D1 Women’s & Men’s Quarterfinal Preview

The quarterfinals are upon us with the top 5 seeds still alive in the women’s draw while the men still have the top 4 seeds remaining. The feature matchup on Wednesday will be the fourth meeting of the season between No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Pepperdine. The Bruins took two of the previous three and in the one they dropped they had a pair of starters that sat out.

NC State is making its first appearance in the quarterfinals and will try to hand Georgia just its second defeat of the season while the Bulldogs are trying to get back to the semifinals for the second year in a row.

Florida State has never been past the quarterfinals and if this is the year it happens it will mean they have snapped Texas’s 21-match winning streak.

North Carolina has been eyeing its first national title all-season long and standing in its way of advancing to the semifinals is its next door neighbor Duke. The Tar Heels had its way with the Blue Devils in the regular season but will the outcome be the same this time?

On the men’s side it’s rematch city – Baylor and TCU will meet for the fourth time this season, Florida and Texas A&M will meet for the third time, and Tennessee/Georgia and Texas/USC will meet for a second time.

[3] Georgia vs. [6] NC State (11:00 am ET)

Road to the Quarterfinals
#3 Georgia def. Austin Peay 4-0 in R1; def. #32 Wake Forest 4-1 in R2; def. #13 Virginia 4-1 in R16
#6 NC State def. VCU 4-0 in R1; def. #36 Iowa State 4-2 in R2; def. #35 USC 4-1 in R16

All-Time Series: Georgia 2-1
Most Recent Meeting: 2020 National Indoors Consolation: NC State 4-1
NCAA H2H: Georgia 1-0 (UGA won 4-0 in 2017 R2) 

Match Notes:

• NC State is appearing in the quarterfinals for the first-time in school history
• Both teams have played excellent doubles with Georgia winning the point in 22 of 24 matches and NC State winning it in 20 of 24.
• UGA winning streaks: Jokic 18, Christofi 11, Ma 9. Coppoc had 16-match streak snapped against UVA.
• Despite only having a result in 5 matches, UGA’s Marta Gonzalez has started 20 dual-matches. 15 of those 20 went unfinished due to how dominant Georgia was throughout the lineup and how quickly they got 4 points on the board. Gonzalez had a lead in 12 of the unfinished matches and was just 1 game away from closing out 4 of them.
• NC State streaks: Jaeda Daniel has won 5 of her last 6 matches, Abigail Rencheli has won 4 of her last 5, Anna Rogers has lost her last 4 and 6 of her last 8

Prediction: Georgia will be favored across the board and if the Dawgs take the doubles point this one could go quickly. NC State’s best path to an upset is the doubles point, a split at 3 and 4, and both 5 and 6. Can the Pack pull it off or will the Dawgs end the season of an ACC school for the third match in a row? Georgia 4-0.

[2] Texas vs. [7] Florida State (2:00 pm ET)

Road to the Quarterfinals
#2 Texas def. Denver 4-0 in R1; def. #31 Arizona State 4-0 in R2; #16 Ohio State 4-1 in R16
#7 Florida State def. Alabama State 4-0 in R1; def. #19 Auburn 4-1 in R2; def. #10 Texas A&M 4-2 in R16

All-Time Series: Texas 4-1
Most Recent Meeting: 2020 National Indoors: Texas 4-3
NCAA H2H: Texas 1-0 (Texas won 5-2 in 2008 R2) 

Match Notes

• Texas’s only loss this season was 4-3 to UNC in the National Indoors Final
• Texas last made the quarterfinals in 2005 (lost in final)
• Florida State is into the quarterfinals for the second time in program history (2018)
• Doubles Edge to Texas – Horns have won the doubles point 26 times in 29 matches (21 straight)
• Some major win streaks
  • Texas: Team (21), Rapolu (16), Chavatipon (16), Sun (14), Labrana (13), Collins (12), Chavatipon/Stearns dubs (13)
  • Florida State: Hule (9), Allen (9)
• FSU’s Salas has lost her last 7 matches
• Andrea Garcia is listed at No. 7 in FSU’s master lineup but has played at No. 6 in all 3 rounds

Prediction: Texas will be favored at every spot in the lineup and it will take a monster effort from Florida State to pull off the upset. For Florida State to have a chance they need to find a way to take the doubles point and then hope that rattles Texas some in singles – Texas 4-0

[4] UCLA vs. [5] Pepperdine (5:30 pm ET)

Road to the Quarterfinals
#4 UCLA def. Grand Canyon 4-0 in R1; def. #30 Texas Tech 4-0 in R2; def. #11 Georgia Tech 4-0 in R16
#5 Pepperdine def. Northern Arizona 4-0 in R1; def. #27 Stanford 4-2 in R2; def. #20 Michigan 4-0 in R16

All-Time Series: UCLA 58-19 (UCLA won 2 of 3 meetings this year)
Most Recent Meeting: April 14, 2021: UCLA 5-2 @ home
NCAA H2H: UCLA 4-1 (Pepperdine 4-1 in 2017 R2)

Match Notes

• Pepperdine is into the NCAA Quarterfinals for the fourth time in the past five seasons but they have never advanced to the semifinals
• UCLA is into the NCAA Quarterfinals for the third season in a row – last time they went further was 2015 when they were runner-up
• Doubles edge to UCLA – Bruins have won the doubles point in 23 of 26 matches including 12 straight
• Who will we see at No. 5 in UCLA’s singles lineup?
  • Sasha Vagramov and Vanessa Ong are listed at No. 5 and No. 6 in the master lineups but Vagramov hasn’t played since the Pac-12 Tournament (lost her last two in straights) while Ong played against Grand Canyon (won 1&0) and Georgia Tech (trailing 6-2, 4-3) but not in the second round versus Texas Tech.
  • Annette Goulak is definitely going to be in the lineup at 6 with the streak that she’s been on plus she is 3-0 this year against Nikki Redelijk.
  • Abi Altick played in the second round versus Texas Tech at 5 and was down a set – her last win came back on March 19 against Utah. She played Lisa Zaar in the match at National Indoors and was trailing 5-3 in the third but that’s better than Vagramov and Ong were able to do against Zaar.
• UCLA streak
  • Abbey Forbes has won 17 of her last 18 matches (15 in straight sets) – 2-0 record versus Lahey
  • Annette Goulak has won 13 of her last 14 matches (10 in straight sets) – 3-0 record versus Pepperdine
  • Jada Hart has won her last 7 completed matches however her last 7 overall matches have gone unfinished (was leading in in 5 of those, 1 tied, 1 trailing)
  • Vivian Wolff has won her last 4 completed matches
• Pepperdine streaks
  • Taisiya Pachkaleva has won 22 straight
  • Lisa Zaar has won 19 straight
  • Shiori Fukuda has won 13 of her last 14 matches
  • Jessica Failla has won 6 straight
  • Ashley Lahey has won 6 straight

Regular Season Meetings:

Prediction: This will be the 4th meeting of the season between these two Southern California rivals with UCLA holding the 2-1 edge. UCLA is going to be expecting to take the doubles point and they’ve got to like the matchups at 1 and 6 as well (assuming Goulak at 6) so that narrows Pepperdine’s path to 2, 3, 4, and 5 singles. Pepperdine has the UTR edge on each of those courts. but by narrow margins, and Jada Hart is 2-0 against Jessica Failla at No. 2 this season – UCLA 4-2

[1] North Carolina vs. #18 Duke (NB 7:30 pm ET)

Road to the Quarterfinals
#1 UNC def. South Carolina State 4-0 in R1; def. #29 Old Dominion 4-0 in R2; def. #17 California 4-0 in R16
#18 Duke def. Alabama 4-0 in R1; def. #8 Baylor 4-3 in R2; def. #9 UCF 4-3 in R16

All-Time Series: Duke 47-43
Most Recent Meeting: 2021 – UNC 6-1
NCAA H2H: UNC 4-1 (2017 R16 – UNC 4-0)

Match Notes

• UNC is into the quarterfinals for the 6th time in the last 8 seasons
• Duke is into the quarterfinals for the 3rd year in a row
• The undefeated Tar Heels have 8 singles players ranked in the ITA Top 125.
• UNC posted shutouts in 17 of their 29 wins – only gave up more than 1 point in 3 matches (UGA 4-3, Texas 4-3, Virginia 5-2)
• Streaking Tar Heels
  • Sara Daavettila has won 6 straight matches while only dropping 1 set since March 14
  • Alexa Graham has won 8 straight
  • Elizabeth Scotty has won 5 straight and 11 of her last 12 (all but 1 of those wins was in straight sets)
  • Fiona Crawley is undefeated at 26-0 and has won 23 of her matches in straight sets
  • Reilly Tran is 15-0 and has only dropped 1 set all season
• Who will play at the bottom two spots in the singles lineup for UNC?
  • Makenna Jones is listed at 5 in the master lineups but she didn’t play against Cal in the last round
  • Fiona Crawley and Reilly Tran, who are listed at 6 and 7, have both been unstoppable all-season
• Duke’s Meible Chi has won her last 10, Georgia Drummy has won her last 8, and Chloe Beck has won 5 straight

Regular Season Meeting:

#1 North Carolina 6, #9 Duke 1
Mar 19, 2021 at Chapel Hill, N.C. (Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #4 Sara Daavettila (NC) def. #8 Kelly Chen (DU) 6-3, 5-2
2. #29 Chloe Beck (DU) def. #6 Cameron Morra (NC) 6-7 (4-7), 6-0, 1-0 (12-10)
3. #49 Makenna Jones (NC) def. #44 Margaryta Bilokin (DU) 6-1, 6-2
4. #120 Fiona Crawley (NC) def. #111 Meible Chi (DU) 6-4, 6-2
5. Anika Yarlagadda (NC) def. #95 Karolina Berankova (DU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Reilly Tran (NC) def. Hannah Zhao (DU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Sara Daavettila/Cameron Morra (NC) def. Meible Chi/Margaryta Bilokin (DU) 6-1
2. Elizabeth Scotty/Makenna Jones (NC) vs. Chloe Beck/Karolina Berankova (DU) 4-3, unfinished
3. Reilly Tran/Alle Sanford (NC) def. Kelly Chen/Hannah Zhao (DU) 6-2
Match Notes:
Duke 10-3, 5-2 ACC; National ranking #9
North Carolina 17-0, 7-0 ACC; National ranking #
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6,3,4,5)

Prediction: North Carolina blew Duke off the court in the regular season meeting however only two of the singles matches will be rematches. North Carolina is a massive favorite in this one and I’d say Duke’s only realistic path to a victory would be the doubles point and Drummy, Beck, and Chi at 2, 3, and 4 – North Carolina 4-1

You can follow all the matches with live scoring and streaming video is available on the TennisOne app and on The Tennis Channel.

Check back on Wednesday for my preview of the men’s quarterfinals which will take place on Thursday.

[3] Tennessee vs. [11] Georgia (11:00 am ET)

Road to the Quarterfinals
#3 Tennessee def. Alabama State 5-0 in R1; def. #38 Memphis 4-0 in R2; def. #18 Arizona 4-3 in R16
#11 Georgia def. East Tennessee State 4-0 in R1; def. #25 Texas Tech 4-0 in R2; def. #6 North Carolina 4-3 in R16

All-Time Series: Georgia 56-26
Most Recent Meeting: 2021 Regular Season: Tennessee 4-2 in Athens
NCAA H2H: Georgia 2-1 (2011 QF – UGA 4-3)

Match Notes:

• Tennessee is into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2013 – last time they went further was 2010 (final)
• Georgia is into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2017 (semis)
• Doubles edge to Tennessee: Vols have won the doubles point in 25 of 30 matches/Bulldogs in 15 of 23 matches
• Streaking Vols
  • Gilles Hussey has won 8 of his last 9 – the 1 loss came vs. Arizona on Monday
  • Johannus Monday has won 13 of his last 15
  • Martin Prata has won 5 straight
  • Adam Walton has won 3 straight and 5 of his last 6
  • Lucas Wiedenmann has won 3 straight and 6 of his last 7
• Dawgs on a Roll
  • Philip Henning has won 8 of his last 9
  • Blake Croyder has won 7 of his last 8 – the 1 loss came vs. UNC on Monday
  • Billy Rowe has won 6 of his last 8
  • Tyler Zink has won 6 of his last 8
  • Erik Grevelius has won 3 straight and 4 of his last 5
  • Trent Bryde has won 4 of his last 6
• Pat Harper is listed at No. 6 singles in Tennessee’s master lineup however Andrew Rogers started in that position in the first two rounds. Harper started against Arizona and lost in straights – fourth straight loss.

Regular Season Meeting

#3 Tennessee 4, #12 Georgia 2
2/19/2021 at Athens, Georgia. (Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. Trent Bryde (UGA) def. Adam Walton (UT), 6-4, 6-1
2. Johannus Monday (UT) def. Philip Henning (UGA), 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
3. Billy Rowe (UGA) vs Giles Hussey (UT), 4-6, 6-3, 2-1 (unfinished)
4. Martim Prata (UT) def. Erik Grevelius (UGA), 6-4, 6-4
5. Luca Wiedenmann (UT) def. Baptiste Anselmo (UGA), 6-1, 6-4
6. Britton Johnston (UGA) def. Andrew Rogers (UT), 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Adam Walton/Pat Harper (UT) def. Trent Bryde/Blake Croyder (UGA), 6-4
2. Billy Rowe/Philip Henning (UGA) vs. Johannes Monday/Martim Prata (UT), 6-6 (unfinished)
3. Giley Hussey/Mark Wallner (UT) def. Baptiste Anselmo/Erik Grevelius (UGA), 6-4
Match Notes:
Tennessee 12-1
Georgia 5-1
Order of finish: (Doubles: 1, 3); Singles (1,5,6,4,2)

Prediction: Both teams are coming off thrilling wins with Tennessee surviving against Arizona while Georgia upset North Carolina. This will be the second meeting of the season between these two with Tennessee winning the first 4-2 however Georgia was down two of its top four singles starters in that last match. The only rematches will come at 1 and 5 with Rowe and Hussey meeting last time at 3 while they’ll be meeting this time at 5. Tennessee has been dominant in doubles and will be hopeful they’ll have the early 1-0 lead and then the Vols will be looking to get wins at 2 and 4 plus one more. If Georgia drops the point the Bulldogs will be banking on a split at 1/2, a split at 3/4, and then trying to sweep the bottom two spots. These conference rival known each other well and it’s going to come down to who plays with more confidence – Georgia 4-3

[2] #1 Baylor vs. [7] TCU (2:00 pm ET)

Road to the Quarterfinals
#1 Baylor def. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 4-0 in R1; def. #37 Oregon 4-0 in R2; def. #14 Ole Miss 4-1 in R16
#7 TCU def. #43 Arkansas 4-0 in R1; def. #20 Arizona State 4-1 in R2; def. #35 Ohio State 4-1 in R16

All-Time Series: TCU 35-23
Most Recent Meeting: 2021 Big 12 Tournament – Baylor 4, TCU 3
NCAA H2H: TCU 2-1 (2003 R2 – Baylor 4-0)

Match Notes

• Baylor into the Quarterfinals for the second season in a row – last time to semifinals was in 2015
• TCU is into the Quarterfinals for the fourth time in the last six season – last time to semis was 2015
• Baylor streaks
  • Spencer Furman has won 12 straight matches (11 in straight sets) – split with Paroulek
  • Adrian Boitan has won 5 straight and 11 of his last 12 – def. Alastair Gray on 4/25
  • Charlie Broom has won 5 straight and 10 of his last 11 – def. Jirousek/split with Paroulek
  • Nick Stachowiak snapped a 3-match losing streak with a win vs. Ole Miss – 0-2 vs. TCU
  • Matias Soto has won 4 of his last 6 – lost to Fomba on 4/25
• TCU streaks
  • Jake Fearnley has won 6 of his last 7 matches – split matches with Sven Lah
  • Luc Fomba has won 3 straight and 6 of his last 7 – def. Matias Soto on 4/25
  • Alastair Gray has lost 3 of his last 5 – lost to Boitan on 4/25
  • Tomas Jirousek has won 4 of his last 5 – lost to Broom on 4/25; down 3-1 in 3rd to Stachowiak on 1/31
  • Sander Jong has won his last 3 completed matches – 3-0 vs. Baylor – def. Lah on 1/25
  • Tadeas Paroulek has won 3 straight and 4 of 5 – split matches with Broom; lost to Furman on 4/25
• Is Sander Jong going to play for TCU? He didn’t play against Ohio State due to illness. Jong hasn’t lost to anyone from Baylor this year.

Regular Season Meetings

Prediction: This will be the fourth meeting of the season between these Big 12 rivals with Baylor taking the last two while TCU won indoors back in January. I guess that status of Sander Jong won’t be known until match time but it kind of sounds like he won’t play in this one which means everyone from 4 down has to slide up a spot. Baylor is going to ride its bottom three spots in the singles lineup for as long as it can so for TCU to get a win they’ll either need doubles and a sweep of the top three or they’ll need to find a crack in the bottom three – Baylor 4-3

[4] Texas vs. [12] USC (5:30 pm ET)

Road to the Quarterfinals
#4 Texas def. Northern Arizona 4-0 in R1; def. #67 Northwestern 4-0 in R2; def. #13 South Carolina 4-3 in R16
#12 USC def. Grand Canyon 4-0 in R1; def. #28 Pepperdine 4-2 in R2; def. #5 Virginia 4-2 in R16

All-Time Series: USC 22-7
Most Recent Meeting: 2021 National Indoor Consolation – Texas 4-3
NCAA H2H: USC 7-0 (2014 QF – USC 4-1)

Match Notes

• Texas is into the Quarterfinals for the third time in four seasons
• USC is into the Quarterfinals for the 10th time in the last 14 seasons
• USC has never lost to Texas at the NCAA Tournament
• Texas streaks
  • Cleeve Harper has won 4 straight and 8 of his last 9 matches
  • Eliot Spizzirri has won 6 of his last 7
  • Sieb Woldeab has won 7 of his last 9
  • Evin McDonald has won 4 straight – def. Sands 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 on 2/13
  • Micah Braswell has won 3 of his last 4
  • Chih Chi Huang has split his last 4 – lost to Weststrate 6-0, 6-1 on 2/13
• USC streaks
  • Stefan Dostanic has won 9 straight matches
  • Daniel Cukierman has won 5 straight
  • Lodewijk Weststrate has won 5 straight – def. Huang 6-0, 6-1 on 2/13
  • Riley Smith has won 4 of his last 6
  • Bradley Frye has lost his last 2
  • Jake Sands has lost 2 of his last 3 – lost to McDonald 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 on 2/13

Regular Season Meeting

#5 Texas 4, #1 USC 3
Feb 13, 2021 at Champaign, Ill. (Atkins Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #1 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. #57 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-2, 6-2
2. #120 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #19 Riley Smith (USC) 7-6 (7-2), 6-3
3. #78 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #104 Stefan Dostanic (USC) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
4. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #79 Ryder Jackson (USC) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
5. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-0, 6-1
6. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Jake Sands (USC) 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #1 Daniel Cukierman/Riley Smith (USC) def. Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) 7-6 (7-2)
2. Stefan Dostanic/Bradley Frey (USC) def. Payton Holden/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-1
3. Micah Braswell/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Mor Bulis/Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) 6-2
Match Notes:
Texas 8-2; National ranking #5
USC 7-2; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,1,2,3,4,6)
ITA National Indoor Team Championships Consolation

Prediction: USC seems to be hitting its stride at the right time and after a solid win over Virginia I think confidence will be extra high for this rematch against Texas. The Horns won the earlier meeting in the backdraw at the National Indoors but this one will be outdoors which should suit the Trojans much better. Despite Texas being the higher seed I would consider USC as the favorite. I like USC in singles at 1, 3, and 5 (2 is a toss-up) plus I’ll take the Trojans in doubles – USC 4-2

[1] #2 Florida vs. [8] Texas A&M (NB 7:30 pm ET)

Road to the Quarterfinals
#2 Florida def. South Alabama 4-0 in R1; def. #31 South Florida 4-1 in R2; def. #17 Illinois 4-0 in R16
#8 Texas A&M def. New Mexico 4-1 in R1; def. #27 Oklahoma 4-1 in R2; def. #16 Mississippi State 4-0 in R16

All-Time Series: Texas A&M 13-7
Most Recent Meeting: 2021 SEC Tournament Semifinal – Florida 4-3
NCAA H2H: 1-0 Texas A&M (4-3 in 2018 QF)

Match Notes

• Florida has advanced to at least the Quarterfinals in 3 of the last 4 seasons – last semifinal was 2019
• Texas A&M is into the Quarterfinals for the second time in three season – last semifinal was 2018
• Streaking Gators
  • Blaise Bicknell is 21-0 in dual-match play – 2-0 vs. Schachter this season
  • Josh Goodger is 15-0 in dual-match play and has only dropped 3 sets – def. Perot 6-1, 6-2 on 4/22
  • Andy Andrade has won 3 straight – lost to Aguilar 6-4, 7-6 on 4/22
  • Sam Riffice has won 3 of his last 4 – def. Habib 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on 4/22
  • Ben Shelton has won 3 of his last 4 – def. Rollins on 4/22 and Marson on 2/28
  • Duarte Vale has won his last 2 after losing his previous 3 – lost to Vacherot 6-2, 6-4 on 4/22
• Streaking Ags
  • Valentin Vacherot has won his last 3 completed matches – def. Vale 6-2, 6-4 on 4/22
  • Hady Habib has won 3 straight and 4 of 5 – lost to Riffice 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on 4/22
  • Juan Carlos Aguilar – 5 of last 6 matches have gone unfinished (trailed in 3); def. Andrade on 4/22
  • Noah Schachter has won his last 2 – lost both meetings against Bicknell
  • Pierce Rollins has lost 2 of his last 3 – lost to Shelton on 4/22
  • Guido Marson has only started 3 matches in the last 45 days – won 2 and led against MSU last round
  • Raphael Perot has won 6 of his last 7 – lost to Goodger 6-1, 6-2 on 4/22

Regular Season Meetings

Prediction: This will be the third meeting of the season with Florida winning the previous two however the last meeting on April 22 was a 4-3 barnburner. Both are coming off dominating wins in the Round of 16 and while we know who is going to be in Florida’s lineup we’re not as sure for A&M. Pierce Rollins was pulled from the lineup against Mississippi State and if he plays he’ll be facing Ben Shelton who worked him over pretty good in the last meeting. If Rollins doesn’t play then Guido Marson would move up to 5 and Marson lost a competitive match to Shelton back in February. Raphael Perot could start at 6 but he lost a lopsided match to Goodger last time. Texas A&M’s best formula for a win is the doubles point and a sweep of the top three singles spots. They came close to doing it last time but I think Florida plays better up top and pulls through – Florida 4-2