In what had to be the match of the day it was No. 8 Texas A&M outlasting No. 30 Florida 4-3 in 3 hours and 51 minutes. Florida jumped out to the early lead by taking the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 but Texas A&M came out ready to go in singles and took five opening sets.
Jordi Arconada was off the court first with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Chase Perez-Blanco at No. 3 but Florida’s Gordon Watson answered with a 6-4, 6-4 win over AJ Catanzariti at No. 5.
Texas A&M senior Jackson Withrow evened the match at 2-2 with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Florida freshman McClain Kessler at No. 6 but Florida retook the lead when freshman Alfredo Perez rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Texas A&M senior Harrison Adams.
Shane Vinsant (12th Man)
Texas A&M’s Arthur Rinderknech made it 3-3 with a 6-1, 6-7, 7-5 win over Diego Hidalgo at No. 1. Rinderknech led 5-3 in the third but Hidalgo held and then broke from 30-40 to even it at 5-5. Rinderknech broke back and then served it out to get the win.
Shane Vinsant was the hero for the Aggies after he held on to beat Florida junior Elliott Orkin 7-6(4), 6-7(9), 7-6(2). Vinsant led 6-4 in the second set tiebreak but Orkin fought back to win the set and force a third. Orkin broke Vinsant to go up 3-1 in the third but Vinsant broke back and held for 3-3. Both held serve the rest of the way then Vinsant got the big lead in the tiebreak and closed it out 7-2.
#8 Texas A&M 4, #30 Florida 3
Mar 06, 2016 at College Station, Texas (Mitchell Tennis Center)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (3,5,6,4,1,2) Post-Match Quotes from Texas A&M’s recap
Steve Denton, Texas A&M Head Coach – Key to defeating Florida
“I thought Shane Vinsant was a real MVP of the match against a very good Florida team. His resiliency and fight to stay in a match against a really good player in Elliott Orkin was very impressive. For a few moments it didn’t look good after he had a chance to win the match in the second-set tie-breaker then going down a break in the third set. He just figured a way to stay in the match and fight and took some chances. He played a very fantastic tie-breaker to clinch the match for the team.”
How the team will use today’s match moving forward in SEC play
“Every one of these SEC matches are a real fight, we found a way to survive two of them this weekend. I think our guys will gain confidence after fighting from behind today, after dropping the doubles point against a good team. We knew we had to take four singles matches if we wanted to win. The guys came out with a fight in singles against Florida, taking five first sets. We really turned the momentum in our favor and outlasted a comeback from Florida. Shane and Arthur played really good third-sets today.”
Head Coach Bryan Shelton – On this afternoon’s match
“Texas A&M played a great match. Our guys fought so hard and my two assistant coaches did a heck of a job, but I have to do a better job and help us get over this hump. I really love this team and trust them to continue to stay the course. They are doing their job and I have to do mine. We’ll get back after it this week with same passion and energy.”
In a match that was closer than the final score it was No. 4 Ohio State winning on the road in Norman over No. 13 Oklahoma 4-1. The match was originally scheduled to be played outdoors because the temperature was in the 60s however high winds moved play indoors.
Ohio State took the doubles point for the 13th time in 16 tries by picking up 6-4 wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then the Buckeyes added four first sets in singles.
Ohio State sophomore Mikael Torpegaard extended the Buckeyes lead to 2-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Axel Alvarez at No. 1 and then Martin Joyce made it 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andre Biro at No. 6.
Oklahoma freshman Maxime Mora put the Sooners on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 5 but Ohio State senior captain Chris Diaz slammed the door shut with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Florin Bragusi at No. 4.
The two remaining matches were abandoned with OU’s Alex Ghilea leading 5-0 (40-0) in the third at No. 2 over the hobbled Hugo Di Feo while Spencer Papa was up a set and leading 1-0 in the second set tiebreak at No. 3.
OU has a nice highlight package below since it was broadcast on Fox Sports so definitely check it out
“It’s a great day when you can get a road win over a good team like Oklahoma, said Director of Tennis Ty Tucker. “The guys came out and got the doubles point and then did what we needed to do in singles. It was some of the best tennis we’ve played this year.
“Matt is a tremendous tennis player, Tucker said. “If you want to be one of the top teams in the country, you better have a good bench. Matt is a great player and he stepped up big for us today.
“We got up 3-0 and it looked like they were starting to get some momentum but our captain came through, said Tucker. “Chris (Diaz) finished it with a tremendous drop-shot volley on the deuce point. It takes a really good player to pull off a shot like that in that situation.
The win was the sixth-straight for the Buckeyes who got a total team effort on Sunday. “We got wins from six different players today and we needed every one of them, said volunteer assistant coach David Schilling.
“I thought we played at a good level, head coach John Roddick said. “Ohio State is a very good team and they beat us, but this is the best I have seen our level in a few weeks so I think we can build some confidence on that. We have some guys who have been struggling with some things start to figure it out. Much different attitude in the locker room, even though it’s a loss, than say the Arkansas match. Again, give Ohio State a lot of credit. That’s a team that can be there at the end of the NCAAs.
“Max had a great win and Ghilea, even though he didn’t win that, the guy was stalling and we all know that was a win. All in all I am pleased with the direction we are going. Harris is getting healthier and healthier and when that time comes we are going to be firing on all cylinders. We have a lot of work to do and bodies to get healthy, but it was a much better effort and we’re going in a much better direction.
The biggest upset of the day took place in Winston-Salem as No 40 NC State knocked off No. 7 Wake Forest 4-3. The Demon Deacons were playing without its No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, Skander Mansouri and Petros Chrysochos, who were both playing in the Davis Cup and NC State was able to cash in on their absences.
NC State took the doubles pint with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then each team won three first sets in singles.
Wake’s bottom three of Christian Seraphim, Maksim Kan, and Keivon Tabrizi each won in routine fashion while NC State’s Nick Horton and Simon Norenius also cruised at No. 1 and No. 2.
The match would be decided in a third set at No. 3 between NC State senior Thomas Weigel and Wake freshman Dennis Uspensky. Weigel held to start the third set and then broke to go up 2-0 but Uspensky would break back to make it 2-1. Uspensky held for 2-2 then broke to go up 3-2 but Weigel would take the last four games to close it out 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 and give the Pack a huge win.
South Florida got all it wanted and more from No. 19 Michigan but in the end it was the Bulls senior leader, Roberto Cid, who clinched the win with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory of Jathan Malik at #1.
#17 USF 4, #19 University of Michigan 3
Mar 06, 2016 at University of South Florida (Varsity Tennis Courts)
“I think that’s what the best players in the world do, they find ways to win when they’re not feeling well or not at their best, head coach Matt Hill said. “I thought (Jathan) Malik from Michigan did a nice job with his strategy, his plan and how he executed what he needed to do. I thought obviously Roberto did a good job of staying the course and then being resilient until the time was right, I thought he did a good job of finishing it out at the end. _____________________________________________________________
Kentucky finished off a nice weekend with a 4-3 win over #26 Ole Miss. Ole Miss took the doubles point with wins at #1 and #3 but Kentucky fought back and took five first sets in singles.
Nils Ellefsen rolled over Filip Kraljevic 6-2, 6-2 at #3 and moments later Enzo Wallart finished off Fabian Fallert 6-1, 6-0 at #4. William Bushamuka extended Kentucky’s lead to 3-1 with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Stefan Lindmark at #1 but Ole Miss’s Grey Hamilton answered with a 6-0, 7-6 win at #5. Zvonimir Babic tied at 3-3 when Charles Minc was forced to retire with an injury but Kentucky freshman Ryotaro Matsumura will clinch another match with a 7-5, 7-6(4) win over Gustav Hansson at #2.
#22 Kentucky 4, #26 Ole Miss 3
Mar 06, 2016 at Lexington, Kentucky (Boone Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #31 William Bushamuka (UK 13.98) def. #69 Stefan Lindmark (OM 13.91) 6-2, 7-6 (5)
“Today was bitter-sweet for me, head coach Cedric Kauffman said following Kentucky’s second win in three days. “It was a great effort by our guys. We are becoming a tough group. I am sad for Charles [Minc] and I hope his injury is not too bad – we will know more about it mid-week. Our guys on the top four courts competed incredibly well today. I’m proud of the team and the great performance this weekend.
“A huge win by Ryo today to clinch the match, said assistant coach Matt Emery. “I envisioned moments just like this when I recruited Ryo. This was his first time playing the deciding match, and he handled like a seasoned veteran. He won this match because he is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, mentally in college tennis.”
“Our guys at one through four singles were absolute studs today, Emery added. “Nils and Enzo came right out of the gate and took it to them. I can’t stress enough how much Nils means to this program. He has become such a rock for us in the middle of the lineup.
“I was really proud of William today on the top court. He played a really solid match from start to finish. He was fearless in the second set tiebreaker to close it out.”
“I can’t stress enough how proud I am of this group of guys, Emery concluded. “They had a lot of adversity thrown at them today. It was a difficult situation, having to play outdoors without having hit literally one ball outdoors in the past two months. To beat a top 30 team – a team that thrives in an outdoor environment – is a really solid accomplishment. This match came down to toughness and our guys responded in a huge way.”
Quoting Head Coach Toby Hansson“It was an exciting college tennis match that came down to a few points here and there to decide it. We got off to a good start with the doubles; Grey and Fabi got the break to win it 6-4 and clinch the point. It’s tough to win on the road in this league when you don’t at least one match in the top three singles.
On the last match with Gustav Hansson
“We were really in control in the first set with Gus up 5-2, 40-30 and just couldn’t close the door. He had a lot of close games in that match. A credit to him though, he was down 3-1 in the second and comes back to serve for it. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way, but that’s how it is in close matches. We just have to figure out a way to win more of them as team.
On bouncing back
“We are looking forward to coming back to Oxford and playing two good teams in LSU and Texas A&M. It will be another challenging weekend, but we are excited to play in front of our home crowd. ___________________________________________________________
No. 36 Drake made it three wins in three days with a tough 4-2 win over No. 65 Cornell. Drake won the doubles point with 6-1 wins at No. 2 and No. 3 but Cornell fought back and claimed four first sets in singles.
Drake’s Calum MacGeoch put Drake ahead 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Bernardo Casares Rosa at No. 4 but Cornell’s Colin Sinclair put the Big Red on the board with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Bayo Philips at No 2.
Cornell was close to winning on three of the other four courts and in fact it was serving for the match at No. 1, No. 3, and No. 6 at just about the same time. Unfortunately for the Big Red only Karlo Lozic could seal the deal as he won 6-2, 6-4 over Tom Hands at No. 6.
Cornell freshman David Volfson served for the match at No. 1 up 5-2 and 5-4 in the second but got broke on both occasions and ended up dropping the set to Ben Lott in a tiebreak.
Cornell junior Chris Vrabel served for the match at No. 3 up 6-4, 5-4 but got broke by Vinny Gillespie. Vrabel led 6-5 in the tiebreak and got a look at a Gillespie second serve but his backhand return sailed long and things would south after that point.
Drake’s Ben Stride put the Bulldogs ahead 3-2 with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win over Stefan Vinti at No. 5. (clip not the best with it being on the far cout)
Vinny Gillespie opened up a 5-1 lead in the third set and he would serve for the match up 5-2. Gillespie led 40-15 but Vrabel came back and broke to make it 5-3. Gillespie would break back with Vrabel double faulting on match point to give Gillespie the 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 win.
Here is a brief post-match interview that I did with the hero Vinny Gillespie (video looks better if you click the top to open in YouTube – otherwise it sways from side-to-side)
#36 Drake 4, #65 Cornell 2
Mar 06, 2016 at Des Moines, Iowa (Roger Knapp Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Lott, Ben (DU 13.34) vs. Volfson, David (CU 13.50) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), *0-1, unfinished
2. Sinclair, Colin (CU 13.43) def. Philips, Bayo (DU 12.70) 6-4, 6-2
3. Gillespie, Vinny (DU 13.49) def. Vrabel, Chris (CU 13.44) 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (4,2,6,5,3) ___________________________________________________________
Miami has now won five of its last six after defeating No. 47 Florida State 4-3 which was the Canes first win over FSU since 2011. Florida State took the doubles point and four opening sets in singles and was looking good for most of the match.
Jose Gracia and Terrance Whitehurst won in straight sets at No. 5 and No. 6 to put FSU up 3-0 but Miami started chipping away everywhere else. Jesse Flores and Max Andrews won in straight sets at No. 4 and No. 3 and both Christian Langmo and Piotr Lomacki earned splits at No. 2 and No. 1.
Langmo would hand Marco Nunez a third set bagel to win 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 at No. 2 and a short while later Lomacki would seal the win with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Benjamin Lock.
Below is match point from the “U” with this match and many of its other show on ESPN3 – to watch a replay of this one you can click on this link. I’ll have a post later in the week about why Miami is able to stream so many matches.
Miami 4, #47 Florida State 3
Mar 06, 2016 at Coral Gables, Fla. (Neil Schiff Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #78 Piotr Lomacki (UM 13.87) def. #16 Benjamin Lock (FS 14.05) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. #81 Christian Langmo (UM 13.38) def. #85 Marco Nunez (FS 13.37) 2-6, 7-5, 6-0
3. Max Andrews (UM 13.38) def. Michael Rinaldi (FS 13.34) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
“Obviously, this is a big match for us at home against FSU, said head coach Mario Rincon. “We play in the best conference in the country and every team in the conference is so good, so its great to have an ACC win already.
“I’m so proud of the guys and the way they fought, every one of them, Rincon said.
“FSU played great doubles, Rincon said. “We just couldn’t hang with them. They made a lot of first serves and they over powered us. They were just too strong and too good for us in the doubles, but it was key for us to regroup.
“These guys have worked so hard for so long, Rincon said. “We really haven’t been awarded with many wins lately and they deserve this one. I’m so happy for them.” _________________________________________________________________
No. 2 Virginia won this year’s rendition of the Commonwealth Clash with a 6-1 win over No. 53 Virginia Tech. The Hoos took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 while No. 1 was abandoned with Virginia Tech having match point in the tiebreak.
There were a lot of close sets in singles but Virginia won just about all of them with Ryan Shane, Collin Altarmirano, J.C. Aragone, Henrik Wiersholm, and Luca Coriniteli each picking up wins.
Virginia’s Tech senior Andreas Bjerrehus picked up the Hokies lone point when Thai-Son Kwiatkowski retired down 5-2 in the second set though I was told it wasn’t because he was hurt.
#2 Virginia 6, #53 Virginia Tech 1
Mar 06, 2016 at Blacksburg, Va. (Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #14 Ryan Shane (VA 14.64) def. #20 Joao Monteiro (VT 14.27) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2)
2. Andreas Bjerrehus (VT 13.81) def. #2 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA 14.68) 7-6 (6), 5-2 ret.
“Playing at Virginia Tech is really difficult and they are, without question, one of the best teams we have played this year,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “Our team is doing some great things and the character some of our guys showed tonight was so impressive. I see a ton of players improving in this group and we as a staff are so pleased. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are on the right track.” _______________________________________________________________
SMU tumbled out of the top 75 last week but they’ll be coming back in with a vengeance after blanking No. 20 Tulsa 4-0. The Mustangs took the doubles point by winning the decider at No. 1 in a tiebreak and then it came out strong in singles and took four opening sets.
Nate Lammons, Samm Butler, and Markus Kerner each picked up straight set wins at No. 2, 3, and 4 with Kerner providing the clincher.
SMU 4, #20 Tulsa 0
Mar 06, 2016 at Dallas, Texas (SMU Tennis Complex)
Singles Competition
1. Hunter Johnson (SMU 13.43) vs. Or Ram-Harel (TUL 13.75) 4-6, 4-3, unf
“Real fantastic team win, from top to bottom, singles and doubles, said Head Coach Carl Neufeld. We’re improving and I’m really proud of that, but we still have a long way to go but that’s good news because we just beat one of the better teams in the country. ________________________________________________________________
Tulane picked up a big conference win over No. 23 Memphis and did it in impressive fashion. The Green Wave won a tight doubles point in a tiebreak No. 1 and then won all six singles matches though many of them were very close.
#35 Tulane 7, #23 Memphis 0
Mar 06, 2016 at New Orleans (City Park Pepsi Tennis Center)
“The match went great today, Tulane men’s tennis head coach Mark Booras stated. “It was a nail biter right from the start with that doubles point coming down to a tiebreaker on the last match there at number one. Both teams put it on the line at all positions, and we expected nothing less from a team as tough as Memphis.
“To have a top 25 ranked team come in, we know they’re going to put everything on the line, Booras explained. “I was happy with how our guys stepped up to the challenge. In singles we got a nice start which helped set the tone of things. Memphis turned it around, came right back on us at pretty much every position, but we dealt with the adversity well and came out with a victory.
Other Sunday scores:
Mississippi State def. South Carolina 5-2 Georgia def. Alabama 6-1 Arkansas def. Tennessee 5-2 LSU def. Auburn 5-2 Georgia Tech def. Duke 4-3 TCU def. Central Florida 7-0 Notre Dame def. Louisville 5-2 East Tennessee State def. Samford 5-2 Denver def. Penn 6-1 Washington def. Minnesota 5-2 Utah State def. Pacific 6-1
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