Both the top USC women’s and UCLA men’s doubles teams are favored to get at least to the final round of the upcoming NCAA Doubles National Championships, if the seedings hold true.
Trojans Angela Kulikov and Rianna Valdes have been tabbed the No. 1 seeded team on the women’s side, while Bruins Max Cressy and Keegan Smith will be seeded No. 2 once play begins in the 32-team doubles field for the biggest individual prize in all of college tennis. The NCAA team competition concluded Sunday with the Texas men and the Stanford women winning national titles at the USTA National Campus. Now, all the attention turns in the individuals.
Kulikov and Valdes will face Duke’s Ellyse Hamlin and Kaitlyn McCarthy in the first round, while Cressy and Smith will take on Old Dominion’s Aziz Kijametovic and Francois Musitelli.
Good lucks to all the Southern California teams that begin the dream of ending the year as NCAA champions.
Note: All times are Eastern.
MEN’S SINGLES
Monday’s matchups and times involving players from Southern California universities:
Keegan Smith, UCLA, vs. Majed Kilani, Tulsa, 10 a.m.
Brandon Holt, USC, vs. Nicaise Muamba, Liberty, 10 a.m.
Nicolas Moreno De Alboran (9-16), UC Santa Barbara, vs. Hady Habib, Texas A&M, 10 a.m.
Govind Nanda, UCLA, vs. Oliver Crawford (8), Florida, 4 p.m.
Tanner Smith, USC, vs. Josh Sheehy, Abilene Christian, not before 5 p.m.
Gui Osorio, Univ. of San Diego, vs. Matias Soto, Baylor, 12 p.m.
Daniel Cukierman, USC, vs. Adam Walton, Tennessee, not before 6:30 p.m.
Max Cressy (9-16), UCLA vs. Bar Botzer, Wake Forest, 4:30 p.m.
Joseph Guillin, UC Santa Barbara, vs. Gabriel Decamps, UCF, 12:30 p.m.
MEN’S DOUBLES
Round of 32 Starts on Tuesday:
Nicolas Moreno De Alboran/Anders Holm, UC Santa Barbara vs. Martin Joyce/Hunter Tubert, Ohio State
Joel Gamerov/August Holmgren, Univ. of San Diego vs. Richard Ciamarra/Tristan McCormick, Notre Dame
Brandon Holt/Riley Smith, USC, vs. Juan Aguilar/Barnaby Smith (5-8), Texas A&M
Max Cressy/Keegan Smith (2), UCLA, vs. Aziz Kijametovic/Francois Musitelli, Old Dominion
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Monday’s matchups and times involving players from Southern California universities:
Salma Ewing, USC, vs. Marta Gonzalez (9-16), Georgia, 4 p.m.
Ashley Lahey, Pepperdine, def. Meghan Kelley, Virginia, 10 a.m.
Elysia Bolton, UCLA, vs. McCartney Kessler, Florida, 1 p.m.
Jessica Failla, Pepperdine, vs. Kelly Chen, Duke, 12:30 p.m.
Solymar Colling, Univ. of San Diego, vs. Eden Richardson (9-16), LSU, 1:30 p.m.
Jada Hart, UCLA, vs. Meible Chi, Duke, 2:30 p.m.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
Round of 32 Starts on Tuesday:
Angela Kulikov/Rianna Valdes (1), USC vs. Ellyse Hamlin/Kaitlyn McCarthy, Duke
Gabby Andrews/Ayan Broomfield (3), UCLA vs. Victoria Emma/McCartney Kessler, Florida
Elysia Bolton/Jada Hart, UCLA vs. Sadie Hammond/Kaitlin Staines (5-8), Tennessee