After struggling in doubles most of the year, Oklahoma came up big in the finals of the BNP Paribas Collegiate Cup and handed Baylor its first doubles loss of the year and ultimately its 3rd overall loss as the Sooners beat Baylor 4-2. The Oklahoma win was the second over Baylor in the last 5 weeks and they’ll meet up against in Waco on April 10th.
Baylor’s #2 team of Julian Lenz and Diego Galeano won easily 6-2 but Oklahoma would win the other 2 courts 6-4 with Dane Webb and Axel Alvarez getting it done on 1 and Spencer Papa and Florin Bragusi winning on 3. It was the first win of the year for the Papa/Bragusi pairing and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Each team would take 3 1st sets but with Baylor needing 4 singles wins they would need to close out their 3 and turn 1 more – OU wouldn’t let it happen. Axel Alvarez put OU up 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-2 shellacking over Tony Lupieri at #2 and Alex Ghilea would make it 3-0 with an equally dominant 6-2 6-3 win over Vince Schneider at #4. Julian Lenz would get Baylor on the board with a 6-3, 6-2 win at #1 over Andrew Harris and Mate Zsiga was just 2 games away from winning at #5. However, Oklahoma’s Florin Bragusi would put an end to any doubt and clinch the win and title by defeating Felipe Rios 7-5, 6-4 at #6 and thus snap Rios’s 10-match winning streak.
Getting the doubles point was huge for Oklahoma because even though they’ve come back before after dropping it this was a red-hot Baylor team they were facing. If Baylor takes that opening point then it would have come down to a 3rd set at #3. Of course you can play the IF game all day; bottom line is Oklahoma keeps on winning and keeps performing when it matters that most.
“Today was a great team effort to put up four points on a really good team like Baylor to win,” head coach John Roddick said. “Even after winning an intense doubles point, we were able to focus for singles.
“We played much better at number three doubles, and we started to execute some of the things we have been practicing,” Roddick said. “It really paid off today”
“Axel was very solid today,” Roddick said. “He did a good job of getting early leads and capitalized on first opportunities to close out each set.”
Doubles
1. #5 Dane Webb/Axel Alvarez (OU 13-2) def. #40 Mate Zsiga/Tony Lupieri (BU 2-4) 6-4
2. #77 Julian Lenz/Diego Galeano (BU 12-1) def. #69 Alex Ghilea/Andrew Harris (OU 3-4) 6-2
3. Spencer Papa/Florin Bragusi (OU 1-2) def. Vince Schneider/Felipe Rios (BU 11-2) 6-4
Singles
1. #4 Julian Lenz (BU 14.63) def. #19 Andrew Harris (OU 14.78) 6-3, 6-2
2. #7 Axel Alvarez (OU 14.47) def. #29 Tony Lupieri (BU 14.21) 6-1, 6-2
3. #36 Max Tchoutakian (BU 14.15) vs. #26 Dane Webb (OU 14.29) 6-3, 5-7, 0-1
4. #53 Alex Ghilea (OU 14.13) def. Vince Schneider (BU 13.50) 6-2, 6-3
5. Mate Zsiga (BU 13.86) vs. Spencer Papa (OU 13.76) 7-5, 4-2
6. Florin Bragusi (OU 13.59) def. Felipe Rios (BU 13.73) 7-5, 6-4
Match Notes:
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3) Singles (2,4,1,6)
Who Wins The Oracle Challenge This Weekend At Indian Wells
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Oklahoma
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Baylor
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USC
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Tulsa
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Columbia
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Votes so far: 37
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The rain in Oxford forced play indoors and with it went Florida’s chances as Ole Miss never let the Gators get in the match. Ole Miss picked up the doubles point then closed out 1, 2, and 3 singles to post the 4-0 shutout. With there just being 3 indoor courts the matches at 4 and 5 didn’t go on until a court opened up and the match at 6 never took the court.
1. #23 Nik Scholtz (OM 14.13) def. #64 Diego Hidalgo (UF 14.05) 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
2. #82 Stefan Lindmark (OM 14.18) def. #78 Elliott Orkin (UF 14.11) 6-4, 6-3
3. Gustav Hansson (OM 13.63) def. #99 Maxx Lipman (UF 13.59) 6-1, 6-1
4. Gordon Watson (UF 13.72) vs. Zvonimir Babic (OM 12.81) 4-3 DNF
5. Chase Perez-Blanco (UF 13.49) vs. Vinod Gowda (OM 12.79) 2-0 DNF
6. Jordan Belga (UF 12.97) vs. Ricardo Jorge (OM 13.10) Did Not Start
Doubles:
1. Nik Scholtz/Zvonimir Babic (OM) def. Elliott Orkin/Maxx Lipman 6-1
2. Gordon Watson/Diego Hidalgo (UF) vs. Stefan Lindmark/Gustav Hansson (OM) 6-5
3. William Kallberg/Grey Hamilton (OM) def. Joshua Wardell/Oliver Landert (UF) 7-5
Match Notes:
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3) Singles (3,2,1)
Ole Miss recap with quotes below:
“Florida has a very good team, and I have a lot of respect for them and their coaches,” head coach Toby Hansson said. “They always come out firing and we knew it would be a battle. We were able to win a close doubles point and take the momentum into singles. I have to give credit to the crowd again. We appreciate everybody getting out of bed on a Sunday morning and coming here to watch us. They were fantastic.”
“Gustav looked very strong out there,” Toby Hansson said. “He was executing his shots and playing to the crowd. He was ready to go from the start, and never gave his opponent a chance. It was a very impressive performance.”
“Stefan was playing a quality opponent,” Toby Hansson said. “They had a lot of long rallies and exciting points. Stefan is playing really well right now and tough for anyone to beat. It was another impressive performance as well.”
“I lost my serve on a deuce point in the first set, but I told myself I was still in control,” Scholtz said. “As soon as I got that first break in the second set, I moved into a new gear and started feeling more comfortable out there. The crowd was amazing. It’s so much fun to play in front of these fans, and we really appreciate them coming out.”
“Nik couldn’t really get his game going in the beginning and got off to a tough start,” Toby Hansson said. “It took him a little while, but then he started moving better and hitting the ball the way he normally does. He finished off the match attacking more and playing his game.”
“I try not to look at the scoreboard too much, but I was aware that Gustav was dominating,” he said. “That was pretty easy to tell. I knew Stefan was in a tough match, and I was supporting him. He did the same for me. We’ve started this thing where we feed off each other and try to help each other when things are tight. That helped a lot. I might have been the one who clinched, but a lot of credit goes to the entire team. It’s a team win today, and they deserve as much credit as me.”
Shelton’s Notes Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On today’s tough road loss
Ole Miss played very well today. It was unfortunate that our Nos. 4, 5, and 6 singles players didn’t get a chance to play. We will get home and get ready for Auburn next Saturday,
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Read the Duke recap for everything that happened in this one – excellent recap!!
Duke recap
“I’m really proud of the team, head coach Ramsey Smith said. “That was one of those special matches. I have so much respect for Wake Forest. They’re a really, really good team. I’m proud of the way we hung in there. We haven’t lost too many doubles points this year. We got down in singles early, but everyone stepped up and competed hard. We gave ourselves a chance and it was a great win for us.
“We played them earlier in the year and it was a very tough match, Alvarez said. “We came back [tonight] from losing doubles, pretty easily on two courts, including mine. We played great tennis in singles. Everybody gave their best. What makes it so special is coming back from doubles against a very good team here at home.
“There were a lot of big momentum shifts, Smith said. “Bruno being able to finish off the second set after saving some break points and Rafa [Hemmeler] down 5-2 in the second set and able to come back and win that gave us a huge, huge boost.
“Nico [Alvarez] has done it [clinching matches versus Wake Forest] against two different guys who are two of the better players in college tennis in Bogaerts and Rubin, Smith said. “Alvarez is so calm in the pressure moments like serving for the match. It’s not the first time he’s done it, but we’ve been missing him for a little bit. It’s awesome to have him back in there. It was a special win for him.
“It’s tough coming back against a very tough opponent like Rubin is, Alvarez added. “At first I wasn’t in the rhythm of competition and he was playing well. Then I started coming back by giving myself some positive energy and seeing the other guys were doing great really helped me. I loosened up and started playing better. I changed my strategy a little bit and that helped me. I was able to pull it off in the end.
#6 Duke 4, #12 Wake Forest 3
Doubles:
1. #13 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) def. #11 Nicolas Alvarez/Raphael Hemmeler (DU) 8-3
2. Jason Tahir/Josh Levine (DU) def. Jon Ho/Noah Rubin (WF) 8-2
3. Keivon Tabrizi/Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. Bruno Semenzato/Chris Mengel (DU) 8-3
Singles Lineup:
1. #11 Nicolas Alvarez (DU 14.27) def. #63 Noah Rubin (WF 14.80) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. #12 Romain Bogaerts (WF 14.40) def. #34 Jason Tahir (DU 13.84) 6-3, 3-6, 5-4(5)
3. Raphael Hemmeler (DU 14.08) def. #69 Jon Ho (WF 13.56) 6-2, 7-5
4. Bruno Semenzato (DU 13.86) def. Skander Mansouri (WF 13.30) 6-1, 6-4
5. Christian Seraphim (WF 13.74) def. Josh Levine (DU 12.63) 6-1, 6-2
6. TJ Pura (DU 13.39) def. Maksim Kan (WF 13.28) 6-3, 6-1
Match Notes
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,6,4,3,1*,2)
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After sweeping all 3 doubles courts, Virginia Tech found itself in a hole trailing 3-2 and with NC State leading on both of the remaining courts. NC State’s #5 Nick Horton would lead 5-2 in the 3rd and it looked certain the #16 Hokies would go down however Edoardo Tessaro rallied and won the final 5 games games of the match to take it 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to even the match at 3-3. Virginia Tech’s #2 Amerigo Contini would come back from a set down to even his match at a set a piece and then Contini raced out to a 5-2 lead in the 3rd. NC State’s Simon Norenius would hold and break to get it back on serve at 4-5 but wouldn’t you know that Contini would break right back to clinch the win for Virginia Tech.
VA Tech recap
NC State recap
#16 Virginia Tech 4, #37 NC State 3
March 22,2015 at Raleigh, N.C. – (J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Robbie Mudge (NCST 13.55) def. #40 Andreas Bjerrehus (VT 13.80) 6-3, 6-4
2. #55 Amerigo Contini (VT 14.42) def. Simon Norenius (NCST 13.80) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Hunter Koontz (VT 13.67) def. #72 Austin Powell (NCST 13.60) 6-3, 6-2
4. Beck Bond (NCST 13.33) def. #98 Joao Monteiro (VT 13.85) 6-4, 6-2
5. Edoardo Tessaro (VT 13.04) def. Nick Horton (NCST 13.47) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
6. Thomas Weigel (NCST 13.31) def. Florian Nicoud (VT 13.36) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Andreas Bjerrehus/Hunter Koontz (VT) def. #17 Robbie Mudge/Ian Dempster (ST) 8-7 (7-5)
2. Joao Monteiro/Edoardo Tessaro (VT) def. Austin Powell/Beck Bond (ST) 8-4
3. Simon Norenius/Thomas Weigel (ST) vs. Amerigo Contini/Jai Corbett (VT) 6-7, unfinished
Match Notes:
Virginia Tech 13-2; National ranking #16
NC State 10-8; National ranking #37
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,4,6,1,5,2)
Looking at your rankings sneak peek and Oklahoma has a huge lead. Don't see them dropping out of the top 5 for quite some time. 2 through 5 are all closer than 1 to 2.<br /><br />I can't say I thought they would win this week. They just keep winning. I thought Baylor would secure the doubles and was wrong. I think Webb wins that third set so it may not have mattered.<br />