USC Men’s Tennis Begins 2024 Season with Rescheduled Match Against UC Irvine
A New Season, a Rescheduled Start
Due to anticipated rain, the University of Southern California (USC) men’s tennis team will now face UC Irvine in their season opener on Friday, January 19, 2024, at Marks Stadium. The originally scheduled doubleheader’s second leg, featuring UNLV, has been postponed until further notice. The match against UC Irvine is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
Trojans Ranked 7th, Return Ranked Individuals
The Trojans enter the 2024 season ranked No. 7 in the country by the ITA Coaches Poll (January 17). They boast three ranked individuals and one ranked doubles squad in the most recent individual rankings (November 15, 2023):
– Peter Makk, a junior, is the highest-ranked individual at No. 39, following an impressive 8-5 fall season.
– Lodewijk Weststrate, a senior, sits at No. 73 in the rankings.
– Karl Lee, also a junior, holds the No. 94 ranking and boasts the best fall record at 13-4, with two championship appearances in various fall tournaments.
– The Trojans’ ranked doubles squad comprises Samuel Rubell and Niroop Vallabhaneni, who are ranked No. 47. The duo has a 4-0 record together and won the SoCal Intercollegiate tournament on their home courts.
New Additions to the Roster
USC welcomes two mid-season additions to bolster its roster:
– Volodymyr Iakubenko, a freshman from Kiev, Ukraine, brings a junior singles title and a finals appearance in May 2023 at the J300 Santa Croce Sull’Arno tournament in Italy. He achieved a career-high ranking of No. 52 in the ITF Junior rankings and finished his junior career with an overall record of 96-63 in singles and 67-38 in doubles.
– Oscar Weightman, a sophomore from London, England, joins the team with extensive international experience. He currently ranks 1130 in the ATP singles world rankings, peaking at 603 in August 2022. Weightman also achieved a career-high ITF singles ranking of No. 69 in April 2022.
A Look Back at the 2023 Season
In the 2023 season, USC recorded an impressive overall record of 21-8, going 6-2 in conference play and earning a share of the Pac-12 regular season title. The Trojans continued their success by claiming their fourth consecutive Pac-12 tournament title.
In the NCAA tournament, USC advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals, hosting Idaho and San Diego in the first two rounds. They dominated both opponents, winning 4-0 against Idaho and 4-1 against USD.
Scouting UC Irvine
The UC Irvine Anteaters will enter the match with a 1-0 record, having defeated Westcliff University 7-0 in their season opener on January 18. They are yet to be ranked in the ITA rankings and have no individually ranked players ahead of their matchup with USC.
How to Watch
All matches at Marks Stadium can be viewed through PlaySight. Fans can visit USCTrojans.com/mtennis to watch live streams of the matches and view live scoring updates. Follow @USCMensTennis on Instagram and Twitter for score updates.