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NCAA men's tournament: 3 USC players advance in singles tournament

by Kevin Danna
May 20, 2015
John McGillen

Pac-12 tennis players went 3-4 in the first round of the NCAA men’s singles bracket Wednesday in Waco, Texas, with all three victories coming from USC’s lineup. The trio of Trojans continue on to Thursday’s second round, while the three Pac-12 doubles teams begin play in the 32-duo bracket Thursday as well.

California

Cal is out of the singles bracket as a result of Andre Goransson bowing out to Sebastian Stiefelmeyer of Louisville, with the fifth-seeded bird edging the Bear 6-4, 6-3. Goransson, appearing in his first NCAA singles tournament, wraps up the 2014-15 calendar with a 26-11 singles record. The year is now over for Cal men’s tennis.

Stanford

Stanford is done in singles with its lone participant, Tom Fawcett, falling to No. 7 seed Noah Rubin of Wake Forest. The Demon Deacon won in straight sets (7-5, 6-4). Stanford will hope to get some redemption in doubles play, with John Morrissey and Robert Stineman carrying the Cardinal torch. Not a bad year for Fawcett and his boss, though:

[Related: NCAA men's singles championship bracket (CSTV.com)]

UCLA

The Bruins are out of the singles bracket after an 0-2 Wednesday in the first round. The first big upset of the day affected the Pac-12, as third-seeded Mackenzie McDonald was usurped in straight sets by Lloyd Glasspool, with the Longhorn swiftly taking down the Bruin 6-0, 6-2. Things didn’t go much better for Dennis Mkrtchian, who lost to No. 9-16 seed Mikelis Libietis of Tennessee (Libietis won in three sets – 6-2, 6-7, 6-2). The Bruins' men’s tennis season isn’t quite over, as McDonald will pair up with Martin Redlicki in the doubles bracket.

USC

While the rest of the conference struggled, USC thrived in men’s singles, going 3-0 on Wednesday. Roberto Quiroz gave the Pac-12 men their first victory of the day as the Trojan handled Jack Findel-Hawkins of North Florida, 6-4, 6-3. Fellow Trojan Jonny Wang was not far behind: The ITA National Most Improved Senior of the Year impressed with his 6-1, 6-4 defeat of New Mexico’s Samir Iftikhar. Last but not least, No. 9-16 seed Yannick Hanfmann beat Boomer Sooner’s Dane Webb 6-3, 6-1 to cap a perfect Trojan day on the men’s courts. Qurioz will face Notre Dame’s Quentin Monaghan, while Wang plays Baylor’s Julian Lenz (seeded second) and Hanfmann matches wits with Georgia Tech’s Christopher Eubanks. Quiroz and Hanfmann will be especially busy Thursday, as the two also begin the doubles tournament that day.

Pac-12.com will have continued coverage of the NCAA men's tennis singles and doubles tournament with daily recaps. The finals for both singles and doubles play take place Monday.

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