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Thursday Recap: Texas Knocks Off #1 Ohio State; Mississippi State Wins Top 20 Match Over Alabama; Texas Tech Defeats UCF; LSU Wins Thriller Over ODU

by | Mar 15, 2019 | Blog

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After a rough few days in Austin there was reason to smile on Thursday night after the fourth-ranked Longhorns avenged their only loss of the year by knocking off top-ranked Ohio State 4-1. Coming into the match the Buckeyes were a perfect 17-0 in doubles but for the second match in a row they’d be without the service of their top player JJ Wolf who was in Canada playing an ATP Challenger event. A large crowd in the stands and a national television audience on the Longhorn Network saw the Longhorns take the early lead after winning the doubles point with a 6-3 win at No. 3 and a 7-6(4) win by Leo Telles and Colin Markes at No. 2. 

Each team would take three opening sets in singles with Texas winning both of the sets that went to a tiebreak. Yuya Ito put the Horns up 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 2 but James Trotter, who was playing in just his fourth dual-match of the season, put the Buckeyes on the board with a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 5 which snapped Colin Markes’s 14-match winning streak. 

Rodrigo Banzer made it 3-1 after a 7-6, 6-2 win at No. 6. Banzer came back from a 3-0 deficit in the opening set and after taking the tiebreak he sprinted out to a 4-1 lead.

The clinching point would come about 30 minutes later with Leo Telles coming back from a set down to defeat Martin Joyce 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3. 

The other matches were abandoned with Texas up a break on 1 and up a set on 4. Texas had a really good recap of the match so make sure you give it a read.  

“The doubles point was huge,” interim head coach Bruce Berque said. “I think Colin Markes and Leo Telles really stepped up under pressure, and Chih Chi Huang and Yuya Ito did a great job in their match, too. Yuya was an absolute stud tonight in doubles and singles getting the first win in doubles and first point in singles, so that was huge. What I really liked about the match is everyone fought on every court, and we had fantastic crowd support, and the guys did a great job of supporting each other.”

#4 Texas 4, #1 Ohio State 1
Mar 14, 2019 at Austin, Texas (Texas Tennis Center)
Singles Competition
1. #4 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) vs. #27 John McNally (OSU) 4-6, 7-5, 2-0, unfinished
2. #9 Yuya Ito (UT) def. #28 Kyle Seelig (OSU) 6-0, 6-3
3. Leonardo Telles (UT) def. #69 Martin Joyce (OSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. #49 Harrison Scott (UT) vs. #81 Alex Kobelt (OSU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-6, unfinished
5. James Trotter (OSU) def. Colin Markes (UT) 6-2, 7-5
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Hunter Tubert (OSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Doubles Competition
1. #24 Martin Joyce/Hunter Tubert (OSU) def. #13 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 7-5
2. Leonardo Telles/Colin Markes (UT) def. Alex Kobelt/James Trotter (OSU) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Yuya Ito/Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Kyle Seelig/John McNally (OSU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Ohio State 16-2; National ranking #1
Texas 16-1; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,5,6,3)

 

Mississippi State won its 22nd straight match at home after defeating No. 18 Alabama 4-1. The Bulldogs took the doubles point and added wins from Nuno Borges, Gio Oradini, and Niclas Braun while Alabama got its lone point from Jeremy Gschwendtner at No. 6.

“I thought the guys handled today’s weather situation very well,” MSU head coach Matt Roberts said. “They did a great job of coming out after some delays and played sharp in doubles in front of an awesome crowd, which they enjoyed playing in front of. Then, we got off to a strong start in singles, taking four first sets and making that next push. Today was one of those days where we had to be mentally tough and trust ourselves in these windy conditions, and I thought the guys did a great job with that today.”

#10 Mississippi State 4, #18 Alabama 1
March 14, 2019 A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
1. #7 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #17 Patrick Kaukovalta/Mazen Osama (UA) 6-3
2. #3 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Alexey Nesterov/Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-3
3. Trevor Foshey/Gregor Ramskogler (MSU) vs. Edson Ortiz/Riccardo Roberto (UA) 5-3 (susp.)
Order of finish: 2,1
Singles
1. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #36 Mazen Osama (UA) 6-2, 6-2
2. #102 Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Edson Ortiz (UA) 6-4, 6-4
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) vs. Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) 4-6, 6-6 (1-2) (susp.)
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Riccardo Roberto (UA) 6-4, 7-5
5. Trevor Foshey (MSU) vs. Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-3, 1-6, 3-2 (susp.)
6. Jeremy Gschwendtner (UA) def. Florian Broska (MSU) 6-0, 6-3
Order of finish: 1,6,2,4

 

 

#32 Texas Tech went on the road and earned a 4-2 win over #33 UCF. The Red Raiders won the doubles point and with the a 3-2 lead it’d be Franco Ribero that would clinch at No. 6 with a 6-4, 7-6(6) win. 

“Our guys competed hard tonight,” Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. “I think our success in doubles spring boarded us into singles play. Our three tiebreaker wins early on helped us in the long run. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys and how they handled adversity and finished strong during these last two matches on the road.”

#32 Texas Tech 4, #33 UCF 2
Mar 14, 2019 at Orlando, Fla (USTA National Campus)
Singles competition
1. #18 Gabriel Decamps (UCF) vs. Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 4-2, unfinished
2. #108 Parker Wynn (TTU) def. #122 Alan Rubio (UCF) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
3. Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) def. Bogdan Pavel (UCF) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
4. Trey Hilderbrand (UCF) def. Bjorn Thomson (TTU) 6-1, 6-3
5. Juan Pablo Mazzuchi (UCF) def. Artem Kapshuk (TTU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Franco Ribero (TTU) def. Manoel Alencar (UCF) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
Doubles competition
1. Trey Hilderbrand/Bogdan Pavel (UCF) vs. #6 Bjorn Thomson/Parker Wynn (TTU) 4-5, unfinished
2. Jackson Cobb/Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) def. Gabriel Decamps/Juan Pablo Mazzuchi (UCF) 6-4
3. Ilgiz Valiev/Matheus Leite (TTU) def. Alan Rubio/Mikhail Sokolovskiy (UCF) 6-3
Match Notes:
Texas Tech 10-6; National ranking #32
UCF 8-7; National ranking #33
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (4,5,3,2,6)
Weather: Windy
Official: Tammy Childs T-2:41 A-82

 

#38 LSU won a 4-3 thriller over #46 Old Dominion in a match that was decided in a third set tiebreaker at No. 3. ODU took the doubles point in a tiebreak at No. 1 and added singles wins at No. 1 and No. 3 but LSU got it done in straight sets at No. 2, No. 5, and No. 6 while Boris Kozlov clinched with a 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(1) win at No. 4.

LSU Co-Head Coach Chris Brandi on the Match
We are excited to win another match. It was a lot closer than we thought it had to be today. We are really proud of some of the young guys coming up big in the end there. Old Dominion competed extremely well today and showed why they are a good team, but our identity as a group right now is that we win these ugly matches. We need to do a better job in the future of coming out and taking care of business. We are really proud of the young guys today and need to keep getting better as we continue moving into conference play.

#38 LSU 4, #46 Old Dominion 3
Mar 14, 2019 at Baton Rouge, La. (LSU Tennis Complex)
Singles Competition
1. Aziz Kijametovic (ODU) def. #112 Shane Monroe (LSU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. Rafael Wagner (LSU) def. Francois Musitelli (ODU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
3. Jannik Giesse (ODU) def. Malik Bhatnagar (LSU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
4. Boris Kozlov (LSU) def. Luca Maldoner (ODU) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1)
5. Joey Thomas (LSU) def. Nicola Vidal (ODU) 7-5, 6-3
6. Nick Watson (LSU) def. Oliver Tobisch (ODU) 7-6 (10-8), 6-2
Doubles Competition
1. #30 Aziz Kijametovic/Francois Musitelli (ODU) def. #43 Rafael Wagner/Joey Thomas (LSU) 7-6 (7-2)
2. Jannik Giesse/Luca Maldoner (ODU) def. Daniel Moreno/Shane Monroe (LSU) 6-3
3. Boris Kozlov/Nick Watson (LSU) def. Nicola Vidal/Federico Rebecchini (ODU) 6-1
Match Notes:
Old Dominion 7-6; National ranking #46
LSU 13-4; National ranking #38
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,3,2,5,1,4)
Official: Ritchie Weaver

 

Other Men’s Scores:

  • #20 UCLA def. UCSB 5-2
  • #29 Arizona def. Liberty 6-1
  • #43 Ole Miss def. Auburn 4-3
  • #45 South Florida def. North Florida 5-2
  • Vanderbilt def. Arkansas 4-3

 

*All quotes are from the respective school’s recaps

**If there are two rankings listed the first ranking is the ITA ranking and the second is the USTA rankings