USC Tennis

[Canyon.usc]

Women.

4-12-24. USC #10 (W) vs Oregon, #67, 4-0. Good win at home, 17-6 record. Now, team must get up for a rubber match with hometown rival #15 UCLA, 4-19-24; it's gonna be an Xlent match. After dat, get pumped for da Ojai Tournament, PAC 12 Championship, 4-24 to 4-28-24. Last year our Girls made da finals, but loss to Stanford.

We got our full pass with senior discount $60 x 2. Saved $5 per pass. Booked 3 nights lodging, Thurs, Fri, Sat. Last year missed da finals due a dinner party, Shakano conflicting schedule dis year. We love spending time in Ojai, so beautiful up there & good eating restaurants + get to see our long time friends and play some tennis...

DOUBLES
1) #20 Eryn Cayetano/Emma Charney (USC) vs. Jo-Yee Chan/Sophie Luescher (UO) – 5-4 UNF.
2) Lily Fairclough/McKenna Koenig (USC) def. Uxia Martinez/Tilde Jagare (UO) – 6-0
3) #56 Parker Fry/Grace Piper (USC) def. Nina Geissler/Karin Young (UO) – 6-4*

USC wins the doubles point.
Order of Finish: 2,3

SINGLES
1) # 105 Snow Han (USC) def. Sophie Luescher (UO) – 6-1, 6-3 Solid W by Snow
2) #36 Emma Charney (USC) def. Nina Geissler (UO) – 6-0, 6-2* Dominating W by Emma.
3) #83 Eryn Cayetano (USC) vs. Jo-Yee Chan (UO) – 6-1, 5-6 UNF. No question Eryn would have won. Grace Piper #3 spot did not play singles, but played Dbl's.
4) Sloane Morra (USC) vs. Uxia Martinez (UO) – 6-3, 1-3 UNF. Shaka Sloane moved up to #4 spot, most likely Sloane would have won. Sloane has been playing A+ tennis da last 3 weeks. A Big Fight On Sloane!
5) McKenna Koenig (USC) def. Karin Young (UO) – 6-2, 6-3 A+ W by McKenna! ShakaMK is a very good tennis player, she wins matches and valuable pts at #5 spot. Since Naomi Cheong has been out, MK has done well for da team. I'm not surprised one bit, last season McKenna played outstanding tennis #5 or #6 spots with mucho wins. Pre season, I had pencil her at #6.
6) Candela Aparisi (UO) vs. Immi Haddad (USC) vs.– 6-0, 5-4 UNF. Nice Immi got da chance to play. As a freshman, she needs some game day matches under her to gain confidence and experience. Only a freshman, she should be in da single's rotation next year.
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 2*

Men.

4-12-24. USC #54 (W) vs #51 Cal, 4-1 at home. Nice W for da Boys.

DOUBLES
1. #41 Mikey Wright/Alex Chang (Cal) def. #55 Peter Makk/Lodewijk
Weststrate (USC) 6-3
2. Ryder Jackson/Lucas Magnaudet (Cal) def. Oscar Weightman/Samuel
Rubell (USC) 6-4
3. Karl Lee/Volodymyr Iakubenko (USC) vs. Carl Emil Overbeck/Qian Sun
(Cal) 4-5 UNF

Cal wins the doubles point.
Order of finish: 1, 2

SINGLES
1. #82 Peter Makk (USC) def. #81 Ryder Jackson (Cal) 7-5, 6-2. Ryder is a former Trojan.
2. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) def. #119 Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal) 6-1, 2-6, 6-0
3. Volodymyr Iakubenko (USC) def. #123 Alex Chang (Cal) 7-5, 6-2
4. Karl Lee (USC) vs Timofey Stepanov (Cal) 2-6, 7-6(3), UNF
5. Samuel Rubell (USC) def. Lucas Magnaudet (Cal) 6-3, 6-2
6. Niroop Vallabhaneni (USC) vs Jonathan Irwanto (Cal) 6-3, 4-5, UNF

Order of finish: 1, 5, 3, 2

4-13-24. USC #54 (L) vs #19 Stanford, 1-4 at home. No Dbl's were played. Updated record, 6-14.

 

[Canyon.usc]

4-16-24, Weekly Rankings

Women. PR = Previous Rankings

PAC 12.

Stanford #3, PR #3 (18-2) record

Cal #9, PR #9 (16-4)

UCLA #10, PR #15, (16-4), 5 weeks ago #36 climbed da rankings fast. 4-11-24 beat #7 Pepperdine 4-3. and 3-31-24 beat #2 Stanford 4-3. I predicted UCLA was going to be a top 10 team. I feel Bruins #8 in country.

USC #11, PR #10 (17-6) Good season for da Girls. Last year 2023 ended up #25 in final rankings. Made a huge improvement dis season. Shaka to our Wahines.

Pepperdine #8, PR #7, (13-6)


Men. PAC 12

Zona #10, PR #8 (19-3) record

Stanford # 20, PR #18, (14-5)

ASU #22, PR 21 (14-8)

UCLA #23, PR #25 (11-6)

USC #50, PR #54 (6-14) Sad, disappointing season.

 

[WestwoodTrojan]

4-16-24, Weekly Rankings

Women. PR = Previous Rankings

PAC 12.

Stanford #3, PR #3 (18-2) record

Cal #9, PR #9 (16-4)

UCLA #10, PR #15, (16-4), 5 weeks ago #36 climbed da rankings fast. 4-11-24 beat #7 Pepperdine 4-3. and 3-31-24 beat #2 Stanford 4-3. I predicted UCLA was going to be a top 10 team. I feel Bruins #8 in country.

USC #11, PR #10 (17-6) Good season for da Girls. Last year 2023 ended up #25 in final rankings. Made a huge improvement dis season. Shaka to our Wahines.

Pepperdine #8, PR #7, (13-6)


Men. PAC 12

Zona #10, PR #8 (19-3) record

Stanford # 20, PR #18, (14-5)

ASU #22, PR 21 (14-8)

UCLA #23, PR #25 (11-6)

USC #50, PR #54 (6-14) Sad season

As far as mens' tennis, Brett Masi, if he's retained as coach is going to have to recruit some 13+ UTR's via the transfer portal or foreigners that would want to come to SC. Question is do they want to come and play for Masi given that his players really have not developed after coming here. The recruits he has committed so far are currently low 12 UTR's. That is not going to get it done unless they improve dramatically. This has to be the worst seasons by far in USC tennis history.

 

[Canyon.usc]

As far as mens' tennis, Brett Masi, if he's retained as coach is going to have to recruit some 13+ UTR's via the transfer portal or foreigners that would want to come to SC. Question is do they want to come and play for Masi given that his players really have not developed after coming here. The recruits he has committed so far are currently low 12 UTR's. That is not going to get it done unless they improve dramatically. This has to be the worst seasons by far in USC tennis history.

Good points C.Masi had 2 consecutive sub par recruiting years and dat really hurt the roster + 2 key players transferred, but he replaced them with 2 good international players. Unfortunately, one of them, #3 spot Weightman has been out (injury) and #1 spot Dostanic has been out as well (weird situation with him, injured?). Having da #1 and #3 guys out and with only 8 on da roster made things difficult.

I still think C.Masi is a good technical coach. He knows tennis. This was a very strange season. Does da team need a new coach, I can't say. It's up to AD Cohen, a top caliber tennis coach is gonna cost. Is USC willing to pay for a non revenue sport?.

As you know, high stakes college tennis is all about recruiting the very best USA talent, 5* Blue Chip and 5* Yellow Chip players and top 40 international players. Tennis is unlike football where teams can get away with 3* to 1* type players by developing them into productive players in 2 years. To play top D-1 tennis it takes 10 hard and dedicated years of advance training. Players must start playing by 7 yrs old and have professional coaching and daily practice and play big tournaments thru out da country and world.

2 highly ranked players are coming in next year and they should help the roster. Maybe C.Masi can land 2 top international players as well. Fight On to our men's tennis team...

 

[Canyon.usc]

Women. 4-19-24

USC #11 (L) vs ICLA #10, 2-4

Rubber match, USC could not pull out da win, 0-2 vs UCLA so far. It was a close match. UCLA took da Dbl’s pt which was pivotal. In big matches & evenly matched teams, da team dat take the Dbl’s pt, 95% of da time will win da match. UCLA is so tough, da roster is filled with high ranking HS players. Most of all well coached. UCLA will do well in da NC tournament in May.

Note: And, UCLA"s #4 single’s player A.Lutkembyer and #6 V.Ong did not play today. Well we did not have #5 Naomi Cheong too.

DOUBLES

1. #17 Tian Fangran/Elise Wagle (UCLA) def. #18 Eryn Cayetano/Emma Charney (USC) – 6-2
2. #76 Kimmi Hance/Anne Christine Lutkmeyer (UCLA) def. Lily Fairclough/McKenna Koenig (USC) vs. – 6-1
3. #60 Parker Fry/Grace Piper (USC) def. Ahmani Guichard/Bianca Fernandez (UCLA) – 6-3

UCLA wins the doubles point.
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*

SINGLES

1. #39 Tian Fangran Soph, China (UCLA) def. #84 Snow Han (USC) - 6-3, 6-3. Fangran was da NC in singles last year as a Fr. and will do well in dis 2024 NC tournament. She should reach da Elite 8

2. #34 Emma Charney (USC) def. #21 Kimmi Hance, Jr, Palos Verde (UCLA) - 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Xlent win by Emma our top player. Kimmi Hance is one of the nation’s top players. Recent big wins vs Connie Ma-Stanford #12 N and Broadus-Pepperdine #10 N. Hance from Peninsula HS, Palos Verde was #4 ranked in nation, 5* Blue Chip, Calif’s #1 HS ranked player. I think Hance has a good shot making da Elite 8 in da NC tournament. Emma too,

3. #54 Grace Piper (USC) def. #72 Bianca Fernandez, Fr (UCLA) - 6-2, 6-4. Awesome win by Grace. Fernandez was Canada’s top HS payer.

4. Elise Wagle, Jr, NY (UCLA) def. #79 Eryn Cayetano (USC) - 1-6, 6-2, 7-5. Upset. Tough loss by Eryn, it was a very close match. Wagle was da #15 in nation HS, 5* Blue Chip.

5. McKenna Koenig (USC) vs. Ahmani Guichard, Fr, Florida (UCLA) 7-6 (6), 4-6, 3-2 UNF. McKenna played one of UCLA best players. Guichard was da #6 ranked HS in nation, 5* Blue Chip, 2022. McKenna is such a good tennis player.

6. Mia Jovic (UCLA) def. Sloane Morra (USC) 6-2, 7-5.

Order of Finish: 3, 1, 6, 2, 4*

 

[Canyon.usc]

Ojai, Pac 12 Championship Tournament. 4-24 to 4-27-24

Women's bracket, seeds

UCLA #1, Stanford #2, USC #3, Cal #4. Not surprised UCLA got the #1 seed. Projected semi finals: UCLA vs Cal, USC vs Stanford. Tough match up, but our Girls have a good shot winning da match.

Men's bracket, seeds.

#53 USC #7 seed will face #10 Arizona #2 seed on 4-25-24, 2nd Rd. Does not look good for our Boys advancing to next round.

 

[Canyon.usc]

New Rankings, 4-23-24


Women. PR = previous rankings

USC #11, PR #11. 17-7 record

Stanford #3, PR #3, 19-2

UCLA #8, PR #10. 6 weeks ago #36, 17-4

Cal #10, PR #9, 16-5

Pepperdine, #6, PR #8, 15-6


Men.

USC #53, PR #54, 5-17 record

 

[Canyon.usc]

Ojai tournament, PAC 12 Championship, 4-24 to 4-27-24.

Good morning everyone, nice to be back. Ojai dis time of da year (Spring) is so nice, but it was on the chilly side, evenings & night. Good thing we brought sweaters, jackets, scarves and hats. Always good to see old time friends, played some tennis, took our daily walks around town, ate good food and watched Xlent tennis.

We decided to check out Saturday morning (save one night lodging) and head home after the Men’s final. Heck without any of our teams in da finals why stay. We only watched about 1/2 of the men’s final. After getting a quick meal, we got back home (Valencia) around 9:30 pm. It takes only an hour & 15 minutes (75 mins) each way; it’s pretty fast taking Hwy 126.

Women.

4-25-24. #11 USC, #3 seed (W) vs #26 UDub, #6 seed, 4-2. Scores are deceiving, cause this was a close match. UDub came to Ojai and played USC very tuff and gave our Girls a hard time. Good thing USC took da Dbl’s pt. Next up #3 Stanford, #2 seed, semi finals.

DOUBLES:
1. Astrid Olsen/Alexia Jacobs (WASH) d. Eryn Cayetano/Lily Fairclough (USC) 6-4
2. Grace Piper/Parker Fry (USC) d. Dariya Detkovskaya/Erika Matsuda (WASH) 7-5
3. Snow Han/Emma Charney (USC) d. Melissa Sakar/Catherine Gagnon (WASH) 6-1

USC wins doubles point. Good thing.

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

SINGLES:
1. Erika Matsuda (WASH) led Snow Han (USC) 6-3, 4-6, 3-1 unf.

2. Emma Charney (USC) d. Alexia Jacobs (WASH) 6-4, 7-6 (6). Solid win by Emma. Emma was on her A game. I love Emma’s tennis game. Very talented tennis player.

3. Grace Piper (USC) d. Astrid Olsen (WASH) 6-3, 6-2. A+ win. Grace is such a clutch and A+ player. Grace from England, so glad she chose USC, Shaka

4. Eryn Cayetano (USC) d. Melissa Sakar (WASH) 6-2, 7-5. Solid win by Eryn. Great season for Eryn. She’s a big reason why the team is doing well dis season. Great leader and one of da nation’s Top Players…

5. McKenna Koenig (USC) led Sarah-Maude Fortin (WASH) 6-3, 4-6, 4-2 unf.. McKenna was ahead and about to win da match. McKenna has stepped up at da #5 spot since Naomi has been out. Shaka McKenna, you’re good young Sista.

6. Sloane Morra (USC) . Catherine Gagnon (WASH) 4-6, 6-3 unf.. Even Stevens, one set apiece. I think Sloane would have pulled out da W. Sloane has been solid at the #6 spot and playing A+ tennis. Shaka young Sista Sloane.

Order of finish: 3, 4, 2

4-26-24

Semi Finals #2. #11 USC #3 seed (L) vs #3 Stanford #2 seed, 2-4. It was a close match. Our girls played hard and gave it their all. A+ effort. When USC took the Dbl’s pt, I got pumped up. I said to my wife, I think we got them. But, Stanford plays at another level in tournaments. They hunker down and play Stanford tennis. Stanford has A+ talent + A+ coaching. Hats off to them.

Fight On to our Wahine team, we must be proud of dis year’s team. Now, they wait for their NC playoff selection and regional site. With a #11 national rankings, hopefully they get to host a regional at home, Marks Tennis Center. Each regional has a mini playoff between 4 teams. If they win their regional, then da team will travel to Orlando, Fl and be in da Super Sweet 16 and play for the NC. Our Girls deserve to be in Orlando.

DOUBLES:

1. Eryn Cayetano/Lily Fairclough (USC) led Connie Ma/Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) 6-5 unf.
2. Grace Piper/Parker Fry (USC) d. Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina (STAN) 6-3
3. Snow Han/Emma Charney (USC) d. Katherine Hui/Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3

SINGLES:

1. Angelica Blake (STAN) d. Snow Han (USC) 6-0, 6-2

2. Connie Ma (STAN) d. Emma Charney (USC) 6-4, 6-0

3. Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) d. Grace Piper (USC) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1

4. Eryn Cayetano (USC) d. Alexis Blokhina (STAN) 6-3, 6-3

5. Katherine Hui (STAN) d. McKenna Koenig (USC) 6-4, 6-3

6. Valencia Xu (STAN) led Immi Haddad (USC) 6-0, 2-6, 3-1 unf. Strange dat Sloane Mora did not play da #6 spot?

Order of finish: 1, 4, 5, 2, 3


Semi Finals #1. Wow, #8 UCLA-#1 seed (L) vs #10 Cal-#4 seed, 2-4 Upset maybe, Cal is tuff. 4 weeks ago, Cal beat UCLA, 3-4. Looks like Cal had UCLA number, 2-0 dis season.

Saw da match. UCLA started strong by taking the Dbl’s pt. But, their singles were off. 2 key players (Hance and Fernandez) looked like they were struggling physically, maybe some kind of injury but played on and loss. Yeah, tennis is brutal, injuries will happen. Just bad timing and bad opponent for UCLA.

Finals, 4-27-24

Stanford (W) vs Cal, 4-0. Dang, Stanford won their 6th PAC 12 Championship in Ojai. Since women were invited/included to da Ojai team tournament, 2017, Stanford has won 6/7 years. UCLA took one title. Stanford just plays at another level when it comes to tournaments and dat’s all about coaching. HC. L.Forood is da Master in getting her teams up and play their best tennis in tournaments.

Cal is a very good tennis team = very talented players. They should do well in the NC playoffs-in their regional site. Again, scores are deceiving, many games went to Deuce and even extended Deuce games, meaning games were 40/40 and a player needed to win by 2 more pts. Cal players fought hard and played well.

No. 2 Stanford 4, No. 4 California 0

DOUBLES:

1. Connie Ma/Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) d. Hannah Viller Moeller/Mao Mushika (CAL) 6-2
2. Angelica Blake/Alexis Blokhina (STAN) even with Jessica Alsola/Valentina Ivanov (CAL) 5-5 unf.
3. Katherine Hui/Valencia Xu (STAN) d. Berta Passola Folch/Katja Wiersholm (CAL) 6-4

Stanford takes Dbl’s pt.
Order of finish: 1, 3

SINGLES:

1. Angelica Blake (STAN) d. Hannah Viller Moeller (CAL) 6-0, 6-1
2. Connie Ma (STAN) d. Valentina Ivanov (CAL) 6-3, 6-1
3. Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) d. Jessica Alsola (CAL) 6-0, 6-2
4. Alexis Blokhina (STAN) led Mao Mushika (CAL) 7-6 (5), 1-4 unf.
5. Katherine Hui (STAN) led Lan Mi (CAL) 6-2, 4-5 unf.
6. Berta Passola Folch (CAL) led Valencia Xu (STAN) 6-4, 2-5 unf.
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

 

[Canyon.usc]

Men.

#53 USC, #7 seed (L) vs #9 Arizona #2 seed, 2-4. Again scores are deceiving. Our Boys played hard and gave Zona a hard time. I’m proud how da Boys came out with pride and determination; they almost upset Zona. If da boys took da Dbl’s pt, they would have won. Strange USC is not playing for da PAC 12 title. They won 3 straight titles, 7 titles in 11 finals. Wipe out, da streak was broken.

I think da team can be in the thick of things next year. C.Masi & C.Johnson must get 2 to 3 more top international players. All the top USA players have already signed their NLI with other schools. Or, maybe with some luck a few top players from other schools enter da TP and C.Masi can get them?

OK, now we wait if our Boys get invited in da NCAA playoffs and 1 of 16 regional’s. At #53 ranked they have a shot. Crossing my fingers.

DOUBLES
1. #31 Colton Smith/Jay Friend (ARIZ) def. Peter Makk/Oscar Weightman (USC) 7-5
2. Herman Hoeyeraal/Eric Padgham (ARIZ) def. Karl Lee/Samuel Rubell (USC) 6-3
3. Volodymyr Iakubenko/Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) vs. Sasha Rozin/Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) 5-5 UNF

Arizona wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 1

SINGLES
1. #20 Colton Smith (ARIZ) def. #76 Peter Makk (USC) 7-6 (7), 6-4

2. Oscar Weightman (USC) def. #34 Jay Friend (ARIZ) 6-3, 6-3

3. #71 Gustaf Strom (ARIZ) def. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) 6-4, 6-1

4. Volodymyr Iakubenko (USC) def. Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) 6-4, 7-6 (5)

5. Karl Lee (USC) vs. Casper Christensen (ARIZ) 6-1, 4-6, 4-1 UNF. Karl was about to win da match and make da Match score 4-3 Zona vs 4-2.. And, if USC had taken da Dbl’s pt, would have pulled da upset. It was dat close folks.

6. Nick Lagaev (ARIZ) def. Samuel Rubell (USC) 6-3, 7-5

Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 1, 6


Final’s, 4-27-24. #11 Arizona-2 seed (W) #20 Stanford-#1 seed, 4-0.

Again, scores are deceiving; dis was a very close match. We only watched 1/2 of da match, but Stanford gave Zona a hard match. Arizona won their very 1st and only PAC 12 title in da history of Ojai Tournament. Zona will be in the BIG 12 next year and Stanford in da ACC. Prior to yesterday, in da history of PAC Conference, USC, Stanford and UCLA were the only teams dat had won PAC tennis titles. It’s a milestone for Arizona and hats off to them. Zona should do well in da NC playoffs and should make da Super Sweet 16 in Orlando, Fl.

No. 11 Arizona 4, No. 20 Stanford 0

DOUBLES

1. No. 31 Friend/Smith (ARI) d. No. 49 Basing/Godsick (STAN), 7-6 (8)

2. Banerjee/Basavareddy (STAN) d. Hoeyeraal/Padgham (ARI), 6-2

3. Rozin/Strom (ARI) d. Aryan Chaudhary/Harsh Hemang Parikh (STAN), 6-3

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1

SINGLES

1. No. 17 Nishesh Basavareddy (STAN) vs. No. 20 Colton Smith (ARI), 6-4, 6-7 (5), 3-4 uf

2. No. 34 Jay Friend (ARI) d. No. 57 Samir Banerjee (STAN), 6-2, 0-6, 6-1

3. No. 71 Gustaf Strom (ARI) d. Max Basing (STAN), 6-2, 6-3

4. Kyle Kang (STAN) vs. Herman Hoeyeraal (ARI), 7-5, 6-7 (6), 2-5 uf

5. Neel Rajesh (STAN) vs. Casper Christensen (ARI), 7-6 (1), 3-6, 2-1 uf

6. Nick Lagaev (ARI) d. Nico Godsick (STAN), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 6