Tagged with:
Alabama,
Duke,
Florida State,
Harvard,
Illinois,
Michigan,
Oklahoma State,
Tulane,
Wake Forest,
WashingtonThere was a solid schedule of matches on Friday and fortunately for us viewers almost all of them had a live stream available. There were a pair of top 25 teams going head to head and as expected both were close matches. #7 Illinois held on for a 4-3 road win at #24 Duke while #25 Oklahoma State pulled off the upset and beat #11 Wake Forest.
Oklahoma State took the doubles point with wins at #1 and #2 and then picked up first sets at #3, #5, and #6 while Wake took the rest. It looked like Dennis Uspensky was going to get the first set at #5 but Tristan Meraut broke him and then took the tiebreak 7-4.
Wake’s Skander Mansouri tied it at 1-1 with a quick win at #2 but Oklahoma State’s Arjun Kadhe answered with a straight set win at #3. Wake tied it at 2-2 when Jon Ho won in straights at #4 but Oklahoma State’s Tristan Meraut answered with a straight set win at #5. Meraut got broke serving for the match up 7-6, 5-3 but he managed to break back to win it. Oklahoma State’s Lukas Finzelberg would break Christian Seraphim’s 2-2 serve game in the third set and would hold three more times to close it out at #6 by a score of 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Below are video clips from Oklahoma State of the doubles and singles clinchers along with some words from head coach Jay Udwadia
#25 Oklahoma State 4, #11 Wake Forest 2
January 29, 2016 at Stillwater, OK (Greenwood Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Temur Ismailov (OSU 13.95) vs. Petros Chrysochos (WF 14.01) 3-6, 6-4, 6-5, unf.
2. #26 Skander Mansouri (WF 14.23) def. #68 Julian Cash (OSU 13.73) 6-1, 6-4
3. #112 Arjun Kadhe (OSU 13.81) def. Romain Bogaerts (WF 14.00) 6-3, 6-2
4. #103 Jonathan Ho (WF 13.99) def. Lucas Gerch (OSU 13.68) 6-2, 6-3
5. Tristan Meraut (OSU 13.38) def. Dennis Uspensky (WF 13.59) 7-6(4), 6-4
6. Lukas Finzelberg (OSU 13.65) def. Christian Seraphim (WF 13.55) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #9 Julian Cash/Arjun Kadhe (OKST) def. #25 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) 6-4
2. Temur Ismailov/Lucas Gerch (OKST) def. Petros Chrysochos/Jon Ho (WF) 6-4
3. #53 Lukas Finzelberg/Jurence Mendoza (OKST) vs. Bogaerts/Uspensky (WF) 4-5, unf.
Match Notes
Oklahoma State 5-1; National ranking #25
Wake Forest 4-1; National ranking #11
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,3,4,5)
Quotes from Oklahoma State’s recap:
“Today was about getting over the hump and getting a nice win to start the season,” coach Jay Udwadia said. “It was nice to capitalize it at home.”
“It’s a lot easier to win three singles points, than four, especially when you’re playing the top teams in the country,” Udwadia said. “I love how the team is playing with great energy and good spirit in doubles because it reflects our team.”
“I played pretty solid, but I can say everyone else gave 100 percent and that makes me really happy,” Kadhe said. “We needed to beat a top-15 team because mentally it helps takes everyone’s confidence to another level.”
“I was just trying to focus on my match and not worry about the other guys,” Meraut said. “I’m here for them and I’ll always cheer them on, but I wanted to take care of my point first. It was awesome being part of something like this for the first time.”
“First, I want to thank the crowd today because they were really loud and that’s what helped us,” Kadhe said.
“You try to go one match at a time and we’re not going to look past anyone this season, especially since Minnesota beat us last year,” Udwadia said.
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Illinois won the all-important doubles point with wins at #2 and #3 and then got singles victories from Jared Hiltzik, Aleks Vukic, and Alex Jesse to hold on for a 4-3 win. Give Duke’s recap a read for all the pertinent details because as I’ve said before they do a tremendous job keeping tabs on everything.
#7 Illinois 4, #24 Duke 3
January 29, 2016 at Durham, NC (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #21 Jared Hiltzik (ILL 14.11) def. #12 Nicolas Alvarez (DU 14.16) 6-2, 6-4
2. Aleks Vukic (ILL 14.33) def. #102 TJ Pura (DU 13.37) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
3. Catalin Mateas (DU 13.67) def. #41 Aron Hiltzik (ILL 13.74) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
4. Vincent Lin (DU 13.40) def. #67 Julian Childers (ILL 13.36) 6-2, 6-1
5. Alex Jesse (ILL 12.89) def. Adrian Chamdani (DU 12.90) 6-3, 6-3
6. Josh Levine (DU 12.69) def. Asher Hirsch (ILL 12.79) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3)
Doubles competition
1. Nicolas Alvarez/Vincent Lin (DU) def. Jared Hiltzik/Alex Jesse (ILL) 6-4
2. Aron Hiltzik/Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. Josh Levine/Ryan Dickerson (DU) 6-3
3. Julian Childers/Brian Page (ILL) def. TJ Pura/Catalin Mateas (DU) 6-2
Match Notes:
Illinois 4-0; National ranking #7
Duke 1-3; National ranking #24
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,1,5,3,6,2)
Official: Tina Chandler
T-2:36 A-309
Post match comments from Illinois’s recap:“I’m really happy for this team as they continue to search for an identity,” head coach
Brad Dancer said. “Anytime you go on the road and play a good team like Duke, you are going to have to find ways to win matches. Our doubles play and Jared Hiltzik and Alex Jesse put us in a position to win, but credit Duke for clawing its way back into the match, especially TJ Pura. In the end, Vukic gets a well-earned match-deciding victory, executing some of the fundamentals he has been so focused on. Again, happy for the guys and looking forward to another challenge tomorrow.”
“That was a great college tennis match, Duke head coach Ramsey Smith said. “It came down to the last match. We had a great atmosphere with two teams playing extremely hard. We focused on all heart in singles and really digging in. I really felt like we did that on all six courts. I told the guys that if we keep that effort up that we’re going to be fine.
“I was really happy with court one (doubles), Smith said. “I think that was one of the best matches they had played from start to finish.
“Vinny took out a ranked player (Childers) quickly, Smith said. “I moved him down a spot in the lineup and sometimes players don’t handle that very well. He couldn’t have handled it much better. His match really helped the other five guys out there get a real belief we could do it.”
“I’m especially proud of Catalin, Smith added. “That guy is a gamer. He doesn’t lose many matches. You have to beat him. Catalin stayed aggressive, stepped up and took the match at the end.
“I have all the confidence in the world in this team even though we’re really young, Pura said. “The guys, especially the freshmen, I couldn’t be more proud of. I think, if you look back at the Kentucky match to now, it’s night and day the way we look. We’re on the brink of making a breakthrough. We all feel it. The loss is really tough, but it’s exciting. We’re right there.
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With an ESPN3 crowd watching on #29 Florida State cruised past #61 Alabama 6-1. Florida State swept all 3 doubles courts then picked up 3 quick straight set wins from Marco Nunez, Michael Rinaldi, and Terrance Whitehurst at 2, 4, and 6. They did play the other matches out with Florida State’s Ben Lock winning a third set supertiebreak while Alabama’s Becker O’Shaughnessey did the same. Below are highlights courtesy of FSU.
#29 Florida State 6, #61 Alabama 1
Jan. 29, 2016 at Tallahassee, Fla. (Scott Speicher Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #15 Benjamin Lock (FS 14.16) def. #66 Mazen Osama (UA 13.51) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)
2. #77 Marco Nunez (FS 13.30) def. #106 Korey Lovett (UA 13.64) 6-1, 6-2
3. #123 B. O’Shaughnessey (UA 13.46) def. Aziz Dougaz (FS 13.29) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9)
4. Michael Rinaldi (FS 13.27) def. Grayson Goldin (UA 13.39) 6-2, 6-1
5. Terrell Whitehurst (FS 13.38) def. Danny Kerznerman (UA 13.21) 7-5, 7-5
6. Terrance Whitehurst (FS 13.13) def. Spencer Richey (UA 12.93) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Benjamin Lock/Marco Nunez (FS) def. Korey Lovett/Mazen Osama (UA) 6-0
2. #55 Terrance Whitehurst/Terrell Whitehurst (FS) def. S Richey/Matthew Rossouw (UA) 6-4
3. Aziz Dougaz/Michael Rinaldi (FS) def. Grayson Goldin/B. O’Shaughnessey (UA) 6-4
Match Notes
Alabama 5-2; National ranking #61
Florida State 5-1; National ranking #29
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,6,4,3,1,5)
T-2:40 A-405
Quotes from FSU’s recap
Head Coach Dwayne Hultquist:
“It was a lot of fun tonight playing on ESPN3. We had a terrific crowd with the Golden Spear club seating and terrific support from the sororities on campus. Our guys love playing when we have a huge crowd like we did tonight. I was pleased with how we had three dominating matches in Marco, Terrance, and Michael. They set the stage winning the first set and closing their matches out. We’ll look back on this match and see Alabama as a very good team down the road. It was a very good night for us in that we played well and we’ve beaten two SEC teams in a row. Those are good teams and we’re building our resume. We look to build the momentum Sunday against a very good Troy team.
On Terrance Whitehurst:
“Terrance is undefeated for the spring. He’s worked really hard on his game and improved his serve. His biggest thing is competing hard. He’s a different player than a year ago, staying focused on his match. It’s always fun because he has a good time and brings a lot of energy.
Senior Marco Nunez:
“We prepared really well for this team. Our coaches did a good job to get us focused for this match and the tactics and game plan for this match was assertive.
Quotes from Alabama’s recap:
Tonight was a tale of two teams,” said Alabama head coach George Husack. “One got in the way of themselves, and the other didn’t. We just never got it going on all courts. It happens, and you move on. We will get better with more reps, focus and hard work.”
“Becker keeps competing his tail off and leading by example,” added Husack. “He didn’t serve well and shot himself in the foot a few times, but he didn’t cave in. A super effort.”
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The closest match of the day took place in Cambridge as #32 Tulane pulled out a tight, tight 4-3 win over #33 Harvard in a match where the final two courts went to a third set tiebreak to decide it. As is the case in many of these close matches the team that wins the double point seems to come out on top and this one was no exception.
Harvard’s #2 team of Sebastian Beltrame and Kenny Tao won 6-2 but Tulane’s #1 team of Dominik Koepfer and Chi-Shan Jao answered with a 6-3 win to bring all it all down to #2. Tulane’s Sebastian Rey and Constantin Schmitz had 3 match points at #3 when Harvard’s Kelvin Lam served at 5-6, 15-40 but the Crimson managed to hold to send it to a deciding tiebreak. Harvard got the early mini break to go up 1-0 but Tulane took the next 3 to go up 3-1 and ended up cruising from there to take it 7-4. As you’ll see below this doubles point turned out to be pivotal.
Tulane got straight set singles wins from the ITA #1 Dominik Koepfer at #1 and Tyler Schick at #6 while Harvard’s Sebastian Beltrame and Kenny Tao won in straights at #3 and #4 though Beltrame’s sets were both tiebreaks. I love this clip below from Harvard’s twitter talking about Kenny Tao – there is no team’s twitter account that’s more entertaining than Harvard’s – they bring it every match so give them a follow.
With Tulane holding on to a 3-2 lead both of the final two courts would go to a third set. Harvard’s Brian Yeung would get the early break at #2 to take a 3-1 lead on Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz but Schmitz would break back, hold, and break again to go up 4-3. Yeung broke back and held to go up 5-4 before Schmitz held for 5-5. Each would hold one more time to send it a tiebreak and in the tiebreak it was all Schmitz as he pulled away for a 7-3 win which clinched the team victory for the Green Wave. They played out the final court and Harvard’s Andy Zhou got the win 7-6(1) to make the final score 4-3 Tulane.
#32 Tulane 4, #33 Harvard 3
Jan 29, 2016 at Cambridge, Mass.
Singles competition
1. #1 Dominik Koepfer (TLN 14.34) def. #71 Nicky Hu (HU 13.72) 6-2, 6-4
2. #63 Constantin Schmitz (TLN 13.79) def. Brian Yeung (HU 13.10) 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3)
3. Sebastian Beltrame (HU 13.12) def. Alex Van Cott (TLN 12.85) 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2)
4. Kenny Tao (HU 13.19) def. #111 Sebastian Rey (TLN 13.65) 6-4, 6-2
5. Andy Zhou (HU 13.35) def. Chi-Shan Jao (TLN 13.53) 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (1)
6. Tyler Schick (TLN 13.10) def. Grant Solomon (HU 12.61) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #17 Dominik Koepfer/Chi-Shan Jao (TLN) def. #44 Nicky Hu/Brian Yeung (HU) 6-3
2. #32 Sebastian Beltrame/Kenny Tao (HU) def. Alex Van Cott/Ian Van Cott (TLN) 6-2
3. Sebastian Rey/Constantin Schmitz (TLN) def. Conor Haughey/Kelvin Lam (HU) 7-6 (7-4)
Match Notes:
Tulane 4-1; National ranking #32
Harvard 3-2; National ranking #33
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,4,6,3,2,5)
“This was a tremendous team effort today, Tulane men’s tennis head coach Mark Booras said. “Our guys really showed a lot of heart from start to finish to beat a very strong Harvard team. Hats off to Coach Fish for having top-25 caliber teams year in and year out for the last 40 years. He is one of the special coaches in our sport that has done it the right way, done it with class and produced great players, teams, and young men since well before I was competing against him in my college days. He’s a true role model for us coaches.
“The way that we got it done was probably even more special because it’s specifically stuff that we talked about all week after our tough loss last weekend, Booras added. “We pushed the guys to put some things into play with their mental games and then with their execution of their tactics, and they responded. Constantin showed a lot of heart today coming back from a break down in the third set to clinch it for us in a tiebreaker.
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#21 Northwestern 6, #35 Notre Dame 1
Jan 29, 2016 at Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #16 Konrad Zieba (NU 14.28) def. #37 Quentin Monaghan (ND 13.78) 6-2, 7-5
2. #50 Sam Shropshire (NU 13.67) def. Eddy Covalschi (ND 12.62) 6-1, 6-4
3. #55 Strong Kirchheimer (NU 14.06) def. Alex Lawson (ND 13.40) 6-3, 6-4
4. Eric Schnurrenberger (ND 12.97) def. Fedor Baev (NU 12.93) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
5. Alp Horoz (NU 13.08) def. Josh Hagar (ND 13.26) 6-2, 5-7, 10-7
6. Ben Vandixhorn (NU 12.93) def. Grayson Broadus (ND 12.86) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #52 Fedor Baev/Strong Kirchheimer (NU) vs. #6 Lawson/Monaghan (ND) 4-4, unf
2. Konrad Zieba/Sam Shropshire (NU) def. Eddy Covalschi/Josh Hagar (ND) 6-2
3. Mihir Kumar/Alp Horoz (NU) def. Grayson Broadus/Eric Schnurrenberger (ND) 6-1
Match Notes:
Notre Dame 2-3; National ranking #35
Northwestern 4-1; National ranking #21
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,6,3,1,5,4)
Official: John Coleman T-2:27 A-172
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Last season Michigan went 1-16 against ranked opponents but so far this year they are 1-1 after a somewhat surprising 7-0 win over #34 Princeton on Friday evening at the USTA National Tennis Center. Princeton played without its #1 singles player Tom Colautti (13.40) which didn’t help the Tigers but Michigan just ate them at the bottom of the lineup winning six sets 6-2 or better.
It’s interesting but if you look at the Universal Tennis Ratings (UTRs) of each player you wouldn’t be surprised at all by the results – in fact it would have actually been surprising had Michigan.
Michigan 7, #34 Princeton 0
Jan. 29, 2016 New York, N.Y.
Singles competition
1. Jathan Malik (UM 13.79) d. Diego Vives (PU 13.19), 7-6, 6-4
2. Davis Crocker (UM 12.69) d. #93 Alex Day (PU 12.95), 7-5, 6-7, 1-0
3. Alex Knight (UM 13.66) d. Josh Yablon (PU 12.97), 6-1, 3-6, 1-2 retired
4. Carter Lin (UM 12.83) d. Kial Kaiser (PU 12.67), 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
5. Runhao Hua (UM 13.59) d. Jimmy Wasserman (PU 12.96), 6-2, 6-2
6. Myles Schalet (UM 13.45) d. Luke Gamble (PU 12.85), 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Alex Knight/Runhao Hua (UM) d. Alex Day/Luke Gamble (PU), 6-4
2. Diego Vives/Jimmy Wasserman (PU) d. Davis Crocker/Gabe Tishman (UM), 6-2
3. Lubomir Cuba/Carter Lin (UM) d. Josh Yablon/Thomas Colautti (PU), 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles: 2,3,1; Singles: 6,5,1,3,4,2
“I felt we played better in certain areas tonight and once again gave ourselves a good shot to get the doubles point. It certainly wasn’t as lopsided as the final score might indicate. However, we didn’t capitalize on crucial points in a few of the first sets to really give ourselves the necessary momentum. Michigan is a very balanced team and it showed in their success against us down low tonight. It was clearly a bit more challenging without Tom (Colautti) at the No. 1 singles position, but Michigan played a great match regardless. We’ll need a quick turnaround for a very good Iowa squad tomorrow and I’m confident we’ll continue to make adjustments and improve each match.”
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#43 Washington picked up a nice ranked win at home over #57 Cal Poly with the Huskies winning a close doubles point before getting three quick straight set wins from Jake Douglas, Enzo Sommer, and Sebastian Hawken at 3, 4, and 5 to seal it. Each of the three remaining matches played a 10 point tiebreak in lieu of a third set.
#43 Washington 6, #57 Cal Poly 1
Jan. 29, 2016 at Seattle, WA (Nordstrom Tennis Center)
Doubles competition
1 Donovan/Pang (CP) def. Foley/Sommer (UW) 6-4
2 Douglas/Watanabe (UW) def. (CP) Auproux/Tan (CP) 7-5
3 Lam/Stewart (UW) def. (CP) Enander/Shintani (CP) 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles competition
1 #84 Mitch Stewart (UW) def. Garret Auproux (CP) 6-4, 2-6, 11-9
2 #122 Gal Hakak (UW) def. Ben Donovan (CP) 4-6, 6-2, 10-8
3 #121 Jake Douglas (UW) def. Cory Pang (CP) 6-2, 6-4
4 Enzo Sommer (UW) def. Joshua Ortlip (CP) 6-2, 6-1
5 Sebastian Hawken (UW) def. Axel Damiens (CP) 6-3, 6-2
6 Joao Barra (UW) def. Aiku Shintani (CP) 1-6, 7-5, 11-9
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 1, 6, 2
“I think we came out strong in doubles, said head coach Matt Anger. “At number one doubles we did lose the first game but I feel like we were right on it afterwards, that was the one game that was costly.
“I’m very happy with the win tonight, said Anger. “I think once we clinched the match we might’ve slowed down a little bit. But if that’s our biggest complaint it’s for a good reason, when you have four points on the board.
Vinny took out a ranked player. Should be Julian Childers in parentheses not Aron Hiltzik