April 22, 1999

THIS WEEK - The No. 11 USC men's tennis team (18-4 overall, 5-2 in the Pacific-10 Conference) closed out the 1999 regular season with a split against the Bay Area schools over the weekend. The Trojans fell to then-No. 9 Stanford, 6-1, on Friday (April 16) in Palo Alto, but rebounded to end the season on a high note with a 5-2 victory over then-No. 52 California on Saturday (April 17) in Berkeley.

USC ended the regular season in third place in the Pac-10 behind co-champions Stanford and No. 1 UCLA, who ended the season with 6-1 records in conference play.

CLIMBING THE LADDER - The Trojans remained the No. 11 team in the nation this week in the latest ITA team rankings and have three singles players ranked in the ITA top 100: Roman Kukal is ranked No. 80, Andrew Park jumped up 12 spots in the rankings to No. 82, and Patrick Gottesleben re-entered the rankings this week at No. 89.

In doubles, the team of Ryan Moore and Nicholas Rainey, who have not played together since Feb.17 against San Diego due to Moore's hip injury, are ranked No. 12 in the country.

PAC-10 POWER - USC has been dominant in the conference in men's tennis claiming 13 Pac-10 championships since 1924.

The Trojans' last conference title came in 1994, when USC went 9-1 in the Pac-10 and eventually went on to win its second consecutive national championship and the school's third NCAA title in the 1990s.

MEN'S PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW

The USC men's team will send four singles players and two doubles teams to Ojai and the Pac-10 Championships this weekend and will also send two more singles players to compete in the invitational draw.

Following is singles and doubles player information for those who are participating in this weekend's tournament.

SINGLES PLAYERS

PATRICK GOTTESLEBEN - 6-4, 185, Jr., Waldorf, Germany
For the second time in his career, Gottesleben will compete at Ojai and is the No. 13 seed in the tournament after spending the entire 1999 season as the Trojans' No. 1 singles player. In the opening round of the tournament on Thursday, Gottesleben will face Washington's Christoph Kull at 9:30 a.m.

At the Pac-10 Championships in 1997, he reached the quarterfinals of the tournament before falling to the Cardinal's Bob Bryan in straight sets, 2-6, 1-6. Gottesleben posted victories over Arizona State's Ed Carter, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round and UCLA's Matt Breen, 6-2, 6-1 in the second round.

In the regular season, Gottesleben compiled a 12-10 overall record and a 2-5 record in the Pac-10. Gottesleben was also 5-9 against opponents currently ranked in the ITA top 100.

Gottesleben won six of his first nine matches to open the 1999 campaign, but faltered midway through the season, going just 6-7 the rest of the way.

ANDREW PARK - 5-8, 145, Fr., San Marino, Calif.
As just a freshman, Park has already had an immediate impact for USC and will be the No. 22 seed at Ojai this weekend in his first Pac-10 Championships. Park will face off against UCLA's Jong-Min Lee in the first round on Thursday at 11 a.m.

Park has sparkled in the regular season, compiling a very impressive 23-8 overall record, including a 17-5 record in dual matches and a 4-3 record in conference play. He spent most of 1999 as the Trojans' No. 2 singles player and opened the season with a six-match winning streak and posted victories in nine of his first 10 contests.

Park also put together another winning streak - this one lasting five matches - and went 5-1 in in the month of March, with the only loss coming to UCLA's Zack Fleishman on March 3.

Against ranked opponents, Park posted a record of 4-5 which included victories over Washington's Eric Drew, who is a possible quarterfinal opponent and currently ranked No. 50 in the nation, and Arizona State's Gustavo Marcaccio, who is currently ranked No. 43 in the latest ITA rankings.

NICHOLAS RAINEY - 6-1, 165, Fr., Mercer Island, Wash.
Rainey, one of three freshmen to play in the Trojan lineup this season, will also be making his first trip to Ojai and will be the No. 27 seed in this weekend's tournament after spending most of the season playing at No. 5 singles for USC. He will be facing Arizona State's Jeff Williams in the first round on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

It was a tale of two seasons for Rainey, who opened the 1999 campaign by winning eight of his first nine matches, which included a six-match winning streak. However, Rainey played sub-.500 tennis for the next month and a half, losing five of his next nine matches.

Rainey bounced back, however, and closed out the season on a high note by winning six of his last seven, including USC's lone point in its match against Stanford, a three-set, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, victory over the Cadinal's Scotty Scott.

Rainey compiled an 18-7 overall record this season and led the Trojans with a 5-2 mark in conference play. He was also 2-2 against players currently ranked in the ITA top 100, including victories over Texas' Brandon Hawk and UCLA's Brandon Kramer in the first two rounds of the National Collegiate Tennis Championships in January.

GREGG HILL - 6-2, 180, So., Boca Raton, Fla.
Hill is one of four newcomers to play in the USC staring lineup in 1999 and will be making his first trip to the Pac-10 Championships. He transferred to USC after spending last season at North Carolina. Hill will be the No. 8 seed at Ojai and will face UCLA's freshman Zack Fleishman in the first round on Thursday at 8 a.m.

During the regular season, Hill compiled a 12-10 overall record and a 3-3 record against Pac-10 opponents. Hill was 0-2 against players currently ranked in the ITA top 100, with losses coming to Fleishman in the first round of the National Collegiate Tennis Championships on Jan. 15 and to Stanford's Alex Kim on April 16.

Hill began the season slow, dropping five of his first seven matches while playing mostly at No. 6 singles. He recovered to win his next three matches and closed out the season by winning seven of his final 10 matches while playing at No. 4 singles for the Trojans.

SCOTT WILLINSKI - 6-3, 185, Sr., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Willinski, the lone senior in the Trojan lineup this season, will be heading to his third Pac-10 Championships but will be competing in the Invitational singles competition this season as the No. 13 seed. In the first round, Willinski will face Arizona State's Miles Rogers.

Last season, Willinski made it to the quarterfinals of the invitational bracket where he won two tough three-set matches before falling to Stanford's Alex Kim, 1-6, 2-6. He posted victories over California's Erik Dmytruk, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, and Arizona's Jean-Noel LaCoste, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

In 1997's tournament, Willinski defeated Arizona's Mike Mackay, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round before falling to California's Brian Fernando, 6-7, 6-1, 3-6, in the second round.

This season, Willinski has proved invaluable for USC after stepping in for the injured Ryan Moore just a month into the season. He has filled the void nicely, posting an 11-5 overall record and a 3-2 record in the Pac-10 while splitting time between the No. 5 and No. 6 singles position.

Willinski started strong once he stepped into the lineup winning nine of his first 10 matches including a victory over the Sun Devils' Tim Hammond on March 13 that gave USC its 1,000th victory in the history of the program.

SCOTT MERRYMAN - 6-2, 150, Fr., Coto de Caza, Calif.
As one of four freshmen on the USC roster, Merryman will be making his first trip to the Pac-10 Tournament in the Invitational draw. Merryman has spent all of 1999 as one of the Trojans' top reserves, but did not seen any action during the regular season.

DOUBLES TEAMS

HILL/WILLINSKI - Gregg Hill and Scott Willinski are one of USC's newest doubles combinations and will compete together in the Pac-10s in the main draw of the doubles competition for the first time as the No. 15 seed. They will face the Arizona State duo of Ed Carter and Jeff Williams in the opening round on Friday at 12:30 p.m.

Hill and Willinski posted a 2-2 overall record and 1-1 in Pac-10 play this season since first teaming up in the Washington match on April 9. In that match, Hill and Willinski fell to Jeremy Berman and Andy Posavac, 9-7.

PARK/RAINEY - Andrew Park and Nicholas Rainey are another of the Trojans' newest doubles duos and will also be competing in the main doubles draw as the No. 6 seed. Park and Rainey will face the combination of Jean-Noel Grinda and Jong-Min Lee from UCLA in the first round on Friday at 11 a.m.

Park and Rainey combined for a 1-3 overall record and a 1-1 record in conference play this season. The pair's only victory came against Oregon's David Becker and Thomas Schneiter on April 10, an 8-4 victory for USC.