Friday brought us several close ones as 6 matches finished with a 4-3 final score though of course there were several that weren’t as close most notably 3 of the 4 in Indian Wells.
The big upset of the day came in Louisville as the #29 Cardinals stunned #10 North Carolina 5-2. It looked like #7 Texas A&M might get picked off too however the Aggies rallied late and held off #35 Mississippi State 4-1. #33 Drake came back from 3-0 down to stun #22 Harvard 4-3 and #23 LSU pulled out a tight 4-3 win on the road at #60 Alabama.
In the biggest match of the day #12 Wake Forest ran its winning streak to 4 with a 5-2 win over #16 Virginia Tech. The Demon Deacons cruised past Va Tech in doubles and then Noah Rubin made it 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 beat down of Amerigo Contini at #1 singles. Jon Ho would extend the lead to 3-0 with a 6-4, 6-3 win at #4 singles over Hunter Koontz before Virginia Tech’s Edoardo Tessaro would put the Hokies on the board with a come from behind 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Christian Seraphim at #5 singles. Romain Bogaerts would clinch the win for Wake Forest with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win at #2 singles over Andreas Bjerrehus and then the teams would split the 2 remaining matches after the clinch.
Wake Forest now sets its sights on #6 Duke with Wake making the short trip to Durham on Sunday.
Wake recap
VT recap
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of March 20th. For more details about UTR check out their website.
#12 Wake Forest 5, #16 Virginia Tech 2
Mar 20, 2015 at Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. #63 Noah Rubin (WF 14.80) def. #55 Amerigo Contini (VT 14.32) 6-1, 6-1
2. #12 Romain Bogaerts (WF 14.40) def. #40 Andreas Bjerrehus (VT 13.81) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. #98 Joao Monteiro (VT 13.85) def. Skander Mansouri (WF 13.30) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. #69 Jon Ho (WF 13.56) def. Hunter Koontz (VT 13.62) 6-4, 6-3
5. Edoardo Tessaro (VT 13.04) def. Christian Seraphim (WF 13.74) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Maksim Kan (WF 13.28) def. Jai Corbett (VT 12.76) 7-6 (3), 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #13 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) def. Andreas Bjerrehus/Hunter Koontz (VT) 8-3
2. Jon Ho/Noah Rubin (WF) def. Joao Monteiro/Edoardo Tessaro (VT) 8-2
3. Keivon Tabrizi/Romain Bogaerts (WF) vs. Amerigo Contini/Jai Corbett (VT) 3-4, unfinished
Match Notes
Virginia Tech 12-2 (4-1 ACC); National ranking #16
Wake Forest 13-4 (3-1 ACC); National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (1,4,5,2,3,6)
T-3:14 A-171
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Louisville head coach Rex Ecarma picked up career win #400 today with a 5-2 stunner over #10 North Carolina. The doubles point came down to a tiebreak at #2 which Louisville pulled out (not sure what the TB score was though because it isn’t listed anywhere). Louisville ran through North Carolina in singles by picking up 4 1st sets and finishing 3 of them in straight sets with Albert Wagner clinching it at #3 singles with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Esben Hess-Olsen.
North Carolina is still a good team but they just aren’t a great team without Brayden Schnur who missed his 5th straight match since retiring on 2/28 against Minnesota’s Leandro Toledo.
Louisville recap
“I am ecstatic for this group of players,” said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. “A top 10 win against the elite in the ACC is something to be proud of. We always felt that they were capable of this, but sometimes potential never materializes – today it did. This UNC program has been so good for so long and mentally you have to overcome their great tradition before you even play the first point. I believe this can be the beginning of a second great run for us this season because there is a lot of excitement here.”
“All of these teams have given their best for the program and me,” said Ecarma. “I appreciate so much the leadership in our department. Everyone wants to work for Tom Jurich, I am one of the lucky ones. Kevin Miller has been with me since 1990 helping me every step of the way providing great mentorship. John Carns has given me great advice, support and friendship as well. My current and past assistant coaches, Brendan Burke, Mark Beckham, John Boetsch, Rodrigo DaSilva, Jakob Gustafsson and Matt Coomer have been a huge part of partnering with me to build a national level tennis program. The tennis staff of Meg Peavy, Melinda VanArsdale, Lori Korte, Kamari Wooten, Zach Farrell, Steve Hoelscher who have been beside me for years. Lastly, but most importantly, my family who have endured the almost ridiculous working hours of a head coach and still loving and supporting me every day. What is icing on the cake is not only the 400th win today as a coach but all 400 wins have been here at my alma mater – UofL.”
UNC recap
#26 Louisville 5, #10 North Carolina 2
Mar 20, 2015 at Louisville (Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)
Singles
1. #1 Sebastian Stiefelmeyer (LOU 14.67) def. #25 Ronnie Schneider (UNC 14.19) 6-3, 6-1
2. Alex Gornet (LOU 13.39) def. #57 Brett Clark (UNC 13.79) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (6)
3. #106 Albert Wagner (LOU 13.55) def. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC 12.97) 6-4, 6-4
4. #115 Jack Murray (UNC 13.92) def. Chris Simich (LOU 13.33) 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (8)
5. #86 Robert Kelly (UNC 13.59) def. Michael Lippens (LOU 13.24) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
6. Jeffrey Brown (LOU 12.68) def. Oystein Steiro (UNC 13.50) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
1. Alex Gornet/Jeffrey Brown (LOU) def. #22 Oystein Steiro/Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) 8-5
2. Sebastian Stiefelmeyer/Albert Wagner (LOU) def. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) 8-7
3. Brett Clark/Robert Kelly (UNC) def. Chris Simich/Van Damrongsri (LOU) 8-5
Match Notes:
North Carolina 14-6, 3-1; National ranking #10
Louisville 15-4, 3-2; National ranking #26
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,6,3,5,2,4)
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