USC Men's Tennis Secures Fifth Title In Six Years
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ATHENS, GA—University of Southern California Men’s Tennis secured the school’s 100th collegiate national title and the team’s fifth in six years Tuesday night, beating Oklahoma 4-2 at a packed Dan Magill Tennis Complex at the University of Georgia.
The Sooners started off strong, defeating the Trojan duo of Connor Farren and Roberto Quiroz in doubles to open up the match.
Senior captain Ray Sarmiento was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. (@USC_Athletics/Twitter)
However, the Trojans rallied, winning the first sets of each of the other five singles matches to gain back early momentum.
Yannick Hanfmann put the Trojans on the board winning 7-5, 6-2 in straight sets to make the score 2-1.
In a matchup of two of the top ten singles players in the nation, USC senior Ray Sarmiento (No. 9) defeated Oklahoma sophomore Axel Alvarez Llamas (No. 7) 6-4, 7-6.
Sarmiento looked like he would take the match early after winning his first set 6-4 and getting up late in the second, but Alvarez fought back to send it to a tiebreaker.
Sophomore Max de Vroome sealed the Trojans' 100th championship in school history. (USC Men's Tennis/Facebook)
Sarmiento went up 6-1 in the tiebreaker, but Alvarez saved three match points in a row before the Trojan senior put it away with a powerful forehand to win the tiebreaker 7-4 and take the match.
USC junior Eric Johnson put the Trojans in the lead 3-2 with a 6-1, 7-6 win over Oklahoma sophomore Austin Siegel.
But in the end, it was USC’s 6-foot-5 sophomore from the Netherlands, Max de Vroome, who sealed the Trojans victory with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Sooners’ freshman Andrew Harris.
The freshman out of Australia fought back from a early deficit with a couple of key shots to come back from 2-0 and 4-2 holes to tie the set at four apiece. Harris clawed his way back to to 30-40 on the game point, but that was as close as De Vroome would let him get, putting the game away and delivering the team its fifth national championship in six years.
Senior captain Ray Sarmiento was named the tourament's Most Outstanding Player during the trophy presentation. He won three championships during his four year career at USC.
Crosstown rival UCLA took the women’s event 4-3 earlier on Tuesday.
