Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia, began playing tennis at the NAIA-level in the fall of 2012 and since then they’ve been an unstoppable force. The Grizzles came into this season as the 3-time defending NAIA National Champions after going a perfect 26-0 last season. This morning GGC hosted Hawai’i Pacific in a battle of No. 1s with GGC the top ranked team in the NAIA while HPU is the top ranked team in Division II. GGC brought a 44-match winning streak into the contest with its last loss coming back on April 3, 2015 to this same HPU Shark squad. GGC jumped out to a 3-0 lead after sweeping all three doubles courts with the match at No. 1 the closest with GGC’s Kevin Konfederak and Gilad Berman defeating Filip Dolezel and Jakub Hadrava 9-8 (7-5). FYI, all divisions except D1 still play regular ad-scoring with doubles playing eight game pro sets with a tiebreak at 8-8 while each individual doubles court counts as one point.
In singles play GGC took opening sets at 2, 3, 4, and 6 while HPU claimed sets at 1 and 5. Connor Clements put GGC up 4-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4 and Federico Duran provided the clincher with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6. GGC’s Jordan Cox and Gilad Berman also won in straight sets at 2 and 3 while Kevin Konfederak won a 10-point supertiebreak which was played in lieu of a third set at No. 1. HPU picked up its lone point from Juan Erro who won an abbreviated third set at No. 5.
GGC has wins this year over teams from all four levels with D1 wins against Kennesaw State and The Citadel, notable D2 wins against #1 Hawai’i Pacific, #4 Lander, and #9 West Florida, a D3 win against #1 Emory, and NAIA wins over #2 Xavier (LA) and #3 Keiser (FL).
Mar 07, 2017 at Lawrenceville, Ga. (GGC Tennis Facility)
Singles competition
1. #1 Kevin Konfederak (GGC) def. #13 Filip Dolezel (HPU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 1-0 (10-7)
2. #2 Jordan Cox (GGC) def. Jakub Hadrava (HPU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Gilad Berman (GGC) def. #34 Torben Otto (HPU) 6-2, 6-0
4. #26 Connor Clements (GGC) def. Jack Lyttle (HPU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Juan Erro (HPU) def. Rafael Coutinho (GGC) 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)
6. Federico Duran (GGC) def. Gerrard Rodriguez (HPU) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Kevin Konfederak/Gilad Berman (GGC) def. Filip Dolezel/Jakub Hadrava (HPU) 9-8 (7-5)
2. Jordan Cox/Connor Clements (GGC) def. Jack Lyttle/Torben Otto (HPU) 8-2
3. Rafael Coutinho/Federico Duran (GGC) def. Juan Erro/Filip Soban (HPU) 8-3
Match Notes
Hawai’i Pacific 5-1; National ranking #1; Regional ranking #1
Georgia Gwinnett 12-0; National ranking #1; Regional ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,6,3,5,2,1)
T-3:15 A-75
The ITA released its latest set of computerized team rankings today with Ohio State still the top ranked team on the men’s side while Florida remains the top ranked women’s team. On the men’s side Wake Forest moved up to No. 2 on the strength of a road win over Texas, Virginia which was idle last week dropped to No. 3, Oklahoma State moved up one spot to No. 4 (record high), while North Carolina moved up one spot to No. 5.
On the women’s side Ohio State and North Carolina stayed at No. 2 and No. 3 while Auburn moved up two spots to No. 4 (record high) and Vanderbilt shot up nine spots to No. 5 after picking up road wins at Tennessee and Georgia.
Further down below I’ll show my subscribers how each team’s ranking was calculated so if you haven’t subscribed yet get on board!
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| MEN’S TOP 50 | WOMEN’S TOP 50 | |||||||||
| Rank | Pts | School | Prv Rank | Chg | Rank | Pts | School | Prv Rnk | Chg | |
| 1 | 89.24 | Ohio State University | 1 | 0 | 1 | 87.18 | University of Florida | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | 85.35 | Wake Forest University | 3 | 1 | 2 | 80.76 | Ohio State University | 2 | 0 | |
| 3 | 82.74 | University of Virginia | 2 | -1 | 3 | 78.41 | North Carolina | 3 | 0 | |
| 4 | 63.44 | Oklahoma State | 5 | 1 | 4 | 63.31 | Auburn University | 6 | 2 | |
| 5 | 62.76 | North Carolina | 6 | 1 | 5 | 58.40 | Vanderbilt University | 14 | 9 | |
| 6 | 62.31 | California | 7 | 1 | 6 | 57.22 | Texas Tech University | 8 | 2 | |
| 7 | 57.92 | University of Oklahoma | 4 | -3 | 7 | 55.30 | Oklahoma State University | 11 | 4 | |
| 8 | 55.43 | University of Texas | 8 | 0 | 8 | 54.89 | Georgia Tech | 5 | -3 | |
| 9 | 49.17 | Baylor University | 17 | 8 | 9 | 53.14 | University of Michigan | 4 | -5 | |
| 10 | 46.31 | University of Michigan | 9 | -1 | 10 | 49.50 | Baylor University | 13 | 3 | |
| 11 | 44.71 | University of Georgia | 22 | 11 | 11 | 47.03 | Pepperdine | 9 | -2 | |
| 12 | 44.16 | Texas A&M University | 27 | 15 | 12 | 45.81 | California | 7 | -5 | |
| 13 | 42.89 | UCLA | 11 | -2 | 13 | 44.56 | University of Georgia | 18 | 5 | |
| 14 | 42.32 | USC | 10 | -4 | 14 | 39.80 | Stanford | 16 | 2 | |
| 15 | 41.05 | University of Florida | 13 | -2 | 15 | 39.77 | Duke University | 10 | -5 | |
| 16 | 40.87 | Mississippi State | 14 | -2 | 16 | 34.43 | University of Tennessee | 12 | -4 | |
| 17 | 40.68 | Georgia Tech | 12 | -5 | 17 | 33.14 | Texas A&M University | 20 | 3 | |
| 18 | 39.73 | University of Kentucky | 15 | -3 | 18 | 32.30 | University of Arkansas | 17 | -1 | |
| 19 | 38.54 | Northwestern University | 16 | -3 | 19 | 32.10 | University of Kansas | 15 | -4 | |
| 20 | 35.42 | University of Illinois | 23 | 3 | 20 | 29.31 | University of Kentucky | 30 | 10 | |
| 21 | 34.42 | Cornell University | 18 | -3 | 21 | 28.58 | USC | 32 | 11 | |
| 22 | 31.02 | University of Oregon | 21 | -1 | 22 | 27.28 | TCU | 22 | 0 | |
| 23 | 30.85 | South Carolina | 19 | -4 | 23 | 25.98 | Univ of Mississippi | 24 | 1 | |
| 24 | 30.00 | Columbia University | 24 | 0 | 24 | 25.65 | University of South Carolina | 19 | -5 | |
| 25 | 28.18 | Tulane University | 20 | -5 | 25 | 25.62 | University of Washington | 25 | 0 | |
| 26 | 25.89 | University of Memphis | 35 | 9 | 26 | 24.43 | Florida International University | 40 | 14 | |
| 27 | 25.56 | Vanderbilt University | 30 | 3 | 27 | 23.95 | University of Miami (Florida) | 44 | 17 | |
| 28 | 23.11 | Notre Dame | 29 | 1 | 28 | 23.10 | UCLA | 21 | -7 | |
| 29 | 22.55 | South Alabama | 28 | -1 | 29 | 23.02 | LSU | 37 | 8 | |
| 30 | 22.54 | Old Dominion University | 25 | -5 | 30 | 22.29 | Dartmouth College | 23 | -7 | |
| 31 | 22.47 | TCU | 41 | 10 | 31 | 22.02 | University of Notre Dame | 27 | -4 | |
| 32 | 21.52 | University of Minnesota | 32 | 0 | 32 | 21.54 | University of Texas at Austin | 31 | -1 | |
| 33 | 20.83 | University of Wisconsin | 31 | -2 | 33 | 20.40 | Mississippi State University | 33 | 0 | |
| 34 | 19.45 | Indiana University | 37 | 3 | 34 | 20.10 | Wake Forest University | 28 | -6 | |
| 35 | 18.65 | Georgia State University | 36 | 1 | 35 | 19.47 | North Carolina State | 26 | -9 | |
| 36 | 18.65 | Florida State University | 33 | -3 | 36 | 16.73 | Florida State University | 61 | 25 | |
| 37 | 18.33 | Univ of Mississippi | 66 | 29 | 37 | 16.28 | College of William and Mary | 49 | 12 | |
| 38 | 17.73 | Rice University | 34 | -4 | 38 | 16.12 | University of Maryland | 43 | 5 | |
| 39 | 17.39 | SMU | 26 | -13 | 39 | 15.93 | University of Denver | 59 | 20 | |
| 40 | 16.86 | Univ of South Florida | 40 | 0 | 40 | 14.87 | Arizona State University | 35 | -5 | |
| 41 | 16.38 | Stanford University | 44 | 3 | 41 | 14.23 | Rice University | 29 | -12 | |
| 42 | 16.25 | Univ of Washington | 47 | 5 | 42 | 12.94 | Tulane University | 36 | -6 | |
| 43 | 14.77 | Duke University | 43 | 0 | 43 | 12.58 | SMU | 76 | 33 | |
| 44 | 14.74 | University of Louisville | 42 | -2 | 44 | 12.51 | University of Tulsa | 51 | 7 | |
| 45 | 14.56 | Cal Poly | 39 | -6 | 45 | 12.46 | UNLV | 46 | 1 | |
| 46 | 14.53 | University of Tennessee | 38 | -8 | 46 | 12.27 | University of Alabama | 34 | -12 | |
| 47 | 13.55 | Yale University | 45 | -2 | 47 | 11.90 | University of Oklahoma | 50 | 3 | |
| 48 | 13.49 | University of Tulsa | 50 | 2 | 48 | 11.89 | Marshall University | 54 | 6 | |
| 49 | 13.44 | Drake University | 59 | 10 | 49 | 11.88 | Virginia Commonwealth | 42 | -7 | |
| 50 | 13.29 | Wichita State | 81 | 31 | 50 | 11.45 | Virginia Tech | 48 | -2 | |
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Dropped out: NC State (46), Central Florida (48), Auburn (49)
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Dropped out: Northwestern (38), Nebraska (39), Missouri (41), Louisville (45), Iowa (47)
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Rankings Demo:
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What should be mentioned is Georgia Gwinnett, being a NAIA school, is not subject to NCAA rules and regulations. Their players are 26, 25, 25 years old. NCAA D1 eligibility rules would not allow these players to play at that level.
That is true for some of them although the guy that played No. 5 for them last year, Lachlan McPhee, is now playing No. 4 at Vanderbilt with two years of eligibility remaining.
Cox played on tour and so did Konfederak. They both played for about 4 years before deciding to go to school.