Texas Tech Stuns #4 Baylor, Oklahoma Rocks #5 Oklahoma State, TCU Torches #7 Texas, Cal Wins Big Slam, Conference Tournament Action

A year ago Texas Tech won 28 matches and hosted a NCAA Regional but going into tonight’s match against No. 4 Baylor the Red Raiders were winless in the Big 12 while having an overall record of just 10-14. Baylor was down a man with Jimmy Bendeck (#4 singles/#2 doubles) a late scratch so BU had to make adjustments to both its doubles and singles lineup. Texas Tech took advantage of the shift and picked up wins at No. 2 and No. 3 to take the early 1-0 lead. In singles play, Texas Tech would add five first sets and both Jolan Cailleau and Jackson Cobb would win in straight sets to make it 3-0. Baylor fought back to get splits at No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 while Texas Tech got a split at No. 2. 

Baylor’s Johannes Schretter, Max Tchoutakian, and Will Little would each pull through to tie the match at 3-3. Texas Tech senior Carlos DiLaura led Baylor freshman Constantin Frantzen 4-1 in the third at No. 5 but Frantzen took the next two to pull within 4-3. DiLaura broke back for 5-3 but Frantzen broke and held for 5-5 and two games later it went to a tiebreak. DiLaura went up 4-0 in the tiebreak but Frantzen rallied to tie it at 6-6. Frantzen had match points at 7-6 and 8-7 but DiLaura pulled it out 10-8.

#45 Texas Tech 4, #4 Baylor 3
04/22/17 at Lubbock, Texas (McLeod Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #30 Jolan Cailleau (TT) def. #13 Juan Benitez (BU) 6-4, 6-4
2. #53 Johannes Schretter (BU) def. #85 Bjorn Thomson (TT) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
3. #43 Max Tchoutakian (BU) def. Alex Sendegeya (TT) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Will Little (BU) def. Connor Curry (TT) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Carlos DiLaura (TT) def. Constantin Frantzen (BU) 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 (10-8)
6. Jackson Cobb (TT) def. Tyler Stayer (BU) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #16 Connor Curry/Bjorn Thomson (TT) vs. #17 Juan Benitez/Will Little (BU) 5-4, unfinished
2. Jolan Cailleau/Carlos DiLaura (TT) def. Constantin Frantzen/Max Tchoutakian (BU) 6-4
3. Jackson Cobb/Alex Sendegeya (TT) def. Johannes Schretter/Tyler Stayer (BU) 6-3
Match Notes
Baylor 21-6 (2-3 Big 12); National ranking #4
Texas Tech 11-14 (1-4 Big 12); National ranking #45
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,1,3,4,2,5)
T-3:25 A-185

Quotes from Texas Tech’s recap
“It’s kind of a nice storybook ending especially for the seniors to win in their final home match against the No. 4 ranked team,” head coach Brett Masi said. “I’ve been telling the guys all year, it’s about believing and coming through in one of these types of matches. We started out really well, played doubles really well, and put ourselves in a great position all the way throughout singles. I know Connor and Bjorn probably wish they would’ve been able to close those out, but they put us in a position to win. I’m just very happy for the guys that they finally could come through. We’ve been knocking at the door in a lot of them. I’ve known all along this is a very good team, a deserving team and I’m just glad for them that they came through today.”

“I think the whole match was like that third-set breaker,” Masi said. “We had the lead early and then they fought back. I’m very happy for Carlos to stick with it because he had the lead during the tie breaker, and the guy fought back. He didn’t hang his head. He played a very good point there at 7-6 when he came forward and did what he was supposed to do to win the match. He played the game plan and executed it perfectly.”

“It’s a very special day especially for me and for Jolan,” DiLaura said. “Our families were here, and the crowd was fantastic. The whole match was up and down, and it came down to who wanted it more at the end.”

“To finally have a Big 12 win is pretty big for us,” Cailleau said. “At home and on Senior Night is the perfect win. We had to deal with some adversity and come back to win this match. Carlos did a great job, and I’m so happy for him. Everything went our way today

“It takes a team to win four points, and we did that today,” Masi said. “It’s great for those guys to come through help out those guys on courts one through four. Jackson has really shown improvement throughout the entire year. I’m really happy for him. He’s gotten some experience and some success tonight. For all these guys, it takes four points. Jackson put us on the board in singles, and Jolan played an excellent match.”

Oklahoma welcomed Andrew Harris back to the lineup for the first time in over two months and his return lit a fire under the Sooners as they routed in-state rival Oklahoma State 4-0. OU took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then it took all six first sets in singles. Spencer Papa rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 2 and Adrian Oetzbach made it 3-0 with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 6. Andrew Harris would get the clinch at No. 1 with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Julian Cash which meant that OU has now defeated OSU 10 straight times dating back to 2009.

Click here to see highlights from the Fox Sports Oklahoma broadcast. 

#17 Oklahoma 4, #5 Oklahoma State 0
Apr 22, 2017 at Norman, Okla. (Headington Family Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #40 Andrew Harris (OU) def. #23 Julian Cash (OSU) 7-5, 6-4
2. #18 Spencer Papa (OU) def. #93 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) 6-2, 6-2
3. #41 Alex Ghilea (OU) vs. #108 Lucas Gerch (OSU) 7-6 (7-1), 5-2, unfinished
4. #99 Florin Bragusi (OU) vs. Artur Dubinski (OSU) 6-2, 6-5, unfinished
5. Jochen Bertsch (OU) vs. Tristan Meraut (OSU) 7-5, 1-5, unfinished
6. Adrian Oetzbach (OU) def. #77 Lukas Finzelberg (OSU) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #35 Andrew Harris/Spencer Papa (OU) def. #4 Julian Cash/Arjun Kadhe (OSU) 6-4
2. Lucas Gerch/Jurence Mendoza (OSU) def. #62 Florin Bragusi/Alex Ghilea (OU) 6-4
3. Jochen Bertsch/Adrian Oetzbach (OU) def. Lukas Finzelberg/Tristan Meraut (OSU) 7-5
Match Notes:
OSU 21-5, 3-2 Big 12; National ranking #5
Oklahoma 14-9, 2-3 Big 12; National ranking #17
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,6,1)
Played outdoors

Quotes from OU’s recap
“I was hoping I’d be healthy for this match,” Harris said. “I was doing everything I could for the past few months, and I was really pinning this one on the calendar to be healthy by. It’s special playing alongside Alex and Florin. These are some of the last matches we’ll ever play together, so it was pretty special.”

“Just a lot of hard work these last 10 days getting ready for this match,” Crowell said. “I think everyone bought into the process and was working hard, and it paid off. We got the doubles point and I think that was a big difference for our confidence and momentum. I’m just excited for the guys – they deserve it.”

TCU won the Big 12 regular season title outright by winning its 12th straight match with a 4-1 win over seventh-ranked Texas. The Horned Frogs took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and then it added five first sets in singles. Trevor Johnson picked up a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6 to make it 2-0 and Cameron Norrie ran his record to 16-1 with a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 1. Texas got on the board with a 6-2, 7-6 win by Rodrigo Banzer at No. 5 but shortly thereafter Alex Rybakov clinched the match with a 6-4, 7-6 win at No. 2.

#9 TCU 4, #7 Texas 1
Apr 22, 2017 at Fort Worth, Texas (Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #2 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #25 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 6-2, 7-5
2. #27 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #44 Harrison Scott (UT) 6-4, 7-6 (7-0)
3. #83 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) vs. George Goldhoff (UT) 6-4, 4-6, 1-4, unfinished
4. Jerry Lopez (TCU) vs. Leo Telles (UT) 7-6 (7-5), 4-5, unfinished
5. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Reese Stalder (TCU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
6. Trevor Johnson (TCU) def. John Mee (UT) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #32 Guillermo Nuñez/Alex Rybakov (TCU) vs. George Goldhoff/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 4-5, unfinished
2. #34 Jerry Lopez/Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Colin Markes/Leo Telles (UT) 6-4
3. Cameron Norrie/Trevor Johnson (TCU) def. Rodrigo Banzer/Harrison Scott (UT) 6-4
Match Notes:
Texas 19-7, 2-3 Big 12; National ranking #7
TCU 17-4, 5-0 Big12; National ranking #9
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (6,1,5,2)

Quotes from head coach David Roditi via TCU’s recap
“First of all, it is exciting to win the conference and everyone knows what we have gone through this year and to have the resilience to hang in there and win such a tough conference is amazing. Today we played Texas and they just wouldn’t go away at all. They are not playing with a full lineup. They have two guys that would have played today that didn’t play. When they get to full strength, Texas is one of those teams that can win the national championship. I thought that six months ago and even more so after watching them today. They are well-coached, they are tough, they are competitive and we got in them in the spots we needed to get from them. I am glad for that and I am happy for the guys. We just have to keep getting better. There is still a lot of season left and we have five days to prepare for conference. We have to tweak a few things and get better between now and then and then prepare for finals and take care of school so we can concentrate on the NCAA tournament. We will see what happens. It was a well-fought match and deserving of a Big 12 title.”

Quotes from head coach Michael Center via Texas’s recap
TCU was really good today, and it deserved to win the match after going (unbeaten) through conference play. We did a lot of good things and played some better doubles today. At Nos. 1 and 2 singles, TCU is as good or better than anyone in the country right now. I did think our guys did a great job, and overall I saw a lot of good things to take with us.

Big 12 Tournament 

Thursday, April 27
10 a.m. No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 6 Texas Tech
10 a.m. No. 4 Texas vs. No. 5 Oklahoma 

Friday, April 28
10 a.m. No. 1 TCU vs. 4/5 Winner 
10 a.m. No. 2 Oklahoma State vs. 3/6 Winner

Saturday, April 29
11 a.m. Championship Match

#11 Cal won for the eighth time in its last nine matches and in the process avenged an early defeat to Stanford with a 4-0 win. The Bears pulled out the doubles point with a tiebreak win at No. 1 and then after taking four first sets in singles it would get wins from Florian Lakat, Andre Goransson, and JT Nishimura. 

No. 11 California 4, No. 15 Stanford 0
April 22, 2017 at Berkeley, Calif (Hellman Tennis Complex)
Doubles competition
1) No. 2 Bergevi/Lakat (CAL) d. No. 61 Fawcett/Goldberg (STAN) 7-6 (4)
2) Genender/Kumar (STAN) d. No. 74 Goransson/Griffith (CAL) 6-3
3) Hoffman/Nishimura (CAL) d. Sutter/Wilczynski (STAN) 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles competition
1) No. 14 Florian Lakat (CAL) d. No. 11 Tom Fawcett (STAN) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
2) No. 49 Andre Goransson (CAL) d. Sameer Kumar (STAN) 6-4, 6-2
3) Filip Bergevi (CAL) led David Wilczynski (STAN) 7-6 (11), 4-1, susp.
4) No. 117 Michael Genender (STAN) led No. 89 Billy Griffith (CAL) 7-5, 2-5, susp.
5) J.T. Nishimura (CAL) d. Brandon Sutter (STAN) 7-5, 7-5
6) Bjorn Hoffman (CAL) led William Genesen (STAN) 3-6, 6-3, 2-1, susp.
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 1 

Post-Match Quotes from Cal’s recap:

“It was so special for our team to be part of the Big Slam today,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “We had the biggest crowd ever for a tennis match, our women’s team had an incredible battle, and our team put on an incredible show. Fuddruckers served over 900 gourmet hamburgers to our fans as part of McManus Legends Day, and Carole McManus (Jim McManus’ wife) was on hand cheering for the team and helping serve the hamburgers.

“It was an incredible experience for our seniors on Senior Day, and they played a pivotal role in today’s win. Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat helped us build momentum in the match by clinching the doubles on court one. Then Andre Goransson set the tone in singles by finishing his match first. It’s hard to express how much of an impact our seniors have had on the team. We’re now setting our sights on the postseason, with the Pac-12 Championship next week followed by the NCAAs in May.”

Conference Tournaments Roundup

American – It’ll be #1 vs. #3 on Sunday afternoon after both South Florida and Central Florida posted Saturday shutouts. USF defeated Memphis for the second time in the last five days with the Bulls taking the doubles point and getting wins from Sasha Gozun, Alberto Barroso-Campos, Peter Bertran, and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy. UCF blanked Tulane 4-0 with the Green Wave unable to overcome the loss of its top player, Constantin Schmitz, who rolled his ankle during doubles on Friday. UCF took the doubles point and then after splitting first sets in singles it managed to close out all three of its matches in straight sets with Korey Lovett, Harrison Richmond, and Chris Barrus getting the Ws.

UCF won the regular season meeting three weeks at home by a 4-2 score and the singles lineups will be exactly the same as last time. South Florida is the three-time defending AAC champion while UCF will be seeking its first conference title since winning the Atlantic Sun back in 2005.

#3 UCF 4, #2 Tulane 0
April 22, 2017 at Orlando, Fla. (USTA National Campus)
Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 2,3 )
1. Mariano Porter/Harrison Richmond (UCF) vs. Sebastian Rey/Chi-Shan Jao (Tulane), 4-3 unfinished
2. Danny Kerznerman/Korey Lovett (UCF) def. Ewan Moore/ Tyler Schick (Tulane), 6-2
3. Chris Barrus/Kalman Boyd (UCF) def. Luis Erlenbusch/Tim Ruetzel (Tulane), 6-1
Singles Competition (Order of Finish: 1,3,5)
1. Korey Lovett (UCF) def. Sebastian Rey (Tulane), 6-4, 6-2
2. Ewan Moore (Tulane) vs. Danny Kerznerman (UCF), 7-6(8), 2-3 unfinished
3. Harrison Richmond (UCF) def. Tyler Schick (Tulane), 6-3, 6-4
4. Luis Erlenbusch (Tulane) vs. Mariano Porter (UCF), 7-5, 3-5 unfinished
5. Chris Barrus (UCF) def. Chi-Shan Jao (Tulane) 6-2, 6-4
6. Time Ruetzel (Tulane) vs. Kalman Boyd (UCF), 6-4, 6-5 unfinished
Team Records: UCF (16-5), Tulane (18-5)

#1 South Florida 5, #5 Memphis 0
April 22, 2017 at Orlando, Fla. (USTA National Campus)
Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: (2,1)
1. Sasha Gozun/Alberto Barroso-Campos (USF) def. Kai Lemke/Andrew Watson (Memphis), 6-3
2. Peter Bertran/Justin Roberts (USF) def. Felix Rauch/Ryan Peniston (Memphis),6-2
3. Jukub Wojick/Vadym Kalyuzhnny (USF) vs. Jan Pallares/Matthew Story (Memphis), 5-4, unfinished
Singles Competition (Order of Finish: 3,6,1,4)
1. Sasha Gozun (USF) def. Ryan Peniston (Memphis), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. Justin Roberts (USF) vs. Andrew Watson (Memphis), 1-6, 6-6 unfinished
3. Alberto Barroso-Campos (USF) def. Kai Lemke (Memphis), 6-0, 7-6(6)
4. Peter Bertran (USF) def. Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis), 6-4, 6-4
5. Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (USF) vs. Jan Pallares (Memphis), 5-7, 7-5 unfinished
6. Jakub Wojcik (USF) def. Matthew Story (Memphis), 7-5, 6-3
Team Records: USF (16-8), Memphis (15-8)

Conference USA – For the second year in a row Rice and Old Dominion will meet in the final after ODU blanked Southern Miss and Rice edged Middle Tennessee. In the opening match of the day Old Dominion needed just two hours to run through Southern Miss 4-0. ODU won 6-0 at No. 1 doubles and then it’s No. 3 team went up an early break at 2-1 and then made it hold up to win 6-4. ODU took four opening sets and its top three of Adam Moundir, Michael Weindl, and Javier Jover Maestre would each win in straight sets with Weindl getting the clinch at No. 2. 

The second semifinal between top seed Rice and fourth seed and host Middle Tennessee had the fans on the edge of their seats. MTSU struck first in doubles with a 6-2 win at No. 3 but Rice would get late breaks at both No. 1 (30/40) and No. 2 (0/40) to win each court 6-4. Each team took three opening sets in singles and both Jake Hansen and Eric Rutledge would roll through their second sets to give Rice a 3-0 lead. MTSU got back in the match with a straight set win from Gonzalo Morell at No. 1 and three set win from Max Rauch at No. 6 to pull within 3-2. Rauch’s match had an interesting finish – his opponent Emanuel Llamas took a medical timeout during the changeover before Rauch was to serve up 5-2. Llamas was given a point penalty for taking the MTO so Rauch started up 15/0 and then Rauch won the next point to go up 30/0. On the next point Rauch hit a lob that Llamas called out but upon Rauch’s appeal to the chair the call was overturned and it since that was Llamas’s third overrule another point penalty was assessed and that was the match. 

Despite trailing 3-2 MTSU was still right there because Tom Moonen had a set lead at No. 2 while Miguel Negre led David Warren 5-2 in the second set at No. 3. Warren would take the next three to even it at 5-5 and then after an exchange of holds it went to a tiebreak. Warren raced out to a 5-1 lead but he’d double fault to make it 5-2. Negre won both points on his serve to pull within 5-4 but then on the next point he missed a forehand wide to go down 6-4. Warren would close it out with a second serve ace to win it 6-4, 7-6. The match at No. 2 went unfinished with the tiebreak even at 4-4.

No. 1 Rice 4, No. 4 Middle Tennessee 2
April 22, 2017 at Murfreesboro, TN (Adams Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Gonzalo Morell (MT) def. Jamie Malik (RICE) 6-2, 7-5
2. Tom Moonen (MT) vs. Tommy Bennett (RICE) 6-2, 6-6 (4-4), unfinished
3. David Warren (RICE) def. Miguel Negre (MT) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
4. Jake Hansen (RICE) def. Gian Issa (MT) 6-4, 6-0
5. Eric Rutledge (RICE) def. Luis Morillo Diaz (MT) 6-4, 6-1
6. Max Rauch (MT) def. Emanuel Llamas (RICE) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #50 David Warren/Tommy Bennett (RICE) def. Tom Moonen/Gonzalo Morell (MT) 6-4
2. Jake Hansen/Eric Rutledge (RICE) def. Max Rauch/Nicolas Buitrago (MT) 6-4
3. Gian Issa/Miguel Negre (MT) def. Daniel Warren/Henrik Munch (RICE) 6-2
Match Notes:
No. 4 Middle Tennessee 12-14
No. 1 Rice 22-7
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,5,1,6,3)
C-USA Championship Semifinals – Match 6
Official: Ted Mason T-2:36 A-134

No. 2 Old Dominion 4, No. 6 Southern Miss 0
April 22, 2017 at Murfreesboro, TN (Adams Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #50 Adam Moundir (ODU) def. Wen-Po Tseng (USM) 6-3, 6-4
2. Michael Weindl (ODU) def. Daniel Merker (USM) 7-5, 6-0
3. Javier Jover Maestre (ODU) def. Teeradon Tortrakul (USM) 6-1, 6-1
4. Jacob Nicolussi (ODU) vs. Chao-Yu Huang (USM) 7-5, 3-2, unfinished
5. Jorman Reyes (USM) vs. Aziz Kijametovic (ODU) 7-6 (4), 4-1, unfinished
6. Rakshit Rishi (USM) vs. Justin Herrera (ODU) 6-4, 3-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Adam Moundir/Javier Jover Maestre (ODU) def. Daniel Merker/Jorman Reyes (USM) 6-0
2. Wen-Po Tseng/Chao-Yu Huang (USM) def. Aziz Kijametovic/Jose Nunez Navarro (ODU) 6-4
3. Michael Weindl/Jacob Nicolussi (ODU) def. Teeradon Tortrakul/Rakshit Rishi (USM) 6-4
Match Notes:
No. 6 Southern Miss 21-5
No. 2 Old Dominion 19-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,2)
C-USA Championship Semifinals – Match 5
Official: Ted Mason T-2:01 A-41

Atlantic Sun – There is a late-night drama and then there is really late-night drama and that’s what happened on Saturday night/Sunday morning in Fort Myers. Due to rain both of the semifinal matches didn’t begin until after 11 p.m. ET and then when singles started they could could only use three courts until the rest became dry enough to play on. Both matches ended in an upset with the host FGCU knocking off the top seed North Florida 4-3 in a match that ended at 3:15 a.m. FGCU took the doubles point but UNF took a 3-2 lead after Lasse Muscheites won in straight sets at No. 4. FGCU battled back to tie it at 3-3 with a straight set win from Javier Fernandez at No. 6 and then Andres Alfonzo clinched it with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 5. 

#4 FGCU 4, #1 North Florida 3
April 22, 2017 at Ft. Myers, Fla (FGCU Tennis Complex)
Doubles results
1) #46 Findel-Hawkins/Kecic (UNF) def. Landert/Ramirez (FGCU) 6-4
2) Alfonzo/Cerrini (FGCU) def. Muscheites/Zuern (UNF) 7-6 (4)
3) Ruiz/Fernandez (FGCU) def. Deautriell/Deshmukh (UNF) 6-2
Singles results
1) #66 Jack Findel-Hawkins (UNF) def. Felipe Ramirez (FGCU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
2) Mateo Ruiz (FGCU) def. #123 Jefta Kecic (UNF) 6-0, 6-2
3) Yannick Zuern (UNF) def. Oliver Landert (FGCU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
4) Lasse Muscheites (UNF) def. Ezequiel Cerrini (FGCU) 7-6 (5), 6-3
5) Andres Alfonzo (FGCU) def. Sahil Deshmukh (UNF) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
6) Javier Fernandez (FGCU) def. Jonathan Deautreill (UNF) 6-2, 6-2
Match Notes
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2), Singles (2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Post-Match Quotes from FGCU’s recap
“Words cannot describe what the guys did,” said head coach CJ Weber. “It’s been a really long season and we’ve dealt with so much adversity. The way we played today, is this team’s potential and this is what we have been fighting for all year long. We have not been able to do it all season until today and it was just a commitment from every single one of the guys; I could not ask for anything more. UNF played an amazing match; I gained even more respect for them today. They competed like crazy and today was our absolute best and we barely won. Hats off to them on a great year and we look forward to many more tight matches with them in the future.”

In the other semifinal in Ft. Myers it was the No. 6 seed Lipscomb upsetting the No. 4 seed Stetson 4-1 to advance to its first-ever A-Sun final. Stetson took the doubles point but Lipscomb rallied in singles with wins at 1, 2, 3, and 6 with George Wong getting the clinch at No. 6 with a 6-3, 6-2 win.  

Post-Match Quotes from Lipscomb’s recap
“It was another great effort by our guys so far this week,” Lipscomb head coach Mario Hernandez said. “Coming off a big win the previous night is often the toughest challenge and they handled it well.”

“We had many opportunities to throw in the towel after tough losses in the regular season and our guys have never given up on their goals. They’re now seeing the payoff of having that never quit attitude.”

“Everyone is so proud of George for how he stepped up,” Hernandez said. “That’s not easy to do and to really do it for the first time in one of our program’s most important matches, it’s impressive and he should take loads of confidence from what he did last night.”

“Sleep, eat, and recover. That’s all we can focus on but I’m not worried for our guys. I know the adrenaline and excitement of this opportunity is the best medicine for a quick turnaround. Our boys will be ready to represent Lipscomb in their first ASUN Conference Tournament Final.”

Big South– Top seed Presbyterian booked its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament with a 4-3 win over the No. 3 seed Campbell. Presbyterian took the doubles point but Campbell rallied in singles and took a 3-2 lead after Gerard Sola won in straight sets at No. 4. Diego Manzanas tied the match at 3-3 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3 and then Jaimie Lopez came back from 3-1 down in the third to clinch the championship with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win at No. 6.

It was Presbyterian’s fourth appearance in the Big South final and marked the school’s first-ever conference tournament championship in any sport since making the jump up from D2 to D1 in 2008.

Presbyterian 4, Campbell 3
April 22, 2017 at Winston-Salem, NC (Wake Forest Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. SCHAEFER, Lucas (CU) def. LYKOU, Alexander (PC) 6-2, 6-1
2. WERNER, Dustin (CU) def. MILLS, Brandon (PC) 6-0, 6-4
3. MANZANAS, Diego (PC) def. RAKITIN, Nicolas (CU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. SOLA, Gerard (CU) def. KELLEY, Ben (PC) 6-3, 6-4
5. BEJAR, Alexandro (PC) def. O’NEAL, Jonathan (CU) 6-4, 6-0
6. LOPEZ, Jaime (PC) def. CLEMENTE, Fernando (CU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. KELLEY, Ben/ROBERTS, Joel (PC) def. WERNER, Dustin/SCHWAB, Lorenz (CU) 6-4.
2. LYKOU, Alexander/MILLS, Brandon (PC) def. RAKITIN, Nicolas/SCHAEFER, Lucas (CU) 6-2
3. MANZANAS, Diego/LOPEZ, Jaime (PC) vs. SOLA, Gerard/O’NEAL, Jonathan (CU) unfinished

Post-Match Quotes from PC’s recap
“I’m so proud of our guys,” said second-year head coach Patrick Fediuk. “This is all about them. They have worked so hard all year, coming to work day in and day out at practice and in competition. It is such an honor to coach these guys and to be the first-ever to win a championship.”

“This win is for all the coaches and proud alums who took on the idea of FE (first ever),” Fediuk said. “They laid the groundwork for this to be able to happen.”

Full conference tournament results, draws, and links are available under my events tab. If you want to see how these results effected next week’s rankings check out my rankings tab which has real-time rankings (available for CTT subscribers)