Tagged with: Baylor, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Oklahoma Sooners, Stanford, Texas A&M, USC

It may have been wet on the east side of the San Francisco Bay (UCLA/Cal rained out) but on the south side it stayed dry long enough for Stanford to upset No. 5 USC 4-1. Stanford came into the match having lost its last four to USC and after dropping the doubles point it may have thought No. 5 wasn’t too far off. Stanford refocused in singles and took all six first sets and then one-by-one it managed to close them out in straight sets. Sameer Kumar tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 and then David Wilczynski made it 2-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 3. Tom Fawcett put the Cardinal within a point of the clinch after winning 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 and then senior Brandon Sutter closed it out with a 7-6, 6-1 win at No. 5.

 

No. 19 Stanford 4, No. 5 USC 1
April 7, 2017 at Palo Alto, Calif (Taube Family Tennis Stadium)
Doubles results
1) Fawcett/Yale Goldberg (STAN) d. No. 11 Holt/R. Smith (USC) 6-4
2) Crystal/Laurens Verboven (USC) d. No. 69 Genender/Kumar (STAN) 7-5
3) Bellamy/Jaede (USC) d. Sutter/Wilczynski (STAN) 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles results
1) No. 17 Tom Fawcett (STAN) d. No. 19 Brandon Holt (USC) 6-4, 6-2
2) Sameer Kumar (STAN) d. No. 109 Nick Crystal (USC) 6-4, 6-2
3) David Wilczynski (STAN) d. No. 65 Logan Smith (USC) 6-1, 6-4
4) No. 110 Michael Genender (STAN) led Jack Jaede (USC) 7-6 (4), 3-3, susp.
5) Brandon Sutter (STAN) d. Thibault Forget (USC) 7-6 (5), 6-1
6) Riley Smith (USC) led William Genesen (STAN) 1-6, 6-4, 2-1, susp.
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 5

 

 

Post-Match Quotes from Stanford’s recap
“I am incredibly happy for the team with this win over a quality opponent,” stated Paul Goldstein, the Taube Family Director of Men’s Tennis. “Everyone on the team has been playing great tennis and today they came out and executed our game plan. We lost the doubles point, which has been a strength of ours, but they didn’t bat an eye and came out to win all six first sets in singles.”

“This win is wonderful for the team, our fans and the program,” continued Goldstein, “but we aren’t content with it. We want more and we know we can be better than we were today and will continue our progress towards that goal.”

 

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Both Texas A&M and Georgia entered the day with a perfect 9-0 mark in the SEC but by the end of the day only one would remain undefeated. Texas A&M traveled to Starkville to not only face a good Mississippi State team but also a huge crowd that was on campus for the start of the Super Bulldog Weekend. Mississippi State struck first by taking the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and then State tacked on four first sets in singles. 

Texas A&M freshman Hady Habib tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 5 but Mississippi State regained the lead after sophomore Trevor Foshey won 6-0, 7-5 at No. 6. Seconds later it’d be 3-1 after MSU sophomore Strahinja Rakic won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 and then a few seconds after that it’d be over because MSU sophomore Nuno Borges served it out to win 6-2, 7-5 at No. 1. 

 

 

They played the remaining matches out with Texas A&M’s Jordi Arconada and Valentin Vacherot each winning in three sets. 

#18 Mississippi State 4, #7 Texas A&M 3
Apr 07, 2017 at Starkville, MS (AJ Pitts Tennis Centre)
Singles competition
1. #4 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. #8 Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 6-2, 7-5
2. #58 Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. Mate Cutura (MSU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0
3. #122 Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. #123 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. Niclas Braun (MSU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-6)
5. Hady Habib (TAMU) def. Giovanni Oradini (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Aleksandre Bakshi (TAMU) 6-0, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #21 Niclas Braun/Trevor Foshey (MSU) vs. #77 AJ Catanzariti/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 6-6, unfinished
2. Mate Cutura/Vaughn Hunter (MSU) def. Jordi Arconada/Hady Habib (TAMU) 7-5
3. Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Aleksandre Bakshi/Max Lunkin (TAMU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Texas A&M 16-5, 9-1; National ranking #7
Mississippi State 16-5, 7-2; National ranking #18
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2); Singles (5, 6, 3, 1, 2, 4)
T-3:10

Post-Match Quotes from MSU’s recap
“What a great effort by our guys today,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “Our team did an amazing job of feeding off the fans and using that energy to their advantage. Texas A&M is a great team and they were on a roll heading into today, so this is a huge win for us.”

“I’m so proud with how our seniors played today,” Roberts said. “They want to finish out strong and they’ve done that in doubles here lately with some great wins.”

“All three of those wins were similar in the way they played out,” Roberts said. “All three guys had to overcome some adversity in the second set and all three guys played up to the crowd well. Our team has had to learn how to do that this season and I think you can finally see it in their games with how much fun they have out there.”

Post-Match Quote from Texas A&M’s recap
“The doubles point is always important and especially on the road,” Texas A&M men’s tennis head coach Steve Denton said. “We got behind early on a couple of courts and I thought Mississippi State fed off that energy from their fast start and were able to stay on top of us. They continued to keep the pressure on us early in singles and while I was happy how our guys fought back, we waited a little too late to mount a comeback. We just have to learn from this one and move on to Sunday as we prepare for another tough match against Auburn.”

 

 

A season-high crowd of 2481 saw Georgia push its conference record to 10-0 after the Bulldogs defeated Florida 6-1. Georgia rolled through the doubles point and then won in straight sets one every court except No. 1. Florida sophomore McClain Kessler played in his first match since getting injured at the National Team Indoors back in February. 

 

#13 Georgia 6, #14 Florida 1
April 7, 2017 at Athens, Ga. (Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
Singles Results
1. #11 Alfredo Perez (UF) def. #64 Nathan Ponwith (UGA) 7-6 (6), 7-5
2. #25 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. #73 Elliott Orkin (UF) 6-4, 6-4
3. #68 Emil Reinberg (UGA) def. Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) 6-4, 7-5
4. Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 6-4, 7-5
5. Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Maxx Lipman (UF) 6-3, 7-5
6. Robert Loeb (UGA) def. #124 McClain Kessler (UF) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles Results
1. #3 Jan Zielinski/Robert Loeb (UGA) vs. #4 Alfredo Perez/Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 5-3, unfinished
2. #53 Nathan Ponwith/Emil Reinberg (UGA) def. Maxx Lipman/Elliott Orkin (UF) 6-3
3. Walker Duncan/Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. Joshua Wardell/Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) 6-3
Match Notes:
Florida 13-8, 6-3 SEC; National ranking #14
Georgia 14-6, 10-0 SEC; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,2,5,4,3,1)
Official: Clark Weaver
Attendance 2,481

Post-Match Quote from Georgia’s recap
“This team just keeps getting better each time out,” head coach Manuel Diaz said. “It was a complete match, and I thought all three of our doubles teams played to their potential. It was then important for us to get off to a good start in singles, and we were again able to do that. Our guys continue to work hard and I am so proud of how far we have come.”

 

 

It front of an amped up crowd in Waco, No. 3 Baylor held off a late charge by No. 16 Oklahoma and came away with a 4-3 win. Baylor rolled through the doubles point picking up lopsided wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and then the Bears took first sets in singles. Baylor’s Johannes Schretter and Will Little won in straight sets at No. 3 and No. 4 while Alex Ghilea cruised to win for OU at No. 2. OU’s Spencer Papa made it 3-2 after winning 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 at No. 1 and then Adrian Oetzbach tied the match after a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 6. 

The match would be decided in a third set between Baylor’s Jimmy Bendeck and Oklahoma’s Arnaud Restifo. Restifo would have a break lead on three different occasions (1-0, 2-1, 5-4) but each time Bendeck would break back in the next game. The crowd was really vocal and on a few occasions they were even yelling out during Restifo’s toss, which I thought was a no-no, but there were no warnings due to the Big 12 rule which states that anything can be said at any time by the fans (not players) so play continued. Bendeck broke from 30/40 to tie it at 5-5 and then he held for 6-5. Bendeck would break from 15/40 with a nice lob to close it out 7-6, 5-7, 7-5.  

 

 

 

#3 Baylor 4, #16 Oklahoma 3
Apr 07, 2017 at Waco, Texas (Hurd Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #20 Spencer Papa (OU) def. #10 Juan Benitez (BU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-3
2. #52 Alex Ghilea (OU) def. #41 Max Tchoutakian (BU) 6-1, 6-2
3. #74 Johannes Schretter (BU) def. #82 Florin Bragusi (OU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Will Little (BU) def. Jochen Bertsch (OU) 6-2, 6-2
5. #120 Jimmy Bendeck (BU) def. Arnaud Restifo (OU) 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 7-5
6. Adrian Oetzbach (OU) def. Constantin Frantzen (BU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #29 Juan Benitez/Will Little (BU) vs. Jochen Bertsch/Spencer Papa (OU) 4-4, unfinished
2. Johannes Schretter/Jimmy Bendeck (BU) def. #61 Alex Ghilea/Florin Bragusi (OU) 6-2
3. Max Tchoutakian/Constantin Frantzen (BU) def. Adrian Oetzbach/Arnaud Restifo (OU) 6-1
Match Notes
Oklahoma 12-9, 0-3; National ranking #16
Baylor 20-3, 1-0; National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (3,2,4,1,6,5)

Post-Match Quotes from Baylor’s recap

TOP QUOTE #1
“At the end I figured out what I wanted to do. He adjusted his game in the second set, which helped him out. Coach Knoll and Mike figured out strategies that would work and I stuck to the strategy. Point by point, I realized I would score more than him.” – Jimmy Bendeck on how he won the match

TOP QUOTE #2
“Being in that tough position is my favorite thing in the world. That’s why I play tennis. I love big crowds, I love competing, I dream of those moments.” – Bendeck on playing the clinching match

TOP QUOTE #3
“It was a great atmosphere, that’s the whole idea. We want it to be like a basketball game or a football game and allow people to come and have fun and I thought it was great. The rule has evolved to figure it out and we did it the way the rule’s evolved. The fans had fun and I thought it was great,” – head coach Matt Knoll on the atmosphere at the match

TOP QUOTE #4
“Jimmy played with a lot of courage. There were many chances for him to put it away. He didn’t play his best tennis and he played a guy who was playing really well in spurts and he found a way.” – Knoll on Jimmy Bendeck

 

Other Friday Results

• #2 Ohio State def. Indiana 7-0 – OSU won 12 of 13 sets in singles
• #4 Virginia def. Virginia Tech 7-0 – UVA won 12 of 13 sets in singles
• #8 Oklahoma State won at #42 Texas Tech 4-1 – OSU won a close doubles point and picked up straight set wins at 4, 5, and 6. 
• #11 North Carolina won at Clemson 7-0 – UNC won 12 of 13 sets in singles
• #15 Michigan def. #32 Minnesota 5-2 – Michigan took the doubles point and won in straight sets at 1, 2, 3, and 4
• #17 Georgia Tech def. #43 Duke 4-3 – GT’s Andrew Li won the decider 6-3 in the third at #2
• #20 South Carolina won at Tennessee 4-3 – SC’s Andrew Schafer made it 4-2 after winning 7-6(4) in the third at #3
• #21 Northwestern def. Nebraska 7-0 – Nwestern won 12 of 13 sets in singles – Sam Shropshire played for the first time since March 3rd. 
• #22 Columbia def. Penn 4-0 – remaining matches were tied or Penn led
• #24 Cornell def. Princeton 4-1 – all matches were close – lots of third sets
• #25 Oregon won at Utah 4-0 – Ducks took a tight doubles point and then won at 1, 2, & 3 in straight sets while Utah led or was tied in each of the remaining courts
• #28 Tulane def. Tulsa 6-1 – Green Wave dropped the doubles point but swept singles by winning 12 of 14 sets 
• Notre Dame won at #30 Florida State 4-2 – Irish took the doubles point and picked up three straight set wins with Grayson Broadus clinching at #6 – FSU’s Aziz Dougaz (#1 dubs/#1 singles) was out of town playing Davis Cup
• #31 UCF def. East Tennessee State 4-3 – ETSU’s #2 got hurt during doubles and couldn’t play singles so ETSU had to move four guys up a spot and forfeit #6 singles – UCF’s Harrison Richmond won the decider 6-4 in the third
• #34 Ole Miss def. #48 Arkansas 4-2 – Ole Miss took dubs and picked up three straight set wins – Hansson over Redlicki 6-2, 6-1
• #35 Washington won at Arizona 4-3 – UW came back from 3-2 with Sebastian Hawken winning 6-4 in the third at #6 and Jake Douglas winning the decider 6-3 in the third at #3
• #39 Utah State def. Weber State 5-2 and Air Force 4-1 – USU’s nine-match winning streak ties a school record set in 1967
• #40 Louisville won at NC State 4-3 – Ville trailed 3-2 but Brandon Lancaster won 6-4 in third at #5 and Parker Wynn won 7-6(3) in the third at #2 to clinch
• #47 Vanderbilt def. Alabama 4-3 – VU’s Danny Valent won the decider 7-5 in the third at #1
• LSU won at #50 Auburn 5-2 – LSU’s Justin Butsch and Rafael Wagner won the last two matches 6-4 in the third at #2 and #5 
• Purdue won at Penn State 5-2 – PU’s Ricky Medinilla made it 4-1 after winning 6-4 in the third at #2
• Middle Tennessee State won at VCU 4-3 – MTSU came back from 3-1 down with Max Rauch coming back from 5-3 down in the third to win the decider 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
• Harvard def. Brown 6-1
• Dartmouth def. Yale 4-1
• Miami FL def. Boston College 7-0

 

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