Men's Tennis | May 21, 2019

ORLANDO, FLA. — USC junior Brandon Holt will be the lone Trojan soldier engaged in NCAA action from here, after another hot and busy day out at the USTA National Campus for NCAA Round of 32 competition. Holt opened his day with a powerful singles win, but fell in doubles with partner Riley Smith later in the day. Senior Tanner Smith and sophomore Daniel Cukierman, meanwhile, both had their debut NCAA Singles runs cut short with Round of 32 losses today in Orlando, Fla.

The No. 5 seed in the NCAA Singles draw, junior Brandon Holt kept up his clean game, drilling out another straight-set victory to take another step forward in the singles scene. Up against Georgia's #38 Emil Reinberg — Holt's teammate with the USA in the summer's BNP Paribas Master'U gold-medal run — in today's Round of 32, Holt stayed the course and collected a 6-2, 6-3 victory. Holt now advances to the Round of 16 for the second straight year, lined up this time against Texas' #12 Yuya Ito at 1 p.m. PT tomorrow to fight for the right to a Quarterfinal spot.

Senior captain Tanner Smith squared off against the draw's No. 8 seed for his Round of 32 match today. After falling 6-3 in the first set, Smith forced the issue in his second set, but Florida's #9 Oliver Crawford dug back in and closed out a 6-3, 7-5 win over #57 Smith to wrap the Trojans' first NCAA Singles run. With 18 singles wins captured this season, Smith set a new career best. At 18-7 overall this year, Smith wraps his USC career with an overall singles mark of 41-28. His senior season of first also included his first All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention pick along with his second spot on the Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention list.

After a bit of a rest from the heat of his singles match, Holt joined forces with Riley Smith for the Trojan juniors' third appearance together in the NCAA Doubles Round of 32. Ranked #10 in the nation, Holt and Smith pulled a tough opening draw in facing the No. 8 seeded team from Texas A&M, Aguilar/Smith. The Trojans opened up strong and snagged the first set, only to see the Aggies fire back and take the second to push the match into a decisive 10-point tiebreaker. Holt and Smith tallied four straight points to get up 8-6, but Aguilar/Smith rattled off the next four to claim a 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8) comeback to end the Trojans' NCAA doubles run. Holt and Smith posted a 15-7 record together this season, running their career record as a pair to 57-20 in three years of work as Trojans.

In his Round of 32 singles match, sophomore Daniel Cukierman clashed with an upset-minded Sam Riffice of Florida. Ranked #54 in the nation, Riffice had dispatched #20 Johannes Schretter in yesterday's opening round. Up against #24 Cukierman, the Gator kept up his momentum and captured a 6-3, 6-2 win over the Trojan. That loss capped Cukierman's sophomore season and NCAA Singles debut run with the sophomore gripping a powerful 34-11 overall singles record.

Complete USC results and schedule below.

2019 NCAA SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS (USTA National Campus | Orlando, Fla.)

FIRST ROUND - May 20
[5] #6 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #119 Nicaise Muamba (Liberty) - 6-1, 6-1
#57 Tanner Smith (USC) def. #108 Josh Sheehy (Abilene Christian) - 7-5, 6-3
#24 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. #51 Adam Walton (Tennessee) - 7-5, 6-2

ROUND OF 32 - May 21
[5] #6 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #38 Emil Reinberg (Georgia) - 6-2, 6-3
[8] #9 Oliver Crawford (Florida) def. #57 Tanner Smith (USC) - 6-3, 7-5
#54 Sam Riffice (Florida) def. #24 Daniel Cukierman (USC) - 6-3, 6-2

ROUND OF 16 - May 22
[5] #6 Brandon Holt (USC) vs. [9-16] #12 Yuya Ito (Texas) - 1 p.m. PT

2019 NCAA DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIPS (USTA National Campus | Orlando, Fla.)

ROUND OF 32 - May 21
[5-8] #8 Aguilar/Smith (Texas A&M) def. #10 Holt/R. Smith (USC) - 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8)