Monday’s National Team Indoors Championship will be a rematch from last year’s NCAA Championship (box score below) as #1 USC takes on #2 Oklahoma. USC has only dropped 2 points so far this tournament while Oklahoma has dropped just 4 points (2 doubles & 2 singles) so both teams are accustomed to not only winning but winning fairly comfortably. USC will be making its 4th straight appearance in the finals and 10th overall after winning in 2012 and finishing as the runner up in 2013 and 2014. Oklahoma will be making its 1st appearance in the finals.
Oklahoma has won the last 2 matches despite dropping the doubles point but I don’t see it happening a 3rd time in a row. I expect USC to take the doubles point by winning at 1 and 3 which will let the Trojans breath a little easier before singles gets underway.
I’d consider USC to be fairly heavy favorites at both 5 and 6 with both Max de Vroome and Nick Crystal likely to win in straight sets. I like Dane Webb at 3 and am leaning towards Axel Alvarez at 2 but I don’t see Oklahoma taking both of the other 2 courts. I’ll go with Eric Johnson to clinch it at 4 because he is playing extremely well right now and I think he’ll force Papa into one to many errors. Prediction: USC 4-1
[1] USC vs. [2] Oklahoma – 11am cst
Probable Singles Lineup
1. #7 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) vs. #26 Andrew Harris (OU)
2. #24 Roberto Quiroz (USC) vs. #11 Axel Alvarez (OU)
3. #20 Jonny Wang (USC) vs. #31 Dane Webb (OU)
4. Eric Johnson (USC) vs. Spencer Papa (OU)
5. Max De Vroome (USC) vs. #63 Alex Ghilea (OU)
6. #49 Nick Crystal (USC) vs. Jose Salazar (OU)
Probable Doubles Lineup
1. #1 Hanfmann/Quiroz (USC) vs. #5 Alvarez/Webb (OU)
2. #38 De Vroome/Johnson (USC) vs. Papa/Harris (OU)
3. Crystal/Connor Farren (USC) vs. Salazar/Ghilea (OU)
Box Score from 2014 NCAA Championship Final
#1 USC (32-3) def. #2 Oklahoma (28-4), 4-2
Doubles (Order of finish: 3,2)
1. #1 Yannick Hanfmann/Ray Sarmiento (USC) vs. Axel Alvarez/Dane Webb (Oklahoma) 5-6, unf.
2. Guillermo Alcorta/Andrew Harris (Oklahoma) def. Connor Farren/Roberto Quiroz (USC), 8-5
3. Alex Ghilea/Nick Papac (Oklahoma) def. Max de Vroome/Eric Johnson (USC), 8-7(2)
Singles (Order of finish: 3,1,2,5,4)
1. #10 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. #5 Guillermo Alcorta (Oklahoma), 7-5, 6-2
2. #9 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. #7 Axel Alvarez (Oklahoma), 6-4, 7-6(4)
3. #41 Dane Webb (Oklahoma) def. #42 Roberto Quiroz (USC), 6-1, 6-2
4. #91 Max de Vroome (USC) def. #53 Andrew Harris (Oklahoma), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Eric Johnson (USC) def. Austin Siegel (Oklahoma), 6-1, 7-6(2)
6. Michael Grant (USC) vs. Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma), 7-6(5), 2-6, 4-2, unf.
I won’t be able to attend Monday’s Championship so make sure you follow Jonathan Kelley on Twitter @jokelley_tennis for scoring updates throughout the match.
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