Tagged with: Baylor, Boston College, Oklahoma Sooners, Oregon, Texas, Texas Tech

It was an exciting morning/early afternoon of tennis in Norman that ended with a pair of seeding upsets. For the second time in five days Texas Tech upset Baylor with the Red Raiders riding a hot start in both singles and doubles to take the match 3-2. Baylor’s Max Tchoutakian fought off several match points at No. 2 to force a third set but shortly thereafter Texas Tech’s Connor Curry clinched the win at No. 4. Check out Texas Tech’s recap for all the details. 

In the other match that was taking place at the same time it was the host Oklahoma knocking off Texas 4-3. The Sooners won a crucial doubles point and then with the match tied at 3-3 senior Alex Ghilea came back from 2-0 down in the third set to win the final six games to clinch the win. Check out Oklahoma and Texas’s recaps for more details.

 

#41 Texas Tech 4, #6 Baylor 2
04/27/17 at Norman, Okla. (Headington Family Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #29 Jolan Cailleau (TT) def. #14 Juan Benitez (BU) 6-3, 6-3
2. #44 Max Tchoutakian (BU) vs. #79 Bjorn Thomson (TT) 4-6, 7-6 (12-10), unfinished
3. Alex Sendegeya (TT) def. #59 Johannes Schretter (BU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Connor Curry (TT) def. Jimmy Bendeck (BU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Will Little (BU) def. Carlos DiLaura (TT) 6-4, 6-0
6. Constantin Frantzen (BU) def. Jackson Cobb (TT) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #13 Connor Curry/Bjorn Thomson (TT) def. #17 Will Little/Juan Benitez (BU) 6-4
2. #86 Johannes Schretter/Jimmy Bendeck (BU) vs. Jolan Cailleau/Carlos DiLaura (TT) 5-6, unfinished
3. Jackson Cobb/Alex Sendegeya (TT) def. Constantin Frantzen/Max Tchoutakian (BU) 6-4
Match Notes:
Texas Tech 12-14; National ranking #41
Baylor 21-7; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (5,6,1,3,4)
2017 Big 12 Championships – Quarterfinals T-2:32 A-232

Post-Match Quotes from Texas Tech’s recap
“I definitely think it helped us that we were able to beat them last week,” head coach Brett Masi said. “It gave us a little bit of extra confidence knowing that. That’s five in a row against Baylor. The guys are pretty pumped at this point. They have a lot of respect for that team, and the deal we’ve done is pretty special. All different matchups except at No. 1 because they moved their lineup around. I think our guys at one through four did it for us. I think the key was we were able to get leads which made them have to play desperate from behind, and we just wouldn’t let up.”

“Jolan’s been really tough all year, and I think he’s finally back to playing like he had been during the fall,” Masi said. “He feels very comfortable in the position he’s in right now. He’s been doing a great job. To play a guy like Benitez, and to beat him as handedly as he did, that just gave him more momentum going forward.”

“It was huge (to win the second set tiebreaker),” Curry said. “Coming in, we had some confidence because we just beat Baylor last week. We really like to compete against Baylor. We’re always up for a challenge. Singles was big. I got up 2-0 (in the second set), but then I went down 3-2. Last week, I started cramping in the third set so I knew I had to get some revenge this week and try as hard as I can for the rest of the team.”

“Doubles is crucial for anybody, let alone for us,” Masi said. “We’ve started to play a lot better doubles, and we’re kind of clicking there. Again, we were able to build leads. The guys at two doubles did a great job getting up a break early on, and we again made them play from behind. That’s a big thing when you’re playing a team like Baylor because they like to play with a lot of momentum and play quick.”

“The guys know it, and we know it that our backs are against the wall,” Masi said. “We have nowhere else to go but forward. If we lose, we’re done. I said it the other day, ‘Win or go home’ attitude. That’s the mentality we’re playing with. Hopefully, we can just keep duplicating the effort and the level of intensity that we are bringing out to every match. Again, we have to come out and play well in doubles. Oklahoma State is a very good doubles team. If we can do that and get into the match, anything goes from there.”

Post-Match Quotes from Baylor’s recap
“They just crushed us. We are disappointed. They have a system. They played to their system. They executed it. Our system is different than theirs. Their system has won two times in a row now.” – head coach Matt Knoll on the match

“We got some time. We are going to try to focus on school and get a fresh start. The most important part of the season is ahead of us. We are excited about having another opportunity to play a match that is for sure.” – Knoll on bouncing back

 

 

Texas highlights

#15 Oklahoma 4, #9 Texas 3
Apr 27, 2017 at Norman, Okla. (Headington Family Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #26 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. #30 Andrew Harris (OU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
2. #45 Harrison Scott (UT) def. #18 Spencer Papa (OU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-1
3. #40 Alex Ghilea (OU) def. George Goldhoff (UT) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-2
4. #107 Florin Bragusi (OU) def. #53 Leo Telles (UT) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
5. Jochen Bertsch (OU) def. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) 6-3, 7-5
6. Julian Zlobinsky (UT) def. Adrian Oetzbach (OU) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #15 Andrew Harris/Spencer Papa (OU) def. George Goldhoff/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 6-4
2. #66 Florin Bragusi/Alex Ghilea (OU) def. Colin Markes/Leo Telles (UT) 6-2
3. Julian Zlobinsky/Harrison Scott (UT) vs. Jochen Bertsch/Adrian Oetzbach (OU) 5-4, unfinished
Match Notes:
Oklahoma 15-9; National ranking #15
Texas 19-8; National ranking #9
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (6,2,5,4,1,3)
2017 Big 12 Championships – Quarterfinals

Post-Match Quotes from OU’s recap
“I just played the way I play and didn’t think too much about it,” Ghilea said. “George (Goldhoff) played a great match, and he’s a really good friend of mine. I think we always play good matches against each other.”

“At the end of the match, Florin really stepped up and hit some big shots when it was time to win, and that’s all our guys did today,” Crowell said. “They played big when it was time to win and that’s what we’ve been talking about in the locker room.”

Post-Match Quotes from head coach Michael Center via Texas’s recap

On the match – From a fan perspective it was a great match. Both teams did a lot of great things. From our perspective we beat them up here without (OU’s) Andrew Harris and this time we didn’t have Yuya Ito. For us to win at Nos. 1 and 2 singles the way we did today was a really good sign, really impressive. We got off the court quickly at No. 6 singles, and we had some opportunities in some of the other matches, but I’ve got to give OU credit.

I didn’t see some of the match at No. 4, and we had a set point at No. 5, which would have been a big match to split and get an opportunity to win the third set. Overall it was a great match. We’ve got two weeks to get ready for the NCAA Championships. I’ve seen a lot of good things, but we also need to clean a few things up and get ready for the NCAA tournament.

On the top-30 wins from Christian Sigsgaard and Harrison Scott – Andrew Harris (whom Sigsgaard defeated) is one of the best players in the country and has qualified for a grand slam event. One of the things Christian has had to battle playing all these great players at the top is getting down or losing his focus or getting discouraged. He got broken in the third set and had a match point where Harris made a running forehand passing shot to break him, but Christian came back to break serve. That was a great effort by him today and a nice effort by Harrison to beat (Spencer) Papa, who is another really good player. Julian stepped in and had a nice result today. There were a lot of good things that we did today. We’ll try to get everyone healthy and hope to play our best tennis down the stretch.

On hosting NCAA Championships matches – I don’t know what seed we’ll be, but we’ll need our fans to come out for those matches. We’ve had great crowds over at Caswell, and we’ve got a nice support system out there.

 

 

Oregon took itself off the NCAA bubble after defeating UCLA 4-3 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament. The Ducks entered the match just below the NCAA at-large cutoff line so it couldn’t have picked a better time to knock off UCLA for the first time in program history. UCLA took the doubles point and the teams split opening sets in singles but five of the six matches would end up going the distance. With the score tied at 3-3, Oregon’s Daniela Nasser broke UCLA’s Gabby Andrews on the no-ad point to go up 6-5 in the third and then she fought off two break points to clinch the match with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5. 

 

#40 Oregon 4, #23 UCLA 3
April 27, 2017 at Ojai, Calif
Doubles results
1. (UCLA) Jada Hart/Terri Fleming def. (UO) Shweta Sangwan/Julia Eshet, 6-3
2. (UO) Alyssa Tobita/Rifanty Kahfiani def. (UCLA) Gabby Andrews/Alaina Miller, 6-3
3. (UO) Nia Rose/Marlou Kluiving def. (UCLA) Ena Shibahara/Kristin Wiley, 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles results
1. (UCLA) Ena Shibahara def. (UO) Alyssa Tobita, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
2. (UO) Shweta Sangwan def. (UCLA) Terri Fleming, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3
3. (UCLA) Jada Hart def. (UO) Nia Rose, 6-2, 7-6(6)
4. (UO) Julia Eshet def. (UCLA) Alaina Miller, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
5. (UO) Daniela Nasser def. (UCLA) Gabby Andrews, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
6. (UCLA) Kristin Wiley def. (UO) Marlou Kluiving, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 3, 6, 4, 2, 5

Quotes from Oregon’s recap

Head coach Alison Silverio – “We are extremely proud of our team. Their fearlessness was apparent in each moment. We all knew what was on the line, and we went out and attacked the day! We will continue to focus on our discipline and executing our game plans.”

Sophomore Daniela Nasser – “We all battled hard today and never gave up. That’s what got it done for us. My team brought the energy and was loud when it came down to the last games at the end. It energized me, and reminded me that I had to do it for them. We have prepared all season, and it translated on the court today for everyone. We are excited to get after it tomorrow!”

Freshman Julia Eshet – “Today was a real team effort. We brought good energy and stayed tough for more than four hours. We all believed in each other and continued attacking even in moments when we were down. Our fitness was key today, and we trusted our preparation.”

 

 

The #12 seed Boston College advanced to ACC Quarterfinals for the first time in school history after the Eagles soared past NC State 4-1. BC took the doubles point and picked up three wins in singles with Lexi Borr clinching at No. 2. 

Boston College 4, #29 NC State 1
April 27, 2017 at Rome, Ga. Rome Tennis Center at Berry College
Singles results
No. 1 – Asiya Dair (BC) def. No. 75 Martina Frantova (ST) 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 – No. 110 Lexi Borr (BC) def. Anna Rogers (ST) 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
No. 3 – Kylie Wilcox (BC) vs. Claudia Wiktorin (ST) 6-7, 6-4, 3-3, unfinished
No. 4 – Adriana Reami (ST) def. Emily Safron (BC) 6-1, 6-4
No. 5 – Jackie Urbinati (BC) def. Bianca Moldovan (ST) 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 – Elene Tsokilauri (BC) vs. Amanda Rebol (ST) 6-4, 5-7, 2-2, unfinished
Doubles results
No. 1 – No. 12 Rogers/Frantova (ST) def. Wilcox/Dasha Possokhova (BC) 6-1
No. 2 – Borr/Urbinati (BC) def. Moldovan/Wiktorin (ST) 6-4
No. 3 – Dair/Tsokilauri (BC) def. Reami/Tayla Stenta 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (1, 5, 4, 2)

 

Full results from all conference tournaments are available on my mens and womens conference tournament central pages.  I’ll be in Knoxville the rest of the week at the SEC Tournament so check me out on Twitter for all the latest happenings!

If you want to get the latest ranking updates check out my real-time rankings to see where everyone stands after today’s matches – subscription required.