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USC and UCLA Both Win in LA & North Carolina Blanks Illinois

by | Jan 31, 2016 | Blog

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Day 1 of the Pac-12/SEC Challenge belonged to the Pac-12 as #8 USC edged #20 Florida 4-3 and #12 UCLA pulled away from #6 Georgia 6-1.

The day started off with #8 USC playing #20 Florida. USC came out of the shoot ready to go as they went up an early break on all 3 doubles courts. USC’s #3 team of Rob Bellamy and Jake DeVine broke the Florida serve on the opening game of the match and eventually went up 5-1. After Florida fought off two match points to hold for 2-5, USC’s Rob Bellamy served it out for the 6-2 win.

USC’s #2 team of Max de Vroome and Jack Jaede went up 2-1 after breaking Maxx Lipman at love but Lipman and Elliott Orkin would even it at 4-4 after they broke Jaede’s serve from 30-40. Orkin held on the deciding point to put Florida up 5-4 but de Vroome held from 40-30 to tie it back up at 5-5. Jaede/de Vroome broke the Lipman serve at love and then Jaede held on the deciding point to take it 7-5.

The match at #1 was abandoned with Florida’s Diego Hidalgo serving for the match up 6-5, 30-0.

Each team would take three first sets in singles with Diego Hidalgo, Elliott Orkin, and Gordon Watson taking them for Florida at 1, 2, and 5 while USC’s Jake DeVine, Logan Smith, and Thibault Forget took sets at 3, 4, and 6.

USC’s Thibault Forget was the first off the court with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Florida’s Jordan Belga in a match that took 1 hour and 5 minutes. Forget broke Belga to go up 3-2 in the first set and then broke Belga again from 15-40 to take the opening set 6-3. Forget won all the close games in the second set and broke to close it out.

Logan Smith extended USC’s lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Chase Perez-Blanco at #4. Smith broke Perez-Blanco to go up 3-1 in the first set and held serve pretty easily the rest of the way. Below is what most of the points looked like on Smith’s service games. Smith served for the match up 6-3, 5-0 but Perez-Blanco broke him from 30-40. Smith returned the favor by breaking on the deciding point to finish off the match in 1 hour and 7 minutes.

Just minutes later Diego Hidalgo would put Florida on the board with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Max de Vroome at #1 singles. The only break in the first set came when Hidalgo broke de Vroome from 15-40 to take the set 6-4. Hidalgo got the only break of the second set when he went up 4-2 and held two more times to close out the win in 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Seconds later Elliott Orkin would bring Florida to within 3-2 after closing out Nick Crystal 6-3, 6-4 at #2 singles. Orkin jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first set but Crystal broke back and held to even it at 2-2. Orkin would break again to go up 5-3 and would then serve it out at love to take the set 6-3. Orkin broke again in the second set and served it out at the same time Hidalgo clinched (sorry no video)

Gordon Watson tied it up at 3-3 with a come from behind 7-6(3), 7-5 win at #5 singles over USC’s Jack Jaede. Jaede jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and led 4-1 before Watson won three straight to tie it up at 4-4. Jaede held and then had two set points but Watson fought them off to hold for 5-5. Jaede held and once again had two set points but Watson came back and held to force a tiebreak. The tiebreak was all Watson as he went up 3-0 and would take it 7-3. Jaede went up an early break in the second set but he couldn’t hold on to the lead as Watson broke to even it at 4-4 and then held to go up 5-4. Jaede held for 5-5 then Watson held and broke to close out the match in 1 hour and 37 minutes

The final match on court was at #3 singles between USC freshman Jake DeVine and Florida freshman Alfredo Perez. After 12 straight holds the first set went to a tiebreak with Perez getting the early mini-break to go up 2-0. DeVine took the next 4 points before Perez got the mini-break back and would lead 6-5. DeVine fought off set point when he got the benefit of a let cord to even it at 6-6 and would end up taking it 8-6.

Devine broke Perez to start the second set and the break lead would hold up until he got broke serving for the match up 5-4, 40-40.

Perez went up 40-15 on his next service game but DeVine took the next three points to break for a 6-5 lead. DeVine then held at love to close out the win in 1 hour and 39 minutes.

#8 USC 4, #20 Florida 3
Jan 30, 2016 at Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Tennis Center)
Doubles competition
1. #3 Hidalgo/Watson (FLA) vs. Crystal/Verboven (USC) *6-5 (30-0)
2. de Vroome/Jaede (USC) def. #40 Lipman/Orkin (FLA) – 7-5
3. Bellamy/DeVine (USC) def. Perez-Blanco/Wardell (FLA) – 6-2
USC wins doubles point (42 minutes)
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles competition
1. #31 Diego Hidalgo (FLA) def. #115 Max de Vroome (USC) – 6-4, 6-3
2. #49 Elliott Orkin (FLA) def. #41 Nick Crystal (USC) – 6-3, 6-4
3. #83 Jake DeVine (USC) def. #91 Alfredo Perez (FLA) – 7-6(6), 7-5*
4. #69 Logan Smith (USC) def. #63 Chase Perez-Blanco (FLA) – 6-3, 6-1
5. Gordon Watson (FLA) def. Jack Jaede (USC) – 7-6(3), 7-5
6. Thibault Forget (USC) def. Jordan Belga (FLA) – 6-3, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 4, 1, 2, 5, 3*
Quotes from Florida’s recap
What Coach Perelman Said”The Gators lost a tough match today against a good USC team. It always stings when you lose a close match, but we saw our guys do a lot of positive things today. We believe in this team and we are looking forward to putting it all on the line again tomorrow against UCLA.”
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The second match of the day at the Pac-12/SEC Challenge was between #6 Georgia and #12 UCLA. UCLA welcomed its #1 Mackenzie McDonald back to the lineup and he would play well in both singles and doubles. UCLA was fired up after its war chant and jumped all over Georgia in doubles.

It looks like UCLA would finish off the doubles point in about 20 minutes after they got off to quick starts at #1 and #3. UCLA’s Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redlicki jumped out an early 3-0 lead at #1 and didn’t face much resistance in its 6-1 win in a match that took just 20 minutes (match point below)

Gage Brymer and Austin Rapp opened up a 5-0 lead at #3 but then had trouble closing it out. Brymer got broke serving for it up 5-1, then Rapp was broke serving at 5-3, and then Brymer found himself facing two break points when serving at 5-5. Brymer came back to hold to make it 6-5 and then Reinberg held to send it a tiebreak.

While UCLA was struggling to finish it out at #3, Georgia’s #2 team of Paul Oosterbaan and Jan Zielinski would close out Joseph Di Giulio and Karue Sell 6-4 with the match ending with some controversy. Oosterbaan was serving at 5-4, 40-40 when UCLA’s guys though Oosterbaan’s shot hit off his racket and then bounced off the court before going over. The chair didn’t see it that way and then UCLA’s guys refused to shake hands in the heat of the moment.

The tiebreak at #3 was all Bruins as Brymer and Rapp sprinted out a 5-1 lead and took it 7-2.

UCLA kept the momentum going in singles with Gage Brymer, Martin Redlicki, Karue Sell, and Joseph Di Giulio taking first sets while Austin Smith and Emil Reinberg picked up first sets for Georgia.

Joseph Di Giulio put UCLA up 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ben Wagland at #6. Di Giulio broke Wagland early and often in route to winning in just 1 hour and 11 minutes

Karue Sell made it 3-0 Bruins with a 7-6(6), 6-2 win over Jan Zielinski at #4 singles. Sell broke Zielinski to start the match and led 5-3 before Zielinski won 3 straight to go up 6-5. Sell held to force a tiebreak and then went up 6-4 before Zielinski evened it at 6-6. Zielinski would double fault and then Sell got a service winner to take it 8-6 (clip below)

Sell broke early in the second set then broke again to close it out in 1 hour and 16 minutes.

After dropping the opening set, Mackenzie McDonald would come back to clinch the win with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Austin Smith at #1. McDonald went up 2-0 in the first set before Smith won the next 7 games to take the set and go up 1-0 in the second.  McDonald would break on the deciding point to go up 5-4 and would then hold on the deciding point to take the second set 6-4. McDonald broke immediately to start the third set then put the hammer down to take it in 1 hour and 42 minutes.

Originally they were going to stop at the clinch but with the weather looking iffy for Sunday they figured they might as well get as much tennis in as they could.

Martin Redlicki put UCLA up 5-0 with a 7-6(3), 7-6(5) win over Paul Oosterbaan at #2. Oosterbaan led 3-1 in the first set before Redlicki broke back to even it at 4-4. Redlicki would take the tiebreak 7-3 and then go up an early break in the second set. Oosterbaan broke back to even it at 2-2 then they stayed on serve until the tiebreak. Oosterbaan went up a mini-break at 2-1 but Redlicki erased it and took the final point off Oosterbaan’s serve to win it.

Wayne Montgomery came back from a set down to beat Gage Brymer 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 at #2.  – below is match point

Logan Staggs won the final match of the day but it took a little longer than he had hoped. Staggs led 5-1 in the third but Reinberg came back to even it up at 5-5. Staggs held for 6-5 then broke to close it out – below is match point

If you want to check out other video clips from the match you can go back through my twitter feed which has at least 100.

#12 UCLA 6, #6 Georgia 1

Jan 30, 2016 at Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. #28 Austin Smith (UGA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
2. #20 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. Gage Brymer (UCLA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. #48 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #40 Paul Oosterbaan (UGA) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5)
4. Karue Sell (UCLA) def. Jan Zielinski (UGA) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
5. #98 Logan Staggs (UCLA) def. Emil Reinberg (UGA) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
6. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA) def. Ben Wagland (UGA) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Mackenzie McDonald/Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #10 Austin Smith/Ben Wagland (UGA) 6-1
2. Paul Oosterbaan/Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Joseph Di Giulio/Karue Sell (UCLA) 6-4
3. Gage Brymer/Austin Rapp (UCLA) def. #45 Wayne Montgomery/Emil Reinberg (UGA) 7-6(2)
Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,4,1,3,2,5)
Quotes from Georgia’s recap
“We lost a close match today and I was impressed with UCLA, said head coach Manuel Diaz. “They certainly played better than we did today. We came back from 5-1 down in doubles at No. 3 and did a good job at No. 2 doubles. But unfortunately we just came up a little bit short today. We lost a couple of three-set matches and one in two tiebreakers. But while we played tough, UCLA was a little bit tougher than us.

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Illinois was attempting to go 2-0 on its Carolina swing but North Carolina was a little too strong and shut them out 4-0. North Carolina won the doubles point by taking a tiebreak at #2 doubles then picked up singles wins from Brett Clark, Jack Murray, and Robert Kelly at 3, 4, and 5 with Murray providing the clincher. Below was a video clip of Murray’s clincher and below that is an interview UNC did with Brett Clark.

#10 North Carolina 4, #7 Illinois 0
Jan 30, 2016 at Chapel Hill, NC (Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. Robert Kelly/Brett Clark (UNC) def. Jared Hiltzik/Alex Jesse (ILL), 6-4
2. Brayden Schnur/Jack Murray (UNC) def. Aleks Vukic/Aron Hiltzik (ILL), 7-6(3)
3. Julian Childers/Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) def. Ronnie Schneider/Blaine Boyden (UNC) , 6-3
Singles
1. Brayden Schnur (UNC)  vs. No. 21 Jared Hiltzik (ILL), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 0-0 DNF
2. No. 13 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) vs. Aleks Vukic (ILL),  2-6, 6-6 DNF
3. No. 43 Brett Clark (UNC) def. No. 41 Aron Hiltzik (ILL), 6-4, 6-3
4. Jack Murray (UNC) def. No. 67 Julian Childers (ILL), 6-0, 0-6, 6-1
5. No. 47 Robert Kelly (UNC) def. Pengxuan Jiang (ILL), 6-4, 6-3
6. Anu Kodali (UNC) vs. Asher Hirsch (ILL), 3-6, 3-5 DNF
Match Notes
Records: # 10 North Carolina 5-0; #7 Illinois 4-1
Order of match finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,5,3)
Comments from UNC’s recap:

“I think we played better tonight than we did last weekend up top, UNC coach Sam Paul said. “I think we’re hitting the ball better. We knew coming in Illinois has got some really good personnel up top. Ronnie played better, Brayden played better. But we’ve got to be competitive in all six spots, and doubles. We learned a lot tonight. We’ll have another great week of practice and we’re looking forward to having Oklahoma here on Sunday.

“It was a fun environment, Paul said. “It’s an exciting sport with so many momentum swings.

Comments from Illinois’s recap
“I give North Carolina a lot of credit,” head coach Brad Dancer said. “Our guys never stopped fighting. We were a point away from swinging the doubles and had a number of opportunities we didn’t capitalize on in singles. North Carolina is a good team. We will be excited to get back home Friday vs. Notre Dame.”