USC Dominates ITA Southwest Regional Championship
The USC's men's tennis team sweeped the ITA Southwest Regional Championship today. Doubles team Max de Vroome and Eric Johnson defeated teammates Roberto Quiroz and Ray Sarmiento 8-4 at Marks Stadium. This is Johnson's second consecutive title.
"It feels really good," said Johnson, "To do it with Max who we're such good friends [and] we've played together so much it's a great feeling."
This year Johnson teamed up wih de Vroome as the No. 5 seeded team in the 2013 doubles draw. Both players dominated winning four decisive matches, which included a semifinal win over fellow teammates Nick Crystal and Michael Grant.
"Well it's always strange to play your own teammates, but I mean we played well and we won so it's a victory," said de Vroome.
The dynamic duo faced their top-seeded teammate vets Quiroz and Sarmiento for the title. With the Trojans dominating the finals, the match was moved from Malibu, CA to the Trojans home court at Marks Stadium. This Trojan vs. Trojan match up is the second straight all-USC doubles final in the ITA Southwest Regionals.
De Vroome and Johnson dominated the match taking a 6-4 lead. USC men's tennis head coach Peter Smith said de Vroome and Johnson played solid.
"They didn't make any errors," said Smith. "At a crucial time Raymond missed a lot of first serves and that was the difference in the match. In an eight game pro-set it's a sprint, so whoever gets out in the lead usually wins."
With de Vroome and Johnson claiming the doubles trophy, junior Yannick Hanfmann brought home the title for the singles after a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 performance over Alex Sarkissian in Malibu.
USC will head to Orlando, FL for the Clay Court Invitational from Oct. 24-27.
