Yup they did it again, won another NCAA championship for the 4th time in a row for the second time at USC. This is the 20th time a USC men's tennis team has won the national championship, ending up 33-1 0n the year. This much had a strange twist of faith since we lost the doubles point, getting totally cooked by the Cavaliers after all three Trojan teams lead 3-1. But then as of yesterday the skies opened up and the rain came, causing about a 4 hour delay. They came out after the rain started warming up and then Thunder showers came so they went to play in the indoor facility again.

Now you couldn't watch any streaming and all you could do is get the scores and even that didn't work most of the time, why this wasn't televised by the tennis channel I don't know. So now indoor with only 4 courts, one thru four singles stepped onto the courts down 1-0. Steven Johnson was the first to win his 31st in a row with a 6-2, 6-2 score over #4 ranked Jarmere Jenkins (only 3 losses all year) to tie up the match 1-1, then Emilio Gomez finished off Drew Courtney 6-4, 6-2 to bring USC to 2-1 lead. But then the most unlikely thing happen Dan Nguyen's win streak at the NCAA championships ended 4th straight years and 23-0 he lost to the #2 ranked Mitchel Frank 6-3, 6-1, to pull even at 2-2.

Now there were still 3 matches to play with numbers 5 & 6 starting to play and Raymond Sarmiento finishing up, he came in with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Alex Domijan for USC to go up 3-2. So at five and six singles USC freshman Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz were left to finish off the Cavs, a tough haul for newcomers. But after both split the first two sets Hanfmann came thru with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 win winning the tiebreaker 7-3 the same score as Dan Nguyen's clincher yesterday against UCLA.

Quotes from coach and Players

USC Head Coach Peter Smith
On the match...
“I think that sometimes you inspire your team and sometimes your team inspires you. I went back to my hotel room [after doubles] and to be honest I couldn’t visualize it. That was hard for me. I get a few pep talks, went in there, faked it pretty good to the team and you know, these guys really stepped up.”

On the streak...
“I considered the possibility that it was going to end in the semis or the finals. You’re a coach you are always thinking of different things, but once you are out there you don’t think like that, it’s just about competing. Me, I am competing on every match and I was just trying to stay focused on Yannick’s match and just really compete and compete as hard as my players did. You’re just in the moment. It’s not about winning or losing it’s just about trying to do the right things.”

On the clinch...
“It was tough for us. The last two matches were going to be two freshmen against a sophomore and a senior. That was going to be tough but you know those guys, tradition lives on and it’s unbelievable.

On the team...
“I went in there and we talked about equating this doubles loss to our loss against UCLA. When we lost to UCLA I felt like that helped us a lot. I said ‘our backs are against the wall, lets just go out and play and play hard and stop worrying.’”

USC’s Yannick Hanfmann
On the clinch...
“It’s not just me; the whole team was just competing and playing their asses off like coach wanted us to do. I think that we all did that. Just seeing everybody playing so hard it was just inspiration for me. I am lucky I finished that well.”

USC’s Steve Johnson
On the team...
“It’s a different kind of stress. I trust Yannick and I trust Roberto out there and never did a doubt cross my mind that they weren’t going to get the job done. You know it’s just hard to watch. As a tennis player it comes down to you usually and it’s not this team format. Usually the ball is in your court and you are able to control it. To have it out of your control is just stressful to watch.”

MEN: #1 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (33-1) def. #3 VIRGINIA (29-2), 4-2
Head Coaches: Peter Smith (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) and Brian Boland (VIRGINIA)

Doubles (Order of finish: 2,3)
1. #2 Steve Johnson/Roberto Quiroz (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) vs. #5 Drew Courtney/Jarmere Jenkins (VIRGINIA), 6-5, unfinished
2. Alex Domijan/Mitchell Frank (VIRGINIA) def. Emilio Gomez/Yannick Hanfmann (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 8-5
3. Julen Uriguen/Justin Shane (VIRGINIA) def. #35 Daniel Nguyen/Ray Sarmiento (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 8-4

Singles (Order of finish: 1,4,3,2,5*)
1. #1 Steve Johnson (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) def. #4 Jarmere Jenkins (VIRGINIA), 6-3, 6-2
2. #25 Ray Sarmiento (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) def. #39 Alex Domijan (VIRGINIA), 6-4, 7-5
3. #2 Mitchell Frank (VIRGINIA) def. #21 Daniel Nguyen (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 6-3, 6-1
4. #57 Emilio Gomez (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) def. Drew Courtney (VIRGINIA), 6-4, 6-2
5. #51 Yannick Hanfmann (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) def. #82 Justin Shane (VIRGINIA), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4)
6. Roberto Quiroz (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) vs. Julen Uriguen (VIRGINIA), 2-6, 6-7(3), 3-4, unfinished

Kickoff time set for Syracuse game

2012-05-23T00:00:21Z

Kickoff time set for Syracuse game

12:30PM Pacific...3:30PM Eastern

2012 NCAA Men's Tennis Finals - USC vs UVA Open Thread

2012-05-22T20:00:34Z

Image Via: College Tennis News

Long evening last night with the weather delays and moving the matches indoors.

Fatigue could be an issue.

USC has had UVA's number in the past. Will they be able beat them again. The matches are not televised but they can be seen on UGA website, provided the weather holds up.

Just like yesterday, So.Cal.'52 will be running the thread.

Join us here!

FIGHT ON!

2012 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships: Virginia Cavaliers face USC Trojans for the fourth straight year - Streaking The Lawn

2012-05-22T14:19:01Z

2012 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships: Virginia Cavaliers face USC Trojans for the fourth straight year - Streaking The Lawn

A view from the UVA side of the fence.

Again USC Mens Tennis Crunches ucla 4-1 in the semi-finals and USC women lose a tight one 4-3.

2012-05-22T04:02:22Z

Well the USC Men prevailed but the Ladies didn't both teams playing Ucla in the Ncaa Semi's in the national championship. The men will play Virginia in the finals which is a rematch of last year and will be tomorrow at 2:00 PST in Athens Georgia, if anyone is going to fly out hey the Band Did. Today was really a weird one with the mens teams being rained out at the start of singles (trojans over bruins in doubles 1-0), then moving into the indoor facility that only has 4 courts.

So you have Virginia/Pepperdine and USC/ucla both having to finish, so only two matches from each team could play. USCs number one player and the #1 ranked player Steven Johnson finished off Clay Thompson of ucla 6-1, 6-1, then Ray Sarmiento ripped thru Nick Meister 6-1, 6-1 for USC to go up 3-0. Now it came to Dan Nguyen and Emilio Gomez to the courts both behind in the first set. While both lost the first set the senior Nguyen fought back to take the second set and Emilio lost his match 3-6, 4-6, which bought the score to 3-1 USC. Then Dan went to work and pulled out a 3rd set Tiebreaker 3-6,6-3, 7-6 to put USC in the finals for the 4th straight year.

Earlier today USCs women's team lost a heart breaker to ucla 4-3 after getting 3-2, after losing the doubles point in the beginning. A great showing by the young Trojans with everyone back for next year plus they get a top ranked junior in Ellie Yates, they should be back next year for another run.

This match took a lot of twists and turns but it all comes down to that doubles point, which in todays matches plays so much. Hats off to DeSimone for her comeback, but the most confusing thing is Scandalis and Lao losing in three sets at #1 and #2 singles I thought clearly they would pull out wins, but hats off to Anderson and Jones who haven't been at their best lately. Here is a little someting from the Women

WOMEN: #1 UCLA (26-2) def. #5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (24-4), 4-3 - Henry Feild Stadium
Head Coaches: Stella Sampras Webster (UCLA) and Richard Gallien (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA)

Doubles (Order of finish: 1,2)
1. #6 Robin Anderson/Skylar Morton (UCLA) def. #3 Kaitlyn Christian/Sabrina Santamaria (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 8-3
2. #9 Courtney Dolehide/Pamela Montez (UCLA) def. #49 Valeria Pulido/Zoe Scandalis (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 8-4
3. McCall Jones/Carling Seguso (UCLA) vs. #75 Danielle Lao/Alison Ramos (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 5-6, unfinished

Singles (Order of finish: 4,5,3,6,1,2*)
1. #4 Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. #14 Zoe Scandalis (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-2
2. #98 McCall Jones (UCLA) def. #19 Danielle Lao (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
3. #26 Sabrina Santamaria (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) def. #73 Pamela Montez (UCLA), 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
4. #124 Skylar Morton (UCLA) def. #89 Kaitlyn Christian (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA), 6-4, 7-5
5. Gabriella DeSimone (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) def. #119 Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA), 0-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Valeria Pulido (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA) def. #114 Kaitlin Ray (UCLA), 7-5, 3-6, 6-1

MEN: #1 Southern California 4, #4 UCLA 1

Singles competition (Order of finish: 1,2,4,3*)
1. Steve Johnson (USC) def. Clay Thompson (UCLA) 6-1, 6-1
2. Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. Nick Meister (UCLA) 6-1, 6-1
3. Daniel Nguyen (USC) def. Dennis Novikov (UCLA) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
4. Marcos Giron (UCLA) def. Emilio Gomez (USC) 6-3, 6-4
5. Yannick Hanfmann (USC) vs. Adrien Puget (UCLA) 3-6, 1-3, unfinished
6. Roberto Quiroz (USC) vs. Dennis Mkrtchian (UCLA) 2-3, unfinished

Doubles competition (1,3,2)
1. Steve Johnson/Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Alex Brigham/Adrien Puget (UCLA) 8-6
2. Daniel Nguyen/Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. Nick Meister/Dennis Novikov (UCLA) 9-8 (8-6)
3. Marcos Giron/Warren Hardie (UCLA) def. Emilio Gomez/Yannick Hanfmann (USC) 8-

USC experience transforms Lane Kiffin - ESPN

2012-05-22T00:28:31Z

USC experience transforms Lane Kiffin - ESPN

Meh...

These guys are behind the curve.

Amazing video from the Trojan's trip to Haiti.

2012-05-21T23:25:36Z

Amazing video from the Trojan's trip to Haiti.