NCAA men's tennis: USC moves on to finals; UCLA falls
One Los Angeles team advanced to the national title match on Monday, while the other fell short. Here's a recap of the day's action in men's tennis:
USC
The top-seeded Trojans are headed to the national championship. Unfortunately for the Pac-12, they won't be meeting their crosstown rival there, as UCLA lost to Oklahoma in the other semifinal on Monday. But USC routed Virginia 5-1 to set up Tuesday's 2 p.m. PT date with the Sooners.
The Trojans are playing on the same courts where they won the 2012 NCAA championship (the Dan Magill Tennis Complex), and they're now 31-3 overall. Michael Grant and Yannick Hanfmann clinched Monday's matchup on separate singles courts, finishing off their opponents at the same time. The Trojans won the doubles point, so they never trailed.
If USC prevails Tuesday, it will have won five of the last six national championships.
Game, set, match @NCAATennis2014 final for @USCMensTennis over Virginia, 5-1 with the clinch by Michael Grant! pic.twitter.com/7qwlh0d3XG
— ITA tennis (@ITATennis) May 20, 2014
UCLA
The Bruins beat the Trojans for the Pac-12 tournament championship in Ojai, Calif., but won't have the chance to challenge them for the national crown. Oklahoma bested UCLA 4-2 in Georgia on Monday, bringing an impressive 26-4 campaign to a close for the Baby Blue.
The Bruins got off to a rocky start against the Sooners, dropping the doubles point. They fought hard in an attempt to regain control and won on two singles courts, but ultimately could not pull it out. A tantalizing matchup against rival USC was potentially looming for the national title, but Southern California tennis fans will have to wait at least another year for that to become a reality.