Oklahoma State Wrangles Up The Horns, TCU Tops Oklahoma, Illinois & Northwestern Win Close On the Road, Tulane Walking In Memphis

Both TCU and Oklahoma State picked up big wins on Sunday with OSU defeating Texas for the first time in 10 years while TCU won in Norman for the first time since April 1977. We’ll start with the Oklahoma State/Texas match which started outdoors before going indoors after the doubles point due to rain. Oklahoma State won the doubles point for the 17th time in 22 matches after picking up wins at No. 1 and No. 2 while Texas won at No. 3. Oklahoma State took four opening sets in singles and Arjun Kadhe and Lucas Gerch won in straight sets at No. 2 and No. 3 to make it 3-0. Texas’s Leo Telles won in straight sets at No. 5 and Texas earned splits at No. 1 and No. 6 after dropping the first set while George Goldhoff dropped the second set at No. 4 after winning the first. 

Goldhoff ended up winning in three sets to close the gap to 3-2 but Oklahoma State was right at the finish line at both No. 1 and No. 6. OSU’s Julian Cash was serving up 6-3 in the third set tiebreak at No. 1 but before he could hit that next serve his teammate Tristan Meraut held on the no-ad point to close out Rodrigo Banzer 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 at No. 6. Below are clips of the match point from two different angles courtesy of Oklahoma State and below that is head coach Jay Udwadia talking about the big W.

#8 Oklahoma State 4, #6 Texas 2
April 2, 2017 | Greenwood Tennis Center | Stillwater, Okla.
Doubles (Order of finish: 3, 2, 1)
C1: No. 2 Cash/Kadhe (OSU) def. Goldhoff/Telles (TEXAS), 6-3
C2: No. 76 Gerch/Mendoza (OSU) def. Ito/Markes (TEXAS), 6-4
C3: Sigsgaard/Zlobinsky (TEXAS) def. Dubinski/Finzelberg (OSU), 6-2
Singles (Order of finish: 3, 2, 5, 4, 6)
C1: No. 23 Julian Cash (OSU) vs. No. 16 Christian Sigsgaard (TEXAS), 6-3, 4-6, 6-6 (6-3), unf.
C2: No. 77 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. No. 46 Harrison Scott (TEXAS), 7-5, 6-2
C3: Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. No. 29 Yuya Ito (TEXAS), 6-4, 6-4
C4: George Goldhoff (TEXAS) def. Artur Dubinski (OSU), 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
C5: No. 112 Leo Telles (TEXAS) def. No. 69 Lukas Finzelberg (OSU), 7-5, 6-1
C6: Tristan Meraut (OSU) def. Rodrigo Banzer (TEXAS), 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-3

Post-Match Quotes from OSU’s recap
“Texas is always tough for us and it was great to be able to get the win in front of our home crowd,” OSU head coach Jay Udwadia said. “They beat us earlier this season at National Indoors in a tight 4-2 match, so it was nice to be able to pull through and cross the finish line today.”

“It was night and day in doubles from Friday to today,” Udwadia said. “I told the guys to keep doing whatever they’ve done for the last 48 hours. I think that Gerch and Mendoza really picked it up today. We don’t want to rely on one team every match and I was really happy to see that those guys stepped up.”

“After every point we could hear the crowd cheering us on,” Tristan Meraut said. “I knew it didn’t matter what I did because I was going to have so many people behind me and it helped me push through to get a win.”

“Tristan has been incredibly solid over the past few matches,” Udwadia said. “He’s been on fire and he’s been consistent the way he plays. He definitely played some great tennis down the stretch and I’m really happy for him and the team.”

Post-Match Quotes from Texas’s recap

Texas head coach Michael Center on today’s match “This was a great college tennis match today. Oklahoma State put a lot of pressure on us. We played them earlier in the season (at the ITA National Team Indoors), but the matchups were different. They got out on top of us, and we were just fighting back. I was proud of the way the guys hung in there to give ourselves a chance, but we got too far behind today. Part of that was we didn’t play well in a couple of spots, but I thought Oklahoma State was pretty good today. I need to give them credit as well.’

On Texas’ next home match against No. 4 Baylor – “Every Big 12 match is such a struggle, such a battle, and I hope we have a great crowd next week when we play Baylor. We’re coming down to the end of the regular season. It makes a huge difference to play in front of a big crowd, and I hope to see the stands full next week.”

TCU, ranked No. 16, won its eighth match in a row with a impressive 4-0 win on the road at No. 13 Oklahoma. TCU won the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and then after taking four first sets in singles TCU would get straight set wins from Cameron Norrie, Guillermo Nuñez, and Reese Stalder with Nunez get the clinch at No. 3. 

#16 TCU 4, #13 Oklahoma 0
Apr 02, 2017 at Norman, Okla. (Headington Family Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #3 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #28 Spencer Papa (OU) 6-2, 6-2
2. #49 Alex Ghilea (OU) vs. #27 Alex Rybakov (TCU) 6-4, 5-1*, unfinished
3. #78 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) def. #97 Florin Bragusi (OU) 6-2, 7-5
4. #81 Jerry Lopez (TCU) vs. Jochen Bertsch (OU) 6-3, 4-4, unfinished
5. Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Adrian Oetzbach (OU) 6-0, 6-3
6. Arnaud Restifo (OU) vs. Trey Daniel (TCU) 6-3, 4-3*, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Spencer Papa/Jochen Bertsch (OU) vs. #38 Jerry Lopez/Reese Stalder (TCU) 4-4, unfinished
2. #21 Guillermo Nuñez/Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #32 Alex Ghilea/Florin Bragusi (OU) 6-2
3. Cameron Norrie/Trevor Johnson (TCU) def. Arnaud Restifo/Adrian Oetzbach (OU) 6-4
Match Notes:
TCU 13-4, 2-0 Big 12; National ranking #16
Oklahoma 12-8, 0-2 Big 12; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,5,3)
Played indoors

Post-Match Quotes from head coach David Roditi via TCU’s recap
“The boys played very well and it was a hard fought match. The score is a little deceptive since we did get off to a great start in all the first sets in singles. Cameron Norrie and Trevor Johnson did a great job in their doubles with all aspects of the doubles game. Guillermo (Nuñez) and Alex (Rybakov) continue to come through with key wins for the team. Coach (Devin) Bowen had it going on today since he swept all three singles on that side of the indoor facility. There were great performances from (Reese) Stalder, Norrie and Nuñez. We haven’t beaten Oklahoma in Norman in a while so this was a nice win for our program. To start the conference 2-0 on the road at both the Oklahoma schools is something to feel great about and now we get to build off of it. We have a week off until we play our last nonconference match against a well-coached USF team at home next Monday at noon. Cameron is on his way to France for Davis Cup and I am on my way to Mexico for the same as well. We loved seeing tennis alumni and fans that came to support us today.”

Post-Match Quotes from OU’s recap
“I thought courts two, four and six did a great job today,” head coach Nick Crowell said. “On one, three and five, maybe those guys were just playing better on those courts, but we just never got it rolling.”

“(Alex Ghilea) has been very, very good in the locker room speaking up,” Crowell said. “We’re just talking about our toughness, and our toughness needs to continue to grow. Alex has voiced that, all throughout the lineup, one through six (singles) and one through three doubles. We’ve just got to be a little tougher and win the bigger points.”

Illinois, ranked No. 28, got back into the win column with a tough 4-2 win at No. 30 Wisconsin. Illinois took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 which marked the first time this year that Wisconsin had dropped the doubles point. The Illini were still without Aron Hiltzik (foot) but Gui Gomes and Noe Khlif picked up key singles victories at No. 2 and No. 6 to put Illinois up 3-2. Wisconsin’s Lamar Remy led Aleks Vukic 5-3 in the third at No. 1 singles but the Illini junior came back to force a tiebreak and then he clinched the win by taking the tiebreak 7-2. The match at No. 3 went unfinished with Illinois freshman Aleks Kovacevic leading 4-3 in the third. 

Hiltzik may be ready to go next week against Iowa and Nebraska but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him sit one more week to get ready for Michigan the following week.  

#28 Illinois 4, #30 Wisconsin 2
Apr 02, 2017 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium (Madison, Wis.)
Singles competition
1. Aleks Vukic (UI) def. Lamar Remy (WIS) 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2)
2. Gui Gomes (UI) def. Josef Dodridge (WIS) 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-1
3. Osgar O’Hoisin (WIS) vs. Aleks Kovacevic (UI) 7-6 (10-8), 6-7, 3-4, unfinished
4. Chema Carranza (WIS) def. Julian Childers (UI) 6-0, 2-6, 6-2
5. Chase Colton (WIS) def. Zeke Clark (UI) 6-3, 7-5
6. Noe Khlif (UI) def. Daniel Soyfer (WIS) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Alex Jesse/Aleks Kovacevic (UI) def. Chema Carranza/Josef Dodridge (WIS) 6-3
2. Lamar Remy/Chase Colton (WIS) def. Aleks Vukic/Vuk Budic (UI) 7-5
3. Gui Gomez/Zeke Clark (UI) def. Osgar O’Hoisin/John Zordani (WIS) 7-5
Match Notes:
Illinois 9-9, 2-2; National ranking #28
Wisconsin 13-2, 4-0; National ranking #30
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,4,5,2,1)

Head Coach Brad Dancer‘s Thoughts via Illinois’s recap
“Spring break was tough on our squad. We knew we were capable of performing better. Then to have the situation on Friday night makes you wonder. I trust our guys. I believed in their ability to be resilient. On a day when we had numerous weather stoppages, it was necessary to just focus. It was definitely a day where the freshmen responded. Kova [Aleks Kovacevic] hung tough and turned his match and I think that was the tipping point.

Vuki was Vuki. Tons of credit to [Remy] Lamar for taking Vuki out of his game and then just really proud of Aleks [Vukic] for the toughness he showed down the stretch. I think our guys played with the pressure of the standard of the program instead of maybe making this team their own. We have the student-athletes to have a special season.”

Post-Match Quotes from Wisconsin’s recap
“Tough loss today but I was very proud of the fight in our guys,” head coach Danny Westerman said. “Most of the important points have gone our way this season but today they went Illinois way. We had match points in the doubles and in one singles spot. That two-point swing changes everything. We had about a 30-minute lull at the start of singles play but then really dug in and almost turned the match around. That is what I was most proud of. “

“We will learn from today, have a great week of practice then will be ready for another tough Big Ten road weekend.”

No. 19 Northwestern picked up a big doubles point against Minnesota and then held on to win 4-2. Ben Vandixhorn and Jason Seidman won in straight sets for the Cats at No. 4 and No. 5 while Minnesota picked up wins from Matic Spec and Justyn Levin at No. 1 and No. 6. Northwestern senior Konrad Zieba went up a break early in the third set at No. 2 but Minnesota’s Felix Corwin came back to force a tiebreak. Zieba managed to pull it out 9-7 to salvage the weekend after NU lost on Friday to Wisconsin. 

#19 Northwestern 4, #33 Minnesota 2
Apr 02, 2017 at Minneapolis, Minn. (Baseline Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #80 Matic Spec (MINN) def. #41 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) 6-2, 6-3
2. #53 Konrad Zieba (NU) def. Felix Corwin (MINN) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7)
3. Stefan Milicevic (MINN) vs. Dominik Stary (NU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-5, unfinished
4. Ben Vandixhorn (NU) def. Eli Ogilvy (MINN) 6-2, 6-0
5. Jason Seidman (NU) def. Josip Krstanovic (MINN) 6-4, 6-2
6. Justyn Levin (MINN) def. Brenden Volk (NU) 1-6, 6-0, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #55 Strong Kirchheimer/Dominik Stary (NU) def. #69 Felix Corwin/Matic Spec (MINN) 6-1
2. Ben Vandixhorn/Konrad Zieba (NU) def. Justyn Levin/Eli Ogilvy (MINN) 6-2
3. Marino Alpeza/Josip Krstanovic (MINN) vs. Michael Lorenzini/Chris Ephron (NU) 4-5, unfinished
Match Notes
Northwestern 15-7 (3-1); National ranking #19
Minnesota 14-5 (3-2); National ranking #33
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,5,1,6,2,3) 

No. 29 Tulane picked up a big 4-3 road win at No. 34 Memphis after sophomore Tyler Schick came back from 1-3* down in the third to defeat Chris Patzanovsky 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the win.

Other Sunday Scores

ACC

• #1 Wake Forest def. Miami 7-0
• #1 Wake Forest def. NC A&T 5-2 – Wake only had five players for singles
• #3 Virginia def. Clemson 7-0
• #11 North Carolina def. #27 Florida State 5-2
• #15 Georgia Tech won at #43 Notre Dame 4-3
• #43 Notre Dame def. IUPUI 7-0
• #35 Louisville def. Virginia Tech 5-2
• #35 Louisville def. Xavier 6-1
• NC State won at Boston College 6-1

Big Ten

• #2 Ohio State won at Nebraska 7-0
• #18 Michigan won at Purdue 6-1
• #44 Indiana def. Penn State 4-3
• Penn State won at Iowa 4-3

Big 12

• #4 Baylor won at Tulsa 4-2

SEC

• #7 Texas A&M def. #46 Arkansas 4-0
• LSU def. #31 Ole Miss 4-3 – LSU was down 3-0 and rallied to win without its No. 1 Jordan Daigle and No. 5 Rafael Wagner in the lineup – recap
• LSU def. Jackson State 7-0
• LSU def. Jackson State 7-0

Other

• UC Davis def. #42 Cal Poly 4-3
• UCSB won at Denver 4-3
• Harvard won at Dartmouth 4-1