Tagged with: Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio State, TCU, Texas, UCLA, Virginia, Wake Forest

Saturday may have been a long day but it was mostly definitely a great one with one thrilling match after another. The day started off with the two-time defending NCAA Champs Virginia facing some resistance but ultimately pulling away from No. 10 Texas and winning 4-1. The match of the tournament was taking place on the McWhorter Courts as No. 3 Ohio State outlasted No. 6 TCU 4-3 in a match that lasted 3 hours and 30 minutes. The late afternoon session turned into the late night session after a five-hour rain delay interrupted play during singles. Play would resume at 11 p.m. ET and surprisingly almost 500 of the announced crowd of 2324 returned to see the hosts Georgia upset No. 5 UCLA 4-2. The final match to finish was an All-ACC affair on McWhorter that saw No. 9 North Carolina upset the top seed Wake Forest 4-2. 

 

Photo by Bill Kallenberg (CapturedInAction.com)

I’ll start off with the heavyweight battle between Ohio State and TCU that more than lived up to the advance billing. This was a match where I figured the doubles point would play a large role in determining the winner and when everything was all said and done that one point made the difference. Ohio State came into the match with a 31-4 record in doubles while TCU was 21-5 so we knew it was going to be close. 

TCU’s Cameron Norrie and Trevor Johnson broke for 2-1 at No. 3 after Norrie crushed a service return winner and then Johnson followed it with a hold for 3-1. Norrie and Johnson had four chances to close it out when JJ Wolf served at 3-5 (0/40) but the Buckeye freshman managed to come back and hold for 4-5. Norrie would quickly fall behind 0/30 on his next service game but he and Johnson won the next four points to close it out 6-4. 

Ohio State’s Hugo Di Feo and Martin Joyce jumped out to a 3-1 lead at No. 2 but then TCU got an Alex Rybakov hold and then he and Guillermo Nunez broke Joyce from 30/40 after Joyce double faulted on back-to-back points. Di Feo and Joyce broke back for 4-3, after Nunez double faulted at 15/40, and then Di Feo held from 40/30 to make it 5-3. After a Rybakov hold, Joyce would serve it out from 40/15 to give Ohio State a 6-4 win.  

Over at No. 1, Ohio State’s Herkko Pollanen and Mikael Torpegaard broke Reese Stalder to go up 3-1 and then Torpegaard consolidated the break with a hold for 4-1. After Jerry Lopez held for 2-4, he and Stalder would break Pollanen on the no-ad point for 3-4. After five consecutive holds, the match went to a tiebreak and TCU would take the early lead at 4-2. If you want to see a great doubles point click here to see a rapid fire volley exchange on the 1-1 point. Ohio State erased the mini-break when Pollanen hit a dipping forehand down the middle and then Torpegaard won both points on his serve to put Ohio State up 5-4. Lopez won both points on his serve to give TCU a match point at 6-5 but Ohio State fought it off when Torpegaard hit a volley winner after Pollanen served into Stalder’s body. Pollanen hit a second-serve service winner to give Ohio State a match point at 7-6 and then the Buckeyes closed it out on the next point when Stalder wasn’t able to keep Pollanen’s return in play. The rest of the Ohio State team came rushing like it was the dual-match clincher but in a way it was. 

Below are some highlights I shot during the doubles point with the tiebreak starting at the 7:25 mark (missed the first point):

 

 

Ohio State used the momentum from the doubles point and jumped on TCU in singles by going up early breaks on every court except No. 3. 

Ohio State senior Herkko Pollanen was the first off the court with a straight set win over Reese Stalder at No. 5. Pollanen jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the opening set but Stalder held, broke, and held to pull within 5-4. Pollanen served it out for 6-4 and then in the second set he got a no-ad break to go up 2-1. Pollanen would maintain the break lead the rest of the way and would eventually serve it out to win 6-4, 6-4. 

TCU would get on the board 15 minutes later as sophomore Alex Rybakov closed out Thursday’s hero, JJ Wolf, in straight sets at No. 2. Wolf broke Rybakov from 15/40 to start the match and then held for 2-0. Rybakov took the next three to go up 3-2 and he’d break Wolf from 30/40 to take the first set 6-4. The second set started off with four straight holds until Wolf broke Rybakov from 30/40 to go up 3-2. Rybakov broke back in the next game from 30/40 and then he held for 4-3. Wolf held on the no-ad point for 4-4 but Rybakov would hold for 5-4 and then break Wolf from 15/40 to close it out 6-4, 6-4.

TCU senior Jerry Lopez would tie the match at 2-2 with a three set win over Martin Joyce at No. 4. Joyce started off the match by breaking Lopez on the no-ad point, via a double fault, and then holding for 2-0. Lopez won the next three to go up 3-2 (just like Rybakov) and then he broke for 4-2 after Joyce let a 40/15 lead slip away. Lopez would take the set 6-3 but Joyce bounced back in the second set and after going up 4-1 he’d also take it 6-3. Lopez struck first in the third set by breaking for 3-1 and he’d add one more break, on a no-ad point, to close out Joyce 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Ohio State freshman Kyle Seelig put the Buckeyes back in front after he came from behind to defeat Trevor Johnson in three sets at No. 6. Seelig jumped out to a 2-0 lead to start the match but Johnson broke for 3-3 and then he’d break again for 5-3, on a no-ad point, before closing out the set, on a no-ad point, for 6-3. The second set stayed on serve until Seelig broke Johnson’s 5-6 service game to take the set 7-5. Seelig sprinted out to a 3-0 lead in the third set but Johnson held, broke, and held for 3-3. Johnson went up 15/40 on Seelig’s 3-3 service game but Seelig came back to hold and then he’d break Johnson from 30/40 to go up 5-3. Seelig would serve it out at love for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win.

Ohio State had the overall lead but TCU was getting close to wins on both of the remaining courts.

The matchup at No. 1 singles featured the top two players in the country and as expected it also went three sets. Ohio State junior Mikael Torpegaard (ITA #2) broke TCU junior Cameron Norrie (ITA #1) on the no-ad point to start the match and then he held for 2-0. Norrie held for 1-2 and then he broke Torpegaard, via a double fault, for 2-2. Norrie would break Torpegaard again, this time from 15/40, to go up 5-3 but Torpegaard broke back from 15/40 and then held on the no-ad point for 5-5. Torpegaard broke on the no-ad point for 6-5 and then served out the set to take it 7-5. The second set only saw one break and it came at a good time for Norrie because his break from 15/40 gave him the second set 6-4. Norrie dominated the third set against a seemingly worn out Torpegaard but after going up 5-1 it took him a couple of games to finally close it out 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. 

The match was tied at 3-3 but TCU junior Guillermo Nunez was just a few games away from the clinch with 4-2 lead in the third set against Ohio State senior Hugo Di Feo. Di Feo held from 40/30 to pull within 3-4 and then after Nunez went up 40/30 he’d watch Di Feo take the next two to break for 4-4. Nunez looked like he’d get the break right back because he quickly went up 0/40 but Di Feo fought off all four break points to hold for 5-4. After failing to get the break you had a feeling that Nunez was going to be in trouble and sure enough he found himself in a 15/40 hole. Nunez fought off the first match point but on the 30/40 point he’d watch as his forehand hit the net cord and kicked wide and Ohio State stormed the court to celebrate a thrilling 4-3 win.  

 

 

Below is over 20 minutes of footage that I shot with the majority of the points coming in the matches at 1, 2, and 3. The last few games of the Di Feo/Nunez match start at the 18:40 mark with Nunez serving 4-3 (40/30)

 

 

 

#3 OHIO STATE (32-3) 4, #6 TCU (22-5) 3
Head Coaches: David Roditi (TCU) and Ty Tucker (Ohio State)
Doubles Results
1. Herkko Pollanen/Mikael Torpegaard (OHIO STATE) def. #25 Jerry Lopez/ Reese Stalder (TCU), 7-6 (6)
2. #30 Hugo Di Feo/Martin Joyce(OHIO STATE) def. #57 Alex Rybakov/Guillermo Nuñez (TCU), 6-4
3. Cameron Norrie/ Trevor Johnson (TCU) def. Hunter Tubert/ JJ Wolf (OHIO STATE), 6-4
Singles Results
1. #1 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #2 Mikael Torpegaard (OHIO STATE), 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
2. #20 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #46 JJ Wolf (OHIO STATE), 6-4, 6-4
3. #9 Hugo Di Feo (OHIO STATE) def. #83 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. #114 Jerry Lopez (TCU) def. Martin Joyce (OHIO STATE), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
5. Herkko Pollanen (OHIO STATE) def. Reese Stalder (TCU), 6-4, 6-4
6. Kyle Seelig (OHIO STATE) def. Trevor Johnson (TCU), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Doubles (3,2,1) Singles (5,2,4,6,1,3)

Post-Match Interviews with Ty Tucker and Hugo Di Feo at this LINK

OHIO STATE HEAD COACH TY TUCKER
On today’s match…“It’s hard to grab momentum and keep momentum long. TCU got momentum early in singles and then we got it back and then they got it back and then we ended up with it down the stretch. It’s hard to establish anything for too long. If you’re not very very good in the beginning of the game getting 15-love leads, 30-love leads, then you’re going to be in trouble late in the game. Anything can happen.”

HUGO Di FEO
On today’s match…“That was huge. I wasn’t playing for myself, I was playing for the university and the guys. It’s so much work. And coming here, it’s a lot hotter than Ohio. We got used to it and the guys battled. I’m really happy for the guys and believe we can go through it.”

 

 

TCU HEAD COACH DAVID RODITI
On today’s match…“We did everything we could. You can sit here and analyze every single point, every single match, especially the ones you lose. You know, some are gonna go your way, some are gonna go against you. Today, credit to them. They’re the ones that fought back from sets down. They’re the ones that kept their focus when it mattered. They’re the ones that, you know, with Hugo Di Feo, he’s probably been paying the price all year long. Di Feo has been taking care of business and in moments like that, it helps. So credit to the coaches for getting those guys ready to battle like that, and credit to the guys that came through today. The doubles point was really close. We had our chances in the doubles, and that could have made a huge difference. But, I’m proud. I’m proud of our season. I’m proud of our guys. I’m proud of our school. I’m proud of what we overcame this year. This season could have easily been a huge disappointment with everything that we had to go through, and for us to be playing one point away or two points away from being in the Final Four says a lot about our guys, says a lot about our support staff, our doctors, our fitness, our trainers, our coaches, that we just hung in there and kept getting better. We gave ourselves a chance to be in the Final Four in Athens, Georgia, which is what everybody wants. I’m proud of the fight.”

 

 Photo by Bill Kallenberg (CapturedInAction.com)

 

 

The biggest upset of the day, in terms of seeding, came in the last match to finish as No. 9 North Carolina avenged a regular season loss and moved into the semifinals for the first time in school history with a 4-2 win over the top seed Wake Forest.  In the regular season meeting Wake won the doubles point but on Saturday afternoon North Carolina picked up the all-important point with a 6-4 win at No. 2 and a 6-2 win at No. 3. 

Each team took three first sets in singles but Wake’s were a little harder to come with Chrysochos, Mansouri, and Seraphim each taking a set either 7-5 or 7-6 while North Carolina got a couple of 6-2 sets down low. 

In the regular season meeting, Wake’s Dennis Uspensky beat UNC’s Jack Murray 6-2, 6-1 but on Saturday it was Murray doing the dominating after he destroyed Uspensky 6-2, 6-0 in just under 50 minutes. 

Less than 10 minutes later (6:05 p.m. ET), just after the last couple of first sets wrapped up, play would be stopped due to a few sprinkles and then after resuming for less than a minute it’d be stopped again due to a nearby lightning strike. During the 30-minute lightning delay the skies opened and it started pouring so everyone went indoors assuming that’s where the match would continue.

Since this is an outdoor tournament the NCAA wanted to do everything possible to have it resume outdoors so they decided to wait until 9 p.m. ET to make a decision since the radar was showing a window of no storms from roughly 9 p.m. ET to past midnight. Sure enough the rain had stopped shortly after 9 so they began drying the courts and the team came back out to start warmups at 10:30 p.m. ET and play officially resumed at 11 p.m. ET.

The first two matches to finish after the delay would both go Wake’s way with sophomore Petros Chrysochos and junior Skander Mansouri picking up straight set wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Chrysochos led Ronnie Schneider 7-6, 1-1 when play was stopped and after it resumed he won five of the next six games to take it 7-6, 6-2. Mansouri led Robert Kelly 7-5, 1-0* before the delay but Kelly would take three of the next four games to go up a break at 3-2. Mansouri broke back for 3-3 and he’d add one more break to win 7-5, 6-4. 

North Carolina would go back in front after William Blumberg defeated Borna Gojo in straight sets at No. 2. Blumberg broke Gojo for 6-5 in the first and then served out the set to take it 7-5. Gojo was up 3-0 when play was stopped but Blumberg came out of the delay ready to go and took five of the next six games to go up 5-4. Blumberg had a pair of match points while serving it for but he was overruled on the first and then lost the second to make it 5-5. Blumberg broke back on the no-ad point for 6-5 but Gojo broke as well to send it to a tiebreak. Blumberg went up 5-3 but Gojo took the next three and led 6-5 plus he was serving. Gojo double faulted the set point away and then a Blumberg forehand winner gave the Tar Heel freshman a match point up 7-6. Blumberg used his forehand one more time to force a Gojo error to close it out 7-5, 7-6. 

Less than three minutes later the upset would be complete because North Carolina sophomore Bo Boyden would break Alan Gadjiev on the no-ad point to to win it 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. 

 

 

#9 NORTH CAROLINA (28-4) 4, #1 WAKE FOREST (30-3) 2
Head Coaches: Tony Bresky (Wake Forest) and Sam Paul (North Carolina)
Doubles Results
1. #4 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WAKE FOREST) def. #12 William Blumberg/ Robert Kelly (NORTH CAROLINA), 7-5
2.#82 Jack Murray/Simon Soendergaard (NORTH CAROLINA) def. Borna Gojo/ Alan Gadjiev (WAKE FOREST), 6-4
3.Anu Kodali/ Ronnie Schneider (NORTH CAROLINA) def. Petros Chrysochos/Dennis Uspensky (WAKE FOREST), 6-2
Singles Results
1. #5 Petros Chrysochos (WAKE FOREST) def. #22 Ronnie Schneider (NORTH CAROLINA). 7-6 (3), 6-2
2. #16 William Blumberg (NORTH CAROLINA) def. #45 Borna Gojo (WAKE FOREST), 7-5, 7-6 (6)
3. #13 Skander Mansouri (WAKE FOREST) def. #116 Robert Kelly (NORTH CAROLINA), 7-5, 6-4
4. #84 Christian Seraphim (WAKE FOREST) vs. Simon Soendergaard (NORTH CAROLINA), 7-6 (3), 4-6, 3-2
5. Jack Murray (NORTH CAROLINA) def. Dennis Uspensky (WAKE FOREST), 6-2, 6-0
6. Bo Boyden (NORTH CAROLINA) def. Alan Gadjiev (WAKE FOREST), 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
Doubles (2,3,1) Singles (5,1,3,2,6)

NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH SAM PAUL
On today’s match…“First of all, congratulations to Wake Forest. They had a great year and have a great team. I’m just so proud of my team. They have been focused and ready to go. One of our mottos is “Expect Adversity” and with the five-hour rain delay, they just rolled with it. It is a pretty loose locker room so I felt pretty good about us coming back out.”

 

 

BO BOYDEN
On clinching today’s match…“It is a dream come true, honestly. Last night, Tripp Phillips (Associate Head Coach) really sat me down and told me, ‘yesterday, you weren’t the hero, but tomorrow you can bounce back.’ That is the great thing about our team. We have a bunch of guys that compete and today was the day that I stepped up and sent the team to the semifinals. We had a good mindset going into the rain delay. We didn’t complain much about it. We had a little bit of a momentum, but we showered, ate and went over some game plans to get ready to go once the first ball struck.”

WAKE FOREST HEAD COACH TONY BRESKY
On today’s match…“You take a lot of pain, that’s the biggest thing. You fight as hard as you can and you leave it all out there and you come up short. I think you obviously have to give a ton of credit to North Carolina. They played a great match, fought super hard and just outplayed us. Not disappointed with our guys effort or their fight or their heart.”

 

Photo by Bill Kallenberg (CapturedInAction.com)

 

In the other late match that was effected by the rain delay it was No. 12 Georgia overcoming the loss of the doubles point, for the second match in a row, to defeat No. 5 UCLA 4-2. 

Georgia’s top ranked doubles team of Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski were the first to finish with a 6-3 win at No. 1. Loeb and Zielinski broke Evan Zhu on the no-ad point, via a return winner by Zielinski, and then Loeb served out the win. 

UCLA’s Austin Rapp and Joseph Di Giulio went down a break to start their match at No. 2 but they broke back in the next game and then broke Emil Reinberg at love to go up 5-3 and Rapp would serve it out for a 6-3 win. 

UCLA’s Max Cressy and Ben Goldberg and would clinch the doubles point just seconds later with a win at No. 3. Cressy and Goldberg broke Wayne Montgomery on the no-ad point for 2-1, when Cressy tattoed a service return at Walker Duncan at the net, and the Bruins duo were never threatened on their serve as Cressy would serve it out from 40/15 for the win.

Each team claimed three openings sets in singles but UCLA thought it was going to get four when Joseph Di Giulio served 5-3 (40/15) on 6. However Georgia freshman Robert Loeb would get the break and ultimately pull out the set in a tiebreak. 

The crowd at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex was starting to get loud as Georgia’s Walker Duncan had match points at No. 5 while Wayne Montgomery was two points away from the win at No. 2. Duncan tried to close it out on the 40/30 point but UCLA’s Austin Rapp did a great job tracking two balls down and before the next point could be played play was halted due to rain. 

When play resumed almost 5 hours later there was close to 500 people in the stands and while Duncan wasn’t able to win his first point back on court, which resulted in a Rapp break, Montgomery was able to close out Evan Zhu at No. 2 to tie the match at 1-1. With a lively crowd down in The Pit (4, 5, 6), Duncan came back in the tiebreak and won it 7-2 to put Georgia in front 2-1.

UCLA’s Martin Redlicki was up 1-0* (15/30) in the third when play resumed and a quick start put him up 3-0 and he’d cruise through the final set to win 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. 

Georgia’s Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb were really feeding off the crowd’s energy at 4 and 6 and both of those matches would go Georgia’s way fairly quickly. 

Loeb got broke by Di Giulio in the first game after play resumed but then the Georgia freshman would win the next four to close it out 7-6, 6-2. 

Zielinski broke Cressy to start the third set and then added another break to make it 3-0. When Zielinski was serving 4-1 (30/30) a crowd harassment point penalty had him facing two break points but he fought them both off to hold for 5-1. Cressy held for 2-5 but then Zielinski served it out 40/15 to send Georgia back to the semifinals for the second year in a row. 

 

 

 

#12 GEORGIA (22-7) 4, #5 UCLA (22-6) 2
Head Coaches: Billy Martin (UCLA) and Manuel Diaz (Georgia)
Doubles Results
1. #1 Jan Zielinski/Robert Loeb (GEORGIA) def. #3 Martin Redlicki/ Evan Zhu (UCLA), 6-3
2. Austin Rapp/Joseph DiGiulio (UCLA) def. Emil Reinberg/ Nathan Ponwith (GEORGIA), 6-3
3. Maxime Cressy/ Ben Goldberg (UCLA) def. Wayne Montgomery/ Walker Duncan (GEORGIA), 6-4
Singles Results
1. #60 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #56 Nathan Ponwith (GEORGIA), 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
2. #33 Wayne Montgomery (GEORGIA) def. Evan Zhu (UCLA), 6-3, 6-4
3. Logan Staggs (UCLA) vs. #59 Emil Reinberg (GEORGIA), 7-6 (3), 5-6
4. Jan Zielinski (GEORGIA) def. Maxime Cressy (UCLA), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Walker Duncan (GEORGIA) def. Austin Rapp (UCLA), 6-3, 7-6 (2)
6. Robert Loeb (GEORGIA) def. Joseph DiGiulio (UCLA), 7-6 (4), 6-2
Doubles (1,2,3) Singles (2,5,1,6,4)

 

 

GEOGRIA HEAD COACH MANUEL DIAZ
On today’s match…“Mighty proud of this bunch, they fought their hearts out and beat a very good team. We didn’t play our very best at number two and three doubles and that got us in trouble, but they came out and really asserted themselves. Our number one team played well today, we just have to pick it up a little bit in doubles. The way we are competing in singles, we’re playing really hard, that gives us a chance. I am very proud of the way these guys believed in themselves and went out there and executed their game plans.”

WALKER DUNCAN
On today’s match…“It was a really tough match out there, Austin Rapp was serving very well and he was putting a lot of pressure on me. We had a lot of quick points and I did what I could to neutralize him. I served the match at 4-5 and couldn’t really feel my legs, I was really tired, unfortunately, but I got broken and broke back for overall. When I saw the storm I didn’t really think much of it at the time, I was just focused on the match but I served at 6-5 and then I had a match point at 40-30 and I thought I had it but then he came in with a really good shot that was just too good. Having the delay got us all really red up and I think the rain delay kind of helped us get our mind set and get our game plans going.”

 

 

UCLA HEAD COACH BILLY MARTIN
On today’s match…“Great college match. I thought we played very well. Doubles went our way and we started really well on singles. I absolutely think the turning point was not winning that first set at No. 6 singles, 5-3, 40-15 up, it really changed the momentum in the match. I think we would’ve gotten four first sets, instead we got three. Logan pulled out the third one, but I thought that was a big momentum change in the match. It gave Georgia a lot more hope to be in the match and to feel like they could win it. Most of these college matches are a little bit of a roller coaster ride. I am still proud of my guys. We were without our captain and number one player for the year and to be where we got is still a good testimony to especially how hard these guys have worked all year. We could pretty much count on them for points in singles. It was still a great year for the Bruins in my opinion.”

MARTIN REDLICKI
On today’s match…“I think today I came out and was making a lot more first serves which was crucial for me in getting that first set and then rolling into the third. I had a little bit of a lapse in the second but was able to pick it up. Against A&M in the Round of 16, my first serve was struggling a little bit and I had a few double faults on key deuce points. I just didn’t take the opportunities that I had and today I felt like I did a better job of serving and taking advantage of the opportunities I had.”

 

 

Second seed Virginia advanced to the semifinals for the eighth year in a row with a 4-1 win over No. 10 Texas.  Virginia took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and both Carl Soderlund and Collin Altamirano picked up quick wins at No. 3 and No. 4 to make it 3-0. Texas got on the board with a Christian Sigsgaard win at No. 1 but UVA senior JC Aragone clinched the match 6-2, 7-6 win at No. 5

 

 

#2 VIRGINIA (32-1) 4, #11 TEXAS (22-9) 1
Head Coaches: Brian Boland (Virginia) and Michael Center (Texas)
Doubles Results
1. #76 George Goldhoff/Leonardo Telles(TEXAS) def. #17 Luca Corinteli/Carl Söderlund (VIRGINIA), 6-2
2.Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Alexander Ritschard (VIRGINIA) def. Colin Markes/Christian Sigsgaard (TEXAS), 6-4
3. Collin Altamirano/J.C. Aragone (VIRGINIA) def. Yuya Ito/ Harrison Scott (TEXAS), 6-2
Singles Results
1. #25 Christian Sigsgaard (TEXAS) def. #91 Alexander Ritschard (VIRGINIA), 7-5, 6-3
2. #14 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VIRGINIA) vs. #36 Harrison Scott (TEXAS), 5-7, 6-3, 3-0, uf
3. Carl Söderlund (VIRGINIA) def. #55 Yuya Ito (TEXAS), 6-2, 6-1
4. #40 Collin Altamirano (VIRGINIA) def. George Goldhoff (TEXAS), 6-1, 6-0
5. #109 J.C. Aragone (VIRGINIA) def. Leonardo Telles (TEXAS), 6-2, 7-6 (3)
6. #102 Henrik Wiersholm (VIRGINIA) vs. Rodrigo Banzer (TEXAS), 7-6 (6), 2-3, uf
Doubles (3,1,2) Singles (4,3,1,5)

VIRGINIA HEAD COACH BRIAN BOLAND
On advancing to the quarterfinals…“It’s hot and humid out here today, but I thought the guys came out and handled the conditions well. We have been working on our fitness all year and the guys are playing really composed for the most part. We just need to keep preparing for the next match and getting ready for whoever we play next. Carl So?derlund is playing some great tennis and really having fun. He has worked so hard and he deserves it. I’m pleased with where the team is overall and I think we came out and played with a lot of energy again today, especially in doubles. Credit to Texas on a great season and I thought they also played a great match today as well.”

 

 

J.C. ARAGONE
On clinching today’s match…“It’s always great to clinch, but I have been here for four years so I really have nothing to lose out there. I am just doing everything I can and if it goes my way that is great and lately it has been so hopefully we can keep that going. He (Leonardo Telles) played a really good game at 1-0 and then I had a lot of chances. I lost about 3 deuce games, so I was right in there. When I got that break, I felt a momentum change. I was really con dent the whole way through, especially in that breaker.”

TEXAS HEAD COACH MICHAEL CENTER
On today’s match…“I am proud of the team, obviously we had a real battle to get out of the second round against Tulane and we played a really good match against Baylor. I didn’t think that we played a bad match today, but we knew that we needed to make every match as competitive as we could and they just played really well in a couple of spots. We were fighting and hanging in there but they are awfully good. I have to give Virginia credit because they were just too good today.”