The USC men beat UNC-Wilmington 6-1 to capture the ITA kickoff final at Marks stadium, with #1 Steve Johnson playing his first singles match of the season. After taking the doubles matches #33 Yannick Hanfmann playing at #5 singles led the undefeated Trojan with a 6-1, 6-1 victory. Hanfmann has been playing at # 3&4 singles previously but with the full line-up Steve Johnson at #1 and Dan Nguyen at #2 moved down to #5. The line-up in this match will probably be the one used most of the season, with Ray Sarmiento at #3 and Emilo Gomez at #4 and different players rounding out the at #6 singles with Robert Quiroz on Sunday.
The USC women also won there kickoff at ASU beating the Sun Devils 6-1 with the same formula (sweeping the doubles) as the men, with freshman Sabrina Santamaria starting off the singles with a 6-1, 6-3 victory. Then Senior Alison Ramos got the next point with a 7-5, 6-3 victory at #6, with the clincher coming at #5 singles behind Gabriella DeSimone with a 7-5, 6-4 win.
#1 USC 6, #43 UNC-Wilmington 1
DOUBLES
(1) Hanfmann/S. Johnson (USC) def. Blank/Cooprider (UNCW) - 8-3
(2) Nguyen/Sarmiento (USC) def. Reilly/Williams (UNCW) - 8-2
(3) Gomez/Quiroz (USC) vs. Aita/Mol (UNCW) - 6-4 susp.
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 1
SINGLES
(1) Steve Johnson (USC) def. Chris Cooprider (UNCW) -- 6-2, 6-4
(2) Rafael Aita (UNCW) def. #16 Daniel Nguyen (USC) -- 7-5, 6-2
(3) #12 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def Pedro Mol (UNCW) -- 6-1, 6-3
(4) #48 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Kosta Blank (UNCW) -- 6-2, 6-3
(5) #33 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. Kaue Pereira (UNCW) -- 6-1, 6-1
(6) Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Michael Reilly (UNCW) -- 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 5, 3, 6*, 1, 2, 4
#16 USC 6, #20 Arizona State 1
DOUBLES
(1) Cako/N. Smith (ASU) vs. #3 Christian/Santamaria (USC) -- DNF
(2) Lao/Ramos (USC) def. Brycki/J. Smith (ASU) -- 8-2
(3) Pulido/Scandalis (USC) def. Sahagun/Simmons (ASU) -- 8-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
(1) #9 Jacqueline Cako (ASU) def. #19 Zoe Scandalis (USC) -- 7-6, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
(2) #42 Danielle Lao (USC) def. Michelle Brycki (ASU) -- 6-4, 2-6, 2-1 ret.
(3) #18 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. Hannah James (ASU) -- 6-1, 6-3
(4) #99 Kaitlyn Christian (USC) def. Sianna Simmons (ASU) -- 7-6 (4), 6-2
(5) Gabriella DeSimone (USC) def. Joanna Smith (ASU) -- 7-5, 6-4*
(6) Alison Ramos (USC) def. Leighann Sahagun -- 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 6, 5*, 2, 4, 1