#7 Vols Sweep #5 USC in Round of 16 at ITA National Indoors

Friday, February 16

New York, NY

12 PM

University of Tennessee

#5 USC

#7 Vols Sweep #5 USC in Round of 16 at ITA National Indoors

February 16, 2024 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

NEW YORK – The seventh-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team posted an impressive 4-0 sweep over No. 5 USC in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Friday afternoon inside Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.

Tennessee (8-2) won the doubles point behind ninth-ranked Johannus Monday and Angel Diaz's dominant 6-1 performance over Peter Makk and Lodewijk Weststrate of USC (4-3) on court one, taking 87 percent of the first serve points. Filip Apltauer and Younes Lalami helped deliver the doubles point with a 6-4 victory over the Trojans' Volodymyr Iakubenko and Samuel Rubell on court three. The 28th-ranked pair of Shunsuke Mitsui and Filip Pieczonka was up 5-4 on court two before their match went unfinished.

Ninth-ranked Monday took care of business yet again with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 38 Peter Makk on court one, winning 86 percent of the first serve points. Mitsui, ranked 16th in singles, battled to take the first set 6-4 over Lodewijk Weststrate before cruising to a 6-1 second-set win to give the Vols a 3-0 advantage. Diaz delivered the clinching point on court six with a 6-4, 6-2 effort over Samuel Rubell, recording his second clinch of the 2024 dual match season.

SHUN HITTING MILESTONES
With his 6-4, 6-1 victory over USC's Weststrate, Mitsui reached 75 career singles wins, 18 being against ranked opponents. The junior also eclipsed his 50th dual match singles victory.

ITA INDOORS SUCCESS
The Vols' 4-0 sweep over USC in the first round of ITA National Indoors marks their first opening-match win at the event since 2022. UT is now 21-20 in ITA Indoors main draw action and 9-11 in the Round of 16.

MONDAY VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Monday now moves to an impressive 8-0 mark against ranked opponents in 2023-24, with five being ranked inside the top 50. The senior has registered 45 ranked wins during his time on Rocky Top.

UP NEXT
The fifth-seeded Vols will take on fourth seed Virginia in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships at 9 a.m. ET Saturday inside Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.

RESULTS
Doubles
1. #9 Johannus Monday/Angel Diaz (UT) def. Peter Makk/Lodewijk Weststrate (USC), 6-1
2. #28 Shunsuke Mitsui/Filip Pieczonka (UT) vs. Karl Lee/Oscar Weightman (USC), 5-4 unfinished
3. Younes Lalami/Filip Apltauer (UT) def. Volodymyr Iakubenko/Samuel Rubell (USC), 6-4

Order of Finish: 1,3

Singles
1. #9 Johannus Monday (UT) def. #38 Peter Makk (USC), 6-1, 6-2
2. #16 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. #96 Lodewijk Weststrate (USC), 6-4, 6-1
3. Oscar Weightman (USC) vs. #66 Filip Pieczonka (UT), 6-4, 5-3 unfinished
4. Volodymyr Iakubenko (USC) vs. Filip Apltauer (UT), 6-3, 4-3 unfinished
5. Karl Lee (USC) vs. Younes Lalami (UT), 6-3, 5-4 unfinished
6. Angel Diaz (UT) def. Samuel Rubell (USC), 6-4, 6-2

Order of Finish: 1,2,6

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