The Sunday afternoon men’s schedule was packed to the brim with three top 25 teams facing each other plus several other ranked teams would be tested against stiff competition. Last season Wake Forest went to Stillwater in late January and got beat so when they made the return trip on Sunday they had a pretty good idea of what was in store. Wake Forest jumped out to the early 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then less than an hour later the lead would grow even more. Wake sophomore Petros Chrysochos was nearly flawless in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Lukas Finzelberg at No. 2 and then junior Skander Mansouri made it 3-0 after Julian Cash retired after the first set at No. 1.

Oklahoma State battled back with straight set wins from Arjun Kadhe, Lucas Gerch, and Jurence Mendoza so the match would be decided between a pair of January admits. Wake’s Borna Gojo took the first set 7-5 but Oklahoma State’s Artur Dubinski stayed right with him in the second set. As the second set entered a tiebreak both players began to cramp though Gojo was able to power through it to take a 6-0 lead. Dubinski took three straight to pull within 6-3 but after he hit a volley winner he hobbled slowly to the back wall and before he was able to serve it up again the chair coded him for a time violation and the subsequent point penalty ended the match. Here is the stream of the finish – an odd scene to say the least!

#2 Wake Forest 4, #12 Oklahoma State 3
Feb 12, 2017 at Stillwater, Oklahoma (Greenwood Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #10 Skander Mansouri (WF) def. #32 Julian Cash (OSU) 6-3, retired
2. #1 Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. #48 Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) 6-0, 6-1
3. Borna Gojo (WF) def. Artur Dubinski (OSU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
4. Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. #26 Christian Seraphim (WF) 6-1, 6-3
5. Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Alan Gadjiev (WF) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
6. #65 Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. Dennis Uspensky (WF) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #1 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) def. #5 Julian Cash/Arjun Kadhe (OSU) 6-2
2. #50 Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza (OSU) vs. Borna Gojo/Alan Gadjiev (WF) 3-3, unfinished
3. Petros Chrysochos/Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Artur Dubinski/Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) 6-3
Match Notes
Wake Forest 6-0; National ranking #2
Oklahoma State 6-1; National ranking #12
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,1,4,6,5,3)
T-2:32 A-278

Third-ranked Ohio State improved to 9-0 with a pretty convincing 4-0 win over #10 Georgia. The Buckeyes took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then after taking five first sets they’d get the singles wins they’d need from Mikael Torpegaard, Herkko Pollanen, and Kyle Seelig with Seelig clinching at No. 6. 

The remaining matches were abandoned with Georgia up a set at No. 2, Ohio State up a set and a break at No. 5, and the match at No. 3 just starting a third set. 

#3 Ohio State 4, #10 Georgia 0
Feb 12, 2017 at Columbus, Ohio (OSU Varsity Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #2 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #15 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) 6-4, 6-4
2. JJ Wolf (OSU) vs. #55 Emil Reinberg (UGA) 5-7, 3-4, unfinished
3. #8 Hugo Di Feo (OSU) vs. #117 Nathan Ponwith (UGA) 6-3, 4-6, 0-0, unfinished
4. #47 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA) 6-2, 6-4
5. #77 Martin Joyce (OSU) vs. Walker Duncan (UGA) 7-6 (8-6), 4-3, unfinished
6. Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Robert Loeb (UGA) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #38 Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. Robert Loeb/Jan Zielinski (UGA) 6-4
2. #25 Hugo Di Feo/Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Paul Oosterbaan/Walker Duncan (UGA) 6-2
3. Nathan Ponwith/Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. Matt Mendez/Hunter Tubert (OSU) 6-2
Match Notes
Georgia 3-3; National ranking #10
Ohio State 9-0; National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,1,6)
Official: Marcus Lee T-2:06 A-438

Post-Match Quotes from Ohio State’s recap
“It was a tight match which it always is with Georgia,” said Ohio State Director of Tennis Ty Tucker. “The doubles point was tight and then in singles, we came out and got on them. We then let a couple of things slip away and you have to credit Georgia. They have a lot of pride, great tradition and eight national titles so anytime you can beat a team like that, it’s a great day.”

Post-Match Quotes from Georgia’s recap
“Ohio State played a great match today,” said Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz, “in front of a great crowd. It was high-quality tennis throughout. It came down to a matter of points at each court. Right now, we’re coming up a little bit short. We had some opportunities and we need to do a better job of cashing in on those. Ohio State played a great match today, again. Our guys will be tougher and better for it.”

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#19 Columbia picked a big ranked win at home when the Lions rallied from 3-0 down to defeat #24 TCU 4-3. Columbia looked like it was going to secure the doubles point because after picking up a 6-4 win at No. 3 they were serving up 6-5 at both No. 1 and No. 2. However TCU would break back on both courts and then roll through the tiebreaks to get the point and early 1-0 lead. 

TCU’s Cameron Norrie and Alex Rybakov picked up quick straight set wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles but Columbia answered with a pair of straight set wins from Alex Keyser and Timmy Wang at No. 4 and No. 6. 

Columbia freshman Jackie Tang tied the match at 3-3 with a three set win over Guillermo Nunez at No. 3. Tang and Nunez were tied at 2-2 in the third but Tang would break, hold, break, and hold to close it out 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

The decider at No. 5 teetered back and forth with TCU’s Reese Stalder repeatedly going up a break in the third set only to see Columbia’s William Matheson promptly break right back. Stalder broke Matheson to go ahead 5-3 in the final set but Matheson broke back from 15/40 to make it 5-4. Matheson fought off a match point by holding on the no-ad point for 5-5 and then after falling behind 15/40 Stalder came back to hold for 6-5. Matheson held easily to force a tiebreak and then after going ahead *4-1 he’d drop the next four points to trail 5-4*. Matheson tied at 5-5 after forcing a Stalder error and then a forehand winner by Matheson brought up his first match point at 6-5. Matheson would close it out on the next point after Stalder pushed a forehand wide about 10 shots into the rally and that was that – Lions Win! 

#19 Columbia 4, #24 TCU 3
Feb 12, 2017 at New York, NY (Dick Savitt Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #35 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #39 Shawn Hadavi (COL) 6-2, 6-1
2. Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #87 Victor Pham (COL) 6-3, 6-1
3. #100 Jackie Tang (COL) def. #80 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
4. Alex Keyser (COL) def. Jerry Lopez (TCU) 6-2, 6-4
5. William Matheson (COL) def. Reese Stalder (TCU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Timothy Wang (COL) def. Felipe Escobar (TCU) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Cameron Norrie/Reese Stalder (TCU) def. #30 Shawn Hadavi/Jackie Tang (COL) 7-6 (7-0)
2. Guillermo Nuñez/Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #14 Victor Pham/Richard Pham (COL) 7-6 (7-2)
3. Christopher Grant/Adam Ambrozy (COL) def. Jerry Lopez/Felipe Escobar (TCU) 6-4
Match Notes:
TCU 3-3; National ranking #24
Columbia 3-1; National ranking #19
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,2,6,4,3,5)

Post-Match Quotes from head coach David Roditi via TCU’s recap
“As a coach, it is a lot easier to accept losses when they play well and beat you, but losing because we were out-competed is impossible to accept. We had a full line up today and we don’t have any excuses. Some of our guys need to get in better shape and the only blame is on them. Our fitness coach is doing his part and these guys aren’t.

“Reese (Stalder) played well enough to win and I know he will win a lot of matches for us. He fought and just couldn’t hold serve enough times in the third set to get the win. We don’t play again until the February 25 and we have to get better and tougher. It hurts to admit it but we need to be tougher.”

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After a slow start to the season Ashley Fisher’s South Florida Bulls got things fired up on Sunday with a big home win over No. 16 Mississippi State. State started off the match by taking the doubles point with 7-1 tiebreak win in the decider at No. 3 but South Florida ramped it up in singles and took five opening sets. South Florida’s Vadym Kalyuzhnyy and Peter Bertran won in straight sets at No. 6 and No. 4 while Mississippi State got a straight set win from GIovanni Oradini at No. 5. 

With the score tied at 2-2 and the remaining matches in a third set South Florida would get the final two wins it needed from Alberto Barroso-Campos and Justin Roberts at No. 3 and No. 2 while the match at No. 1 was halted with MSU’s Nuno Borges having a match point against Sasha Gozun.

South Florida 4, #16 Mississippi State 2
Feb 12, 2017 at USF (USF Varsity Tennis Courts)
Singles Results
1. Sasha Gozun (USF) vs. #13 Nuno Borges (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 5-6 (40/40), unfinished
2. Justin Roberts (USF) def. Mate Cutura (MSU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. #81 Alberto Barroso (USF) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
4. #71 Peter Bertran (USF) def. Niclas Braun (MSU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Pierre Luquet (USF) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
6. Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (USF) def. Simon Baudry (MSU) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles Results
1. #44 Niclas Braun/Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Sasha Gozun/Alberto Barroso (USF) 6-4
2. Peter Bertran/Justin Roberts (USF) def. Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-3
3. Giovanni Oradini/Mate Cutura (MSU) def. Nils Heimer/Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (USF) 7-6 (7-1)
Match Notes:
Mississippi State 4-1
University of South Florida 3-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,5,4,3,2,1)
A-262

Post-Match Quotes from USF’s recap

Head Coach Ashley Fisher on the atmosphere… “The crowd was huge. That’s by far the best crowd and most electric atmosphere that I’ve seen at a home match. The message is constantly that we are looking for any edge we can get…the crowd plays a huge role. That’s a huge edge and a huge reason why we won today.”

On the almost simultaneous wins… “The guys overall did a fantastic job of feeding off each other and helping each other, and that’s something that we are constantly talking about. Tennis is an individual sport, but that’s the beauty of college tennis. We have our teammates right next to us.”

Post-Match Quotes from MSU’s recap

“I’m very proud of the way our team fought today in a very hostile environment,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “We continue to work so well together in these adverse situations and that is something special to have as a team.”

“USF played great and I have to give credit to their level of singles play on their home courts,” Roberts said. “We will learn from our slow starts in singles, but once again we are competing well together and love being in tough situations.”

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Fourth-ranked Cal got pushed in Malibu but when the going got tough the Bears growled back and crashed the Waves 4-2. Cal won a tough doubles point with a 7-5 win at No. 1 and a 7-6(4) win at No. 3 while No. 2 went unfinished in a tiebreak. Cal took five opening sets and looked well on its way to rolling to a 4-0 win but Pepperdine fought back and earned splits on three courts while Jack Van Slyke won in straight sets at No. 5. Cal picked up a straight set win from Florian Lakat at No. 1 but Pepperdine’s Dane Esses tied the match at 2-2 with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6. 

Cal senior Andre Goransson put the Bears in front 3-2 with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 win at No. 2 and senior Billy Griffith would get the clincher with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win at No. 4.

#4 California 4, Pepperdine 2
Feb 12, 2017 at Malibu, Calif. (Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #12 Lakat, Florian (CAL) def. #102 Hadlich, Guilherme (PEP) 6-4, 6-1
2. #27 Goransson, Andre (CAL) def. Iamachkine, Pedro (PEP) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
3. Menichella, Stefan (PEP) vs. #42 Bergevi, Filip (CAL) 4-6, 7-6, 1-4, unfinished
4. #40 Griffith, Billy (CAL) def. Pane, Lautaro (PEP) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Van Slyke, Jack (PEP) def. Hoffman, Bjorn (CAL) 6-4, 6-4
6. Esses, Dane (PEP) def. Heap, Connor (CAL) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #3 Bergevi, Filip/Lakat, Florian (CAL) def. Menichella, Stefan/Van Slyke, Jack (PEP) 7-5
2. Hadlich, Guilherme/Sidney, Gabriel (PEP) vs. Goransson, Andre/Griffith, Billy (CAL) 6-6 (2-0), unfinished
3. Hoffman, Bjorn/Nishimura, JT (CAL) def. Pane, Lautaro/Iamachkine, Pedro (PEP) 7-6 (7-4)
Match Notes
California 2-0; National ranking #4
Pepperdine University 2-2, 1-0 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,5,6,2,4)

Post-Match Quotes from Cal’s recap
“We had strong performances from our senior class today,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “The doubles point was key today as we had very strong winds for most of the day. Pepperdine gave us a true test today, and their guys fought hard. We jumped ahead in the singles, and the Pepperdine team bounced back to take some of the matches to a third set. It was an exciting match and I think our team is now better prepared to face the challenges ahead at the national team indoors later this week.”

Post-Match Quotes from Pepperdine’s recap
“I’m incredibly proud the entire team,” said head coach Marcelo Ferreira. “They were all resilient and relentless and truly laid it all on the line for Pepperdine. That is all a coach can ask for, players that compete with their heart and honor the name they represent.

“I feel like we are all on the right path and good things will happen to this team if we stay focused on the process.”

“Despite the outcome of the doubles point, I’m very pleased with the way we competed,” Ferreira said. “Berkeley has a very solid doubles lineup and we had chances across the board to grasp the point. We are playing doubles way better than last year and I’m really excited to see what the future holds.”

“Jack (Van Slyke) showed a lot of maturity today after losing a tough doubles match,” said Ferreira. “He came out ready to play singles and set the tone from the beginning of the match. That really gave momentum and motivation to the rest of the team.”

“Dane (Esses) showed incredible mental toughness today – after losing the first set 6-1 and not looking great, he was able to refocus and execute the strategy we talked about to come back,” Ferreira said. “What really got him to win the match was his desire to make his teammates proud.”

Other Sunday Results

• #14 Oklahoma ran its record to 7-1 with a 5-2 win at home over Alabama – OU played without Spencer Papa in singles but still got it done with freshman Arnaud Restifo put the Sooners ahead 4-0 with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6. Alabama’s Mazen Osama picked up a really nice 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Andrew Harris at No. 1.
• #15 Kentucky improved to 8-3 with a 4-0 road win at Indiana – UK picked up straight sets wins from Ryotaro Matsumura, Trey Yates, and Enzo Wallert while Indiana led on the three courts that went unfinished.
• #17 Illinois dropped the doubles point for the sixth straight match (only played six matches) but they rallied to win five of six in singles to win to pick up a 5-2 road win at Notre Dame – Vukic and Hiltzik won in straight sets while Kovacevic, Childers, and Clark won in three sets. Alex Lebedev picked up ND’s lone singles point.
• #11 Texas swept a doubleheader with 4-0 wins over Purdue and Texas A&M Corpus Christi –  the Horns won all but one set in singles against A&MCC and just dropped two against Purdue
• #25 Texas A&M won a pair of matches by defeating Texas Tech 5-2 and UTRGV 6-0 – against Tech the Aggies won the doubles point and picked up four quick straight set wins from Arthur Rinderknech, Aleksandre Bakshi, Jordi Arconada, and Valentin Vacherot – Tech won the final two courts getting wins from Connor Curry and Bjorn Thomson. 
• Wisconsin ran its record to 4-1 with a tough 4-3 road win at Princeton – the Badgers won the deciding court in doubles 15-13 in a tiebreak and junior Chema Carranza won the deciding court in singles with a 1-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 win over Tom Colautti at No. 3. 
• Rice rebounded from a tough Friday loss to Princeton with a 6-1 road win at Penn – the Owls won the doubles point going away but four of six singles matches went the distance with sophomore Eric Rutledge getting the clincher 6-1 in the third at No. 5. 
• Duke improved to 5-3 with a nice 4-0 win over Tennessee and a 7-0 rout over North Carolina Central – the Blue Devils played without their top two players against Tennessee (Nicolas Alvarez/Vincent Lin) but still managed to take the doubles point and get straight set wins from Nick Stachowiak, Spencer Furman, and Ryan Dickerson – Tennessee was ahead on two of the remaining courts at the time of the clinch. 
• Drake swept a doubleheader with a 4-3 win over Middle Tennessee State and a 6-1 win over Omaha – Drake dropped the doubles point against MTSU but rebounded with five first sets in singles and junior Ben Wood put Drake ahead 4-2 with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win at No. 6. Drake won 12 of 15 sets in singles against Omaha.
• Old Dominion rebounded from a Friday loss to South Carolina with a dominating 4-0 win at Clemson – the Monarchs won the doubles point by winning the decider in a tiebreak and then they won every completed set in singles.
• Tulane ran its record to 6-1 by defeating North Florida 4-2 – the Green Wave dropped the doubles point but picked up three straight set wins and sophomore Tyler Schick got the clincher with a 6-7(4), 6-1, 7-5 win over Lasse Muscheites at No. 4 – the match at No. 1 between Constantin Schmitz and Jack Findel-Hawkins was abandoned after the two split sets. 
• UC Davis finished off a successful road trip to San Diego with a 4-3 win over San Diego State – senior James Wade won the deciding match over Sander Gjoels-Andersen 7-5, 4-6, 7-5
• Penn State won its fourth in a row with a pair of 7-0 wins over James Madison and Bucknell – Nits won 24 of 25 sets in singles
• South Alabama finished off a fantastic weekend by following up its win over Auburn with a 6-1 win over Georgia State – four of six singles matches went the distance with South Alabama leading 5-0 before GSU got on the board. 
• Valparaiso came back from 3-0 down on the road to defeat Western Michigan 4-3 with senior Kyle Dunn winning the decider 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 at No. 5
• Santa Clara led by first-year head coach Niall Angus improved to 6-1 with a 4-0 win at home over UNLV – sophomore Robert Seby clinched the match with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win at No. 1 while all the remaining matches were in a third set.
• UC Santa Barbara picked up a 6-1 win on the road at Fresno State – the Gauchos won five singles matches in straight sets.