Tagged with: JJ Wolf, Mississippi State, Ohio State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, UC Irvine

Top-ranked Ohio State suffered its first loss of the year on Monday night falling 4-3 to #28/#20 Texas A&M in a match that wasn’t as close as the final score. The Buckeyes, who were playing without JJ Wolf (Drummondville Challenger), took the early 1-0 lead after 6-4 wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles but the Aggies stormed back in singles taking five opening sets. A&M freshman Noah Schachter tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5 over Tim Seibert who was playing in just his third dual-match of the year and first against a Power 5 opponent. A&M took the lead with a 6-2, 7-6 win by Hady Habib at No. 2 and Valentin Vacherot put them a point away after a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 3.

A&M sophomore Barnaby Smith clinched the upset with a 7-6, 6-3 win at No. 4. The final two matches were played out with Ohio State’s John McNally winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 while Hunter Tubert won 6-7, 7-6, 10-4 at No. 6. 

Per the Texas A&M recap it was the just the second time in school history that the Ags had defeated a top ranked opponent with the other coming in 2015 against Oklahoma. 

Wolf won his opening round match in Canada over former Cal Bear Andre Goransson and will meet former Virginia Cavalier Thai-Son Kwiatkowski in the second round on Tuesday. Ohio State’s next match is set for Thursday in Austin against Texas so if Wolf were to beat Kwiatkowski and then the winner of Yannick Maden (Clemson ’13) and Dennis Novikov (UCLA ’13) he’d probably miss it. 

Barnaby clinches the upset over No. 1 Ohio State!!!!!#GigEm pic.twitter.com/rfVGKnKOcW

Texas A&M Men’s Tennis (@AggieMTEN) March 12, 2019

“We did what we had to do to get a win tonight,” Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. “It’s tough on them, their star player is not here and obviously that makes a difference. They would be the first to not use that as an excuse and its tough coming out and playing outdoor tennis for a few days, but it is just like when we go play them indoors. We knew they were going to compete very hard against us like they always do and it’s going to be a dogfight, but our guys were pretty good again tonight. We are playing with a little bit of momentum and the guys believe in themselves and we were able to get across the finish line.”

“I’m not surprised even when we lost the doubles point,” Barnaby Smith said. “We didn’t play well at doubles as a team and I honestly thought we could win every point in singles and we almost did. We had chances in the other two singles matches. I know a lot of us didn’t feel like we played our best tennis tonight, but we just competed really hard. The conditions were tough and the crowd was great. We have been working so hard for so long. We trust the work that we have put in as a team.”

#28 Texas A&M 4, #1 Ohio State 3
3/11/2019 at College Station, TX (George P Mitchell Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #27 John McNally (OSU) def. Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. #120 Hady Habib (TAMU) def. #28 Kyle Seelig (OSU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
3. #38 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. #81 Alex Kobelt (OSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
4. #58 Barnaby Smith (TAMU) def. #69 Martin Joyce (OSU) 7-6 (9-7), 6-3
5. Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. Tim Seibert (OSU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Hunter Tubert (OSU) def. Guido Marson (TAMU) 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-1), 1-0 (10-4)
Doubles competition
1. Alex Kobelt/James Trotter (OSU) def. Juan Carlos Aguilar/Barnaby Smith (TAMU) 6-4
2. Valentin Vacherot/Alex Vedri (TAMU) vs. #57 John McNally/Hunter Tubert (OSU) 3-4, unfinished
3. Martin Joyce/Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Hady Habib/Kevin Lam (TAMU) 6-4
Match Notes:
Ohio State 16-1; National ranking #1
Texas A&M 12-3; National ranking #28
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,2,3,4,1,6)

 

Tenth-ranked Mississippi State narrowly avoided an upset at the hands of #29/#23 South Carolina in a match that started on Friday but was stopped early in singles by rain. Mississippi State had a 1-0 lead after taking the doubles point on Friday and it turned out to be a valuable point. Four of the six singles matches went the distance with the only matches to finish in straights coming at 5 and 6 with MSU’s Trevor Foshey winning 6-2, 6-4 at 5 and SC’s Jake Beasley winning 7-5, 6-3 at 6. 

MSU senior Nuno Borges put the Bulldogs in front 3-1 after fighting off a match in the tiebreak, on SC’s serve, to pull out a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6) win at No. 1. South Carolina freshmen Daniel Rodrigues (6-2, 3-6, 6-4) and Raphael Lambling (5-7, 7-5, 6-0) won at 2 and 3 to tie the match at 3-3 and fellow freshman Joseph Brailovsky served for the match at No. 4 up 6-5 in the third. However MSU senior Niclas Braun broke from 30/40 to force a tiebreak and then after taking a 6-2 lead he’d close it out 7-4. 

Braun wins it with a pass down the line pic.twitter.com/RLXmPX3c4y

CollegeTennisRanks (@College10sRanks) March 11, 2019

Hear some thoughts on todays match from @CoachMatt_MSU! ??#HailState? pic.twitter.com/WYdQFOexX6

MSU Men’s Tennis ? (@HailStateMT) March 11, 2019

“I’m really proud of them for handling this adversity all weekend and finishing off a great match today,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “They stayed positive and stayed a team through it all. I’m really proud of how they competed today and how gritty they were. They trusted each other and believed in each other, and they got it done. This weekend made us tougher and I’m proud of our team for staying positive and enjoying the challenge.”

#10 Mississippi State 4, #29 South Carolina 3
March 11, 2019 (Cont. from 3/8)
Carolina Tennis Center Columbia, S.C.
Doubles
1. Paul Jubb/Raphael Lambling (USC) def. #7 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-2
2. #3 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Jake Beasley/Joseph Brailovsky (USC) 6-2
3. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) def. Beau Pelletier/Daniel Rodrigues (USC) 6-4
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #12 Paul Jubb (USC) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6)
2. #88 Daniel Rodrigues (USC) def. #102 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
3. Raphael Lambling (USC) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 5-7, 7-5, 6-0
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Joseph Brailovsky (USC) 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(4)
5. Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Beau Pelletier (USC) 6-2, 6-4
6. Jake Beasley (USC) def. Florian Broska (MSU) 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish: 5,6,1,3,2,4

 

UC Irvine improved to 7-3 on the year with a thrilling come from behind 4-3 win over Gonzaga. The Anteaters dropped a close doubles point and trailed 3-2 after Gonzaga added straight set wins at 4 and 5 while UCI won in straights at 3 and 6. UCI senior Sasha Krasnov tied the match at 3-3 with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 2 and senior Luis Lopez came back from 2-5 down in the third set, while saving four match points, to win 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Check out Luis Lopez serve UCIs match winning point!! ? pic.twitter.com/8nXySAnZzM

UCI Men’s Tennis (@UCImten) March 12, 2019

QUOTE FROM HEAD COACH MIKE SAUNDERS
“Today was an epic college tennis match. Gonzaga returned all but one of their players from last year, however, this year’s team fought with more fire and played with more discipline and grit. They out-played us in the doubles. I felt we could have won the doubles point but they came up with the better shots in the big moments. Down 0-1 we had our work cut out for us in the singles needing 4 of 6. We took a commanding lead at 6 singles while they countered at 5. Mason on court four started cramping from adrenaline and lost his first set. But our top three triumvirate, Mat, Sasha and Luis embraced the challenge and gave us a dose of momentum winning the first sets on their respective courts. We evened the team score 1-1 with Danny’s win on court 6. I was proud of how Danny rebounded from the doubles and got us back in the match. Mat stayed focused in the second set at 3 to secure the win. He played one of his best matches of the year. He is getting better by the day. I’m so proud of his attitude. He’s playing with joy and passion and purpose and it’s making all the difference. Gonzaga countered with wins at 4 and 5 to go up 3-2. Sasha rallied to win his third set with some great coaching from Tyler to even the match 3-3. Luis went down one break, 2-5 in the third. But with Bruce Senior by your side you are never out of a match and Luis pulled off one of the greatest comebacks I’ve ever seen. Both players were playing high level tennis with the match on the line. And both displayed perfect sportsmanship. Both probably deserved to win. But Luis made some adjustments, played with so much heart, courage and grit it brought tears to my eyes. Luis is one tough cookie. He played like a true warrior today, ultimately saving four match points, 3 in a row to break serve at 3-5 and then served huge before finally closing it out 7-5. Bruce Senior and Tyler both deserve credit because their coaching won us this match. It was a match that could have gone either way and both teams deserved to win. Today we were fortunate and hopefully it will inspire our guys going forward.”

UC Irvine 4, Gonzaga 3
March 11, 2019 at Irvine, Calif
Doubles (2,1,3)
1. Sam Feit/Ruadhan O’Sullivan (GON) def. Mateusz Smolicki/Vatsal Bajpai (UCI), 7-5
2. Bruce Man-Son-HIng/Luis Lopez (UCI) def. Kyle Everly/Vincent Rettke (GON), 6-4
3. Simone Homedes/Emilio Moreno (GON) def. Daniel Gealer/Mason Hansen (UCI), 7-5
Singles (6,3,4,5,2,1)
1. Lopez (UCI) def. O’Sullivan (GON), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
2. Sasha Krasnov UCI) def. Feit (GON), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
3. Smolicki (UCI) def. Everly (GON), 7-6 (4), 6-1
4. Rettke (GON) def. Hansen (UCI), 6-3, 6-3
5. Moreno (GON) def. Aaron Bailey (UCI), 6-3, 6-4
6. Gealer (UCI) def. Perkins (GON), 6-3, 6-1

 

Other Men’s Results

• #48 Florida Atlantic def. UNC Asheville 4-0 – Owls won the dubs decider in a tiebreak and won all but one set in singles
• Cal def. Pacific 4-0 & St. Mary’s 7-0 – Bears won all but one set in singles 
• South Florida def. George Washington 6-1 – Bulls won dubs and added straight set wins at 1, 2, and 5 with the other matches decided in a third set supertiebreak

• #29 Syracuse won at Florida Atlantic 4-1 – Orange took dubs and after two quick straight set wins at 2 and 5 got a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win from Guzal Yusupova at 4
• #40 Wichita State def. #39 Gonzaga 6-1 – Shockers won the dubs decider in a tiebreak and added straight set wins at 1, 2, and 6
• Richmond won at College of Charleston 4-3 – Spiders junior Kiana Marshall won the decider 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 singles