ITA/UTR Partnership, Big Ten Tourney TV Info, UNC Women Blank Michigan, Kennesaw State Wins No. 11, Upcoming Weekend Schedule

Tagged with: ITA/UTR Partnership, Kennesaw State, North Carolina, Universal Tennis Ratings, Weekend Preview

The ITA and Universal Tennis have entered into a five-year partnership agreement which will have the UTR name attached to the ITA Summer Circuit plus all Summer Circuit events will utilize the UTR Event Management System. The ITA and Universal Tennis will work together to make the draws at each Summer Circuit event more level-based so I would hope going forward we won’t see many instances of a player with a 12.85 UTR taking on a player with a 10.25 UTR in the first round of an event. The announcement about the use of UTR Events will be appreciated by yours truly because I “tried” to cover some of the Summer Circuit events last year but tracking down results from each event was easier said than done. Some host sites used TennisLink, some updated results on their website daily, some updated results after the event was over, and some didn’t update at all. The release also mentioned that TCU will host this year’s Summer Circuit National Championship after it had been held at Indiana University for as long as I can remember. 

The original release says the ITA will endorse UTR as the official rating system of the ITA however for the time being UTRs won’t have any bearing on the actual Oracle/ITA singles and doubles rankings. Below are a few quotes from the release:

“The ITA couldn’t be more excited about the 2017 ITA Summer Circuit Powered by UTR,” said ITA Director of Championships Cory Brooks. “If the highlight of 2016 was the expansion in the number of events and resulting boom in participation, 2017 will be highlighted by our new partnership with UTR. At the end of the day, the ITA Summer Circuit has always been about providing our college athletes and advanced level high school juniors and seniors match play opportunities during a time of the year where those opportunities can be scarce.

“Our partnership with UTR will professionalize that experience by providing a central location for players, coaches and parents to register for and follow these events, as well as by expediting the entry of results from circuit events into the UTR system,” added Brooks. “In addition, the ITA and UTR will be working closely together on experimenting with draw making formats that create more competitive match opportunities for our participants.”

 

 

For the last several years the Big Ten Network has televised the finals of the Big Ten Tournament on a tape delayed basis but on Thursday it was announced that for the first-time ever they’ll show both the men’s and women’s final live. The men’s final in West Lafayette, Indiana, will begin on Sunday, April 30th at 11 a.m. ET while coverage of the women’s final in Champaign, Illinois, will begin immediately after the conclusion of the men’s match. 

The Pac-12 Tournament semifinals and finals are broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network and usually the ACC and SEC Championships are streamed live on ESPN3. The Big 12 Tournament has also been on Fox Sports 2 in the past though I haven’t heard if they are broadcasting it this year. 

 

 

Fourth-ranked North Carolina had its 50-match home court winning streak get snapped last Saturday by Georgia Tech but on Thursday they started another streak after defeating No. 8 Michigan 4-0. UNC rolled through the doubles point only dropping a total of four games but singles was much tougher with each team taking three first sets. UNC’s Hayley Carter and Chloe Ouellet-Pizer each won in straight sets while Makenna Jones got the clincher with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 win at No. 5. 

The other matches were abandoned with Michigan up on all three. 

 

 

#4 North Carolina 4, #8 Michigan 0
April 6, 2017 at Chapel Hill, NC (Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center)
Singles Results
1. #3 Hayley Carter (UNC) def. #22 Brienne Minor (UM) 6-2, 7-6 (5)
2. #21 Kate Fahey (UM) vs. #6 Sara Daavettila (UNC) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
3. Alex Najarian (UM) vs. #26 Jessie Aney (UNC) 6-4, 5-7, 3-2, unfinished
4. Chiara Lommer (UM) vs. #46 Alexa Graham (UNC) 7-6 (7), 4-2, unfinished
5. #100 Makenna Jones (UNC) def. Mira Ruder-Hook (UM) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
6. Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (UNC) def. Annie Wierda (UM) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 6, 1, 5
Doubles Results
1. #87 Hayley Carter/Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #27 Mira Ruder-Hook/Brienne Minor (UM) 6-1
2. Cassandra Vazquez/Alexa Graham (UNC) vs. Valeria Patiuk/Alex Najarian (UM) 5-2, unfinished
3. Rachael James-Baker/Jessie Aney (UNC) def. Kate Fahey/Chiara Lommer (UM) 6-1
Order of Finish: 1, 3

 

 

Kennesaw State University, located in the northwest Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw, set a program record for wins after picking up a tough 4-3 road win over Florida Gulf Coast. Kennesaw State jumped out to a 3-0 lead after taking the doubles point and picking up straight set singles wins from Sam Slade and Drew Wendel at No. 3 and No. 5. Florida Gulf Coast rallied to tie it up at 3-3 after Ezequiel Cerrini and Javier Fernandez won in straight sets at No. 4 and No. 6 while Felipe Ramirez rallied from 4-1 down in the third set to win 7-6(2) at No. 1. KSU’s Fermin Calvo Barcelo broke Oliver Landert’s 4-5 service game to win the deciding match 6-4 in the third which gave Kennesaw State its 11th win of the season.  

Kennesaw State began playing men’s tennis in 2008 and on two occasions (2012/2016) they had won 10 matches but never before had they won No. 11.

Kennesaw State 4, Florida Gulf Coast 3
April 6, 2017 at Naples, FL (FGCU Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. RAMIREZ, Felipe (FGCU) def. Simon Pritchard (KSU) 6-2, 6-7, 7-6(2)
2. Fermin Calvo Barcelo (KSU) def. LANDERT, Oliver (FGCU) 4-6, 7-6, 6-4
3. Sam Slade (KSU) def. RUIZ, Mateo (FGCU) 6-4, 6-4
4. CERRINI, Ezequiel (FGCU) def. Lucas de Torres Curth (KSU) 7-6, 6-4
5. Drew Wendel (KSU) def. ALFONZO, Andres (FGCU) 6-2, 6-2
6. FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) def. Jake Bouchillon (KSU) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Lucas de Torres Curth/Simon Pritchard (KSU) def. RAMIREZ, Felipe/LANDERT, Oliver (FGCU) 7-6
2. David Durham/Drew Wendel (KSU) def. ALFONZO, Andres/CERRINI, Ezequiel (FGCU) 6-2
3. Fermin Calvo Barcelo/Sam Slade (KSU) vs. RUIZ, Mateo/FERNANDEZ, Javier (FGCU) 6-6, unf.
Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,3,6,4,1,2)

Post-Match Quotes from KSU’s recap
“What a great match,” said Director of Tennis Eduardo Rincon. “I’m really proud of the way we competed tonight. It was a very physical match and the team responded well. I cannot say enough about what (strength coach) Ryan Meehan has with our team in the weight room. I’m happy that the guys see their hard work pay off. Fermin was clutch again for us, and Simon and Lucas continue to be tough in doubles.”

Post-Match Quotes from FGCU’s recap
“I’m really proud of the way our guys fought back today,” said head coach CJ Weber. “For us to come back from 3-0 down to almost win shows how far we’ve come this season. We’re right there and all it’s going to take is one bounce to go our way and get our confidence back. Our focus now is on Lipscomb and ending the conference schedule on a positive note.”

 

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Below are some of higher profile/intriguing matches to keep an eye on this weekend. I have all of Friday’s live scoring links available for free though to see the rest of the weekend you’ll need to be a CTT subscriber – sign up today to enjoy all of my extra coverage leading up to the NCAA Tournament. 

I’ll be in Seattle this weekend covering the WAC Cluster hosted by Seattle University so stay tuned to my twitter feed for updates on those matches involving Seattle, New Mexico State, Grand Canyon, UMKC, Chicago State, and UTRGV.