The Fairfield men’s tennis team heads to Los Angeles, Calif. tomorrow morning for the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tennis Championships at host school, USC. The Stags (16-4) will face three-time defending NCAA Champions, #1 Southern California (27-1) on Saturday, May 12 at 12pm PST at the Marks Tennis Center. The other two teams hosted by USC are South Carolina (15-11) and Texas A&M (13-14), who will face one another at 9am PST at the Marks Tennis Center on May 12. The second round will be played on Sunday at 12pm PST.
Fairfield advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history after making an impressive run through the MAAC Championships and defeating top-seeded Marist College. The Stags entered the tournament as the two-seed and defeated #3 Niagara in the semifinal, 4-3. Fairfield faced Marist College for the fifth consecutive year in the Championship match. Senior Dan Sauter clinched the victory for the Stags at No. 1 singles against MAAC Player of the Year, Lorenzo Rossi, giving Fairfield the 4-3 victory. Sauter was named the 2012 MAAC Tennis Championship Most Outstanding Performer.
Senior co-captain Joe Michalisin comments on winning the MAAC Championship and being the first team in program history to receive an NCAA berth; “winning the championship this season has been unbelievable. For Dan [Sauter] to win it for us in the fashion he did, made it seem like were destined to win this year. After losing three years straight in the finals, going out on top makes everything we have done in the past four years worth it.” He continues, “As for receiving our first-ever NCAA berth, all I can say is that I am honored to be on this team and a part of Fairfield tennis history. Now that we have finally made it over the hump, I do not see why the future teams cannot win multiple MAAC Championships.”
Sauter has won seven straight matches heading into the NCAA Tournament and is 9-1 in his last 10 matches. Michalisin and junior Erik Kremheller are both 8-2 in their last 10 singles matches and paired together, hold an 11-match winning streak entering the NCAA Tournament. As a duo, Kremheller and Michalisin are 15-5 overall, 13-2 in duals, and a perfect 6-0 in conference play.
Freshman Cameron Amyot, the only west coast native on the team from San Diego, Calif. says “I am very excited to go back to California to play against. It’s difficult going to school across the country because my parents rarely get the chance to see me compete, so going back home will be great to have them come and support me.”
The Trojans enter the NCAA Tournament with a 27-1 record and are coming off their 18th Pac-12 Team Championship. The USC men’s tennis team has been on top of the national rankings all season long as the three-time defending national champions. The Trojans have two seniors leading the team, Steve Johnson carries what is understood to be an unprecedented 60-match singles win streak into the postseason campaign, where he also is the defending NCAA Singles Champion. Daniel Nguyen has been the clincher for the Trojans in two of their past three NCAA Team Championships. Sophomores Ray Sarmiento and Emilio Gomez have been mainstays in the Trojan lineup since coming to Troy last year for the 2011 title run. This year’s NCAA appearance is USC’s sixth straight trip to the postseason and 34th overall. USC leads the nation with 19 national championships all-time, and holds an 80-29 overall record in the NCAA Tournament.
Currently ranked No. 34 in the country, the Aggies (13-14) earned an at-large bid to the 2012 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships, marking the 20th overall appearance and the 19th consecutive. Texas A&M is led by three seniors, co-captains Colin Hoover, Alexis Klegou and John Lewis. Klegou is ranked No. 34 in singles while Hoover and Lewis are ranked No. 79 in doubles. The top Aggie duo is freshman Jackson Withrow and Junior Ore who are ranked No. 47 in the latest rankings.
The Gamecocks (15-11), ranked 41st by the ITA, earned a spot in the field of 64 for the first time since 2009 with an at-large bid. It is their 20th NCAA Tournament appearance. Sophomore doubles team Chip Cox and Nick Jones are 24th in the nation with a 7-3 record that includes five wins over top-50 opponents. In singles play, senior Ivan Machado holds the No. 108 spot in the nation with a 15-16 overall record. Freshman Andrew Adams earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team as he is 28-10 overall, including a 20-6 mark in dual matches. South Carolina is 13-18 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches.
To view the men’s program link, please
click here. For the full bracket of the 2012 Men’s NCAA Tennis Championships,
click here. And for the full notes on Fairfield Men’s Tennis,
click here.
