While conference play got underway in the SEC and ACC there was a non-conference battle brewing in Des Moines between #36 Drake and #33 Iowa. The two schools, separated by just 115 miles, are the only two schools in the state of Iowa that play Division 1 men’s tennis so bragging rights were at stake Friday night. A boisterous crowd of close to 200, with a decent amount of black and gold, was on hand to see if Drake could make it five in a row over the Hawkeyes.
Drake got off to a good start at #3 doubles when Ben Stride and Calum MacGeoch jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Iowa’s Robin Haden and Nils Hallestrand. Drake would hold on the deciding point to stretch the lead to 4-1 and then break again for 5-1. MacGeoch would serve it out from 40-30 to give Drake the 6-1 win in 24 minutes.
The match at #1 between Iowa’s Lefteris Theodorou and Jake Jacoby and Drake’s Ben Lott and Ben Wood would stay on serve until Iowa broke the Ben Wood serve to go up 5-3. Jacoby would serve it out at love to give Iowa the 6-3 win in 27 minutes. The clip on the left is some early action, very nice touch by Jacoby on one shot, and then the clip on the right shows Iowa breaking and then serving it out.
The doubles point would be decided at #2 between Iowa’s Josh Silverstein and Dominic Patrick and Drake’s Bayo Philips and Vinny Gillespie. Iowa jumped out to the early 2-1 lead when it broke the Gillespie serve on the deciding point and then Patrick held for 3-1. Iowa would break the Philips serve to go up 4-1 but Drake broke back and then Gillespie held for 3-4. Silverstein held for 5-3 and then Philips held for 4-5. Patrick would serve it out from 40-30 to give Iowa the 6-4 win in 33 minutes. Below clip shows the Philips hold followed by the Patrick hold to clinch the doubles point.
The court layout at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center has courts 1, 3, and 5 on one side of the stands and then courts 2, 4, and 6 on the other side. Drake took all three odd number first sets while Iowa swept the evens.
Drake’s Ben Lott was first off the court with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Dominic Patrick at #1. Lott broke the Patrick serve to go up 3-1 in the first and then it was all holds the rest of the way. Lott would break Patrick to start the second set and would then break him again to clinch the win in 1 hour and 4 minutes. I didn’t catch a clip of match point since the scoreboard was still showing 4-3 in the second but here is a clip of him serving at 4-2 in the first (left) and then winning the set 6-3 (right).
Drake’s Ben Stride put the Bulldogs ahead 2-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jonas Larsen at #5. Stride broke Larsen to go up 2-1 in the first and then held for 3-1. Larsen would hold and break back to even it at 3-3 but Stride would take the next three games to close out the opening set 6-3. The second set stayed on serve up until Stride broke Larsen to close it out in 1 hour and 12 minutes.
Iowa’s Jake Jacoby tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Drake’s Tom Hands at #6. Jacoby broke Hands to go up 3-1 in the first and then ran away with the set 6-1. Jacoby broke Hands to start the second set and then held for 2-0. Hands would break later in the set to even it at 4-4 but Jacoby broke again to go up 6-5. Jacoby fell behind 15-40 on his serve however he’d take the next three points to close out Hands in 1 hour and 21 minutes. The clip below shows Jacoby breaking for 6-5 and then coming back to close it out.
Iowa’s Lefteris Theodorou put the Hawkeyes ahead 3-2 with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win over Bayo Philips at #2. Theodorou broke Philips to go up 2-1 in the first and then broke again to go up 5-2 and would hold to take the set 6-2. Theodorou looked like he’d close it out in straight sets after breaking to go up 5-4 but Philips broke at love, held at 40-30, and broke from 15-40 to take the set 7-5. The clip shows that four game sequence.
The third set stayed on serve until Theodorou broke Philips on the deciding point (left) to go up 3-2 and then a few games later it all was over with the clip on the right showing the clincher.
Roughly 14 minutes later Drake’s Calum MacGeoch would even it the match at 3-3 with a 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2 win over Robin Haden at #4. Each player held serve six times in the first set but in the tiebreak it was the receiver that won most of the points. MacGeoch was serving up 3-2 but he lost both of his points then Haden was serving up 4-3 but he lost both of his points. MacGeoch was serving up 5-4 but Haden drilled the return and then finished the point with an overhead for 5-5. MacGeoch would take the next point to go up 6-5 but Haden took the next three to take the set 7-6(6). Below are several of the points from the tiebreak.
MacGeoch jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second and took the set 6-3 and then he cruised through the third set before closing it out 6-2 in 1 hour and 52 minutes
The last match on court was at #3 between Drake’s Vinny Gillespie and Iowa’s Josh Silverstein. Silverstein led 5-3 in the first set but Gillespie held and then broke on the deciding point to make it 5-5. Gillespie held and then broke again to take the set 7-5. Clip on left is Silverstein holding for 5-3 and then clip on right is Gillespie breaking for 5-5.
Silverstein rolled through the second set 6-2 but Gillespie held to start the third set and then broke to go up 2-0. Silverstein broke back, held, broke again, and then held again to go up 4-2. Things were looking good for Iowa and bleak for Drake but Gillespie would claw his way back into it. Gillespie fell behind 0-30 on his 2-4 service game but he hit an ace on the deciding point to make it 3-4. Gillespie broke Silverstein from 30-40 to make it 4-4 and then held for 5-4. Silverstein was up 30-15 on his 4-5 service game but he lost a backbreaking point to make it 30-30 (in the clip below). Gillespie put a forehand into the net to make it 40-30 but Silverstein returned the favor with a backhand error to bring up the deciding point. Silverstein came in but mishit an overhead and Drake had won 4-3.
The clip on the left shows Gillespie holding for 3-4 and then breaking for 4-4. The clip on the right is the last few points on Silverstein’s serve.
#36 Drake 4, #33 Iowa 3
Mar 04, 2016 at Des Moines, Iowa (Roger Knapp Tennis Center-Indoors)
Singles competition
1. Lott, Ben (DU 13.31) def. Dominic Patrick (IOWA 12.80) 6-3, 6-3
“Hats off to Iowa for coming in here on our home court on a rowdy Friday night with a great crowd and putting up the fight that they did. Credit to our guys for handling that pressure after falling behind and being able to steal the win in the end,” Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski said.
“We had great results from Lott on court one and Stride on court five, as they neutralized that momentum from dropping the doubles point,” Kozlowski said.
“Vinny has been in that positions several times and he has handled that situation better and better as the season has worn on,” Kozlowski said about the decisive match point coming down to Gillespie.
“We started off the match really well with doubles, got up a break on number one and two doubles and we were able to carry the momentum and get that first point,” said Iowa head coach Ross Wilson.
“Going into singles, we won three of the first sets,” said Wilson. “Lefty ended up pulling out a match in the third set and Jake got a win in two sets. We just didn’t play well in a couple spots.”
“Unfortunately Josh, although he was winning, just couldn’t finish,” said Wilson.
“Extremely tough loss for us today. I think the home crowd really helped Drake out at the end of the match but our guys battled and that’s what it’s about,” said Wilson.
“We’ve got to be able to be comfortable in this environment and pull off a couple wins with matches like this if we want to accomplish our goals this year.” ________________________________________________________________
#32 LSU was able to take the doubles point, which included a win from Boris Arias and Jordan Daigle over the ITA #1 team of Gordon Watson and Diego Hidalgo, but #30 Florida was just too strong in singles. The Gators picked up straight set wins from Diego Hidalgo, Elliott Orkin, Alfredo Perez, and McClain Kessler at 1, 2, 4, and 6 with Hidalgo providing the clincher.
They played the remaining matches out with LSU’s Gabor Csonka and January addition Nikola Samardzic picking up wins at 3 and 5.
#30 Florida 4, #32 LSU 3
3/4/2016 at Baton Rouge, LA (LSU Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. #50 Diego Hidalgo (FLA 14.13) def. #42 Jordan Daigle (LSU 13.74) 6-0, 7-6 (7-4)
“There were several momentum changes in this match, Head Coach Jeff Brown said. “Us getting a ton of momentum in the doubles, to them kind of deflating our momentum by getting the edge in a lot of first sets in singles. We played great doubles obviously, beating the No. 1 team in the nation.
“We certainly got a lot out of it today, Head Coach Jeff Brown said. “For Nick (Samardzic), it was a great rise in his level, from where he was just a week ago to where he was able to play now is very exciting.
Head Coach Bryan Shelton – On tonight’s first SEC win for the Gators…
“I am proud of our guys for coming back strong after losing the doubles point. We got off to such a good start in singles which shifted the match back in our favor. I was happy to see Diego clinch the match for us. Alfredo played some of his best tennis tonight and Elliott and McClain just competed like Gators.
It doesn’t get easier as we travel to Texas A&M for a huge conference match. It will take a team effort to get the job done there and I wouldn’t want it any other way.” ________________________________________________________________
In a match between two SEC programs on the rise, it was #22 Kentucky coming back from 2-0 down to defeat #27 Arkansas 5-2. The match was played indoors at Kentucky’s four-court indoor facility so after Arkansas took the doubles and picked up a pair of first sets it had to be feeling good about its chances.
Ryotaro Matsumura (Pic Via Kentucky)
Arkansas took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and Mike Redlicki put them ahead 2-0 with a straight sets at No. 1 over William Bushamuka. Kentucky’s freshman phenom, Ryotaro Matsumura, put the Wildcats on the board by running his dual-match record to 9-1 with a straight set win over Jose Salazar at No. 2. After these two matches finished up the matches at No. 5 and No. 6 were able to get underway.
Kentucky’s Nils Ellefsen evened the match at 2-2 when broke Santiago Munoz’s 4-4 service game in the third set then served it out for a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win at No. 3. Moments later Enzo Wallart put Kentucky ahead 3-2 with a come from behind 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Giammarco Micolani at No. 4. Trey Yates would complete the comeback and clinch the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Adam Sanjurjo at No. 5.
They played it out (which it looks just about everyone is doing this season – thumbs up) with Kentucky’s Charles Minc defeating Johan den Toom 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6.
I just wanted to mention how a good job Kentucky’s SID has been doing with the school’s recaps – they’ve had good details and are usually loaded with plenty of quotes – keep it up!!
#22 Kentucky 5, #27 Arkansas 2
3/4/2016 at Lexington, Ky (Boone Tennis Center-Indoors)
Singles competition
1. #82 Mike Redlicki (AR 14.01) def. #31 William Bushamuka (UK 13.98) 6-2, 6-4
2. #90 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK 14.56) def. Jose Salazar (AR 14.03) 6-2, 6-2
3. Nils Ellefsen (UK 13.60) def. Santiago Munoz (AR 12.98) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
What a great college match tonight, assistant coach Matt Emery said. “We knew this was going to be a tough match. We have an incredible amount of respect for their coaching staff. Coach Jackson is a Hall of Fame coach so we knew they were going to fight hard.
“Trey Yates tonight proved why he is one of the toughest players in the country. He is playing better each match, which is a testament to his work ethic. He was a stud tonight.”
“This match was great for us because it proved how deep we are from top to bottom. To lose the doubles point and lose at No. 1 singles, two places we have been really strong all season, and come back and win 5-2 is a testament to these guys’ competitiveness and belief.”
“It was really special seeing Charles Minc get a win and get going. I’m proud of him for keeping his confidence after a couple of losses. He is going to do some special things for us this year.” ________________________________________________________________
After a rough start to the season No. 70 New Mexico has finally started to turn things around. The Lobos picked up its third straight win, and second over a ranked opponent, by coming back from 3-2 down to defeat No. 44 BYU 4-3.
New Mexico took the doubles point and then each team won three first sets. Five of the six matches would finish in straight sets with BYU’s Shane Monroe, Keaton Cullmore, and John Pearce winning at #1, #2, and #6 while New Mexico’s Ricky Hernandez-Tong and Augustus Ge won at #4 and #5.
The match came down to a third set at #3 and it’d be New Mexico sophomore Jorge Escutia pulling through in the clutch with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win over Andrey Goryachkov.
“Great college tennis match tonight, it usually is when New Mexico and BYU get together,” said head coach Bart Scott. “BYU fought to the end and I give them a lot of credit. The doubles point proved to be huge and Augie and Rodolfo were clutch! Then Jorge clinches another match for us. It was a fun match and a total team effort.”
“Give credit to New Mexico,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “Their players made plays and put the ball in the court when they needed to. We didn’t play like a team that is ranked No. 44 in the nation, but we’ll lick our wounds, learn the lessons that need to be learned and put time in on the practice court.”
No. 7 Wake Forest opened up ACC play against No. 34 Georgia Tech but it did so without its top two singles players with both Skander Mansouri and Petros Chrysochos playing in the Davis Cup. Despite their absence Wake was still able to win the doubles point and then it got straight set wins from Romain Bogaerts, Maksim Kan, and Christian Seraphim at No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 with Bogaerts clinching the match at No. 2.
Georgia Tech picked up wins from Chris Eubanks and Daniel Yun at No. 1 and No. 6 while Wake’s Dennis Uspensky won in a third set supertiebreak at No. 3.
#7 Wake Forest 5, #34 Georgia Tech 2
Mar 04, 2016 at Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. #12 Christopher Eubanks (GT 13.94) def. Jon Ho (WF 14.00) 7-5, 6-4
“We played well at No. 3 doubles. We played one very bad game at No. 2 doubles and their team served well from there, said Tech coach Kenny Thorne. “And at No. 1 we played returned much better than in past matches but didn’t serve quite as well. Credit to Wake for playing a good doubles point.
“In singles, we went down early and fought back but couldn’t fully recover, said Thorne. “One big positive was Daniel Yun playing strong at number 6. He has been playing well, and he showed he can win at a high level.
Other Friday Results: #21 Oregon def. Minnesota 6-1 – Oregon recap #49 Alabama def. #72 South Carolina 5-2 – Alabama recap #8 Texas A&M def. #66 Auburn 6-1 – aTm recap #16 Georgia def. #50 Mississippi State 5-2 – Georgia recap #26 Ole Miss def. #64 Tennessee 5-2 – Ole Miss recap #47 Florida State def. Clemson 7-0 – FSU recap (five 3rd sets) #1 North Carolina def. #54 Vanderbilt 7-0 – UNC recap (five 3rd sets) #2 Virginia def. Louisville 7-0 – Virginia recap #53 Virginia Tech def. #40 NC State 6-1 – VT recap #15 Texas def. UTSA 5-0 – Texas recap #15 Texas def. Louisiana Lafayette 4-0 – Texas recap #46 UC Santa Barbara def. Sacramento State 7-0 – UCSB recap #75 Cal Poly def. San Francisco 4-3 – Cal Poly recap #38 Princeton def. #58 Indiana 6-1 – Princeton recap #48 Denver def. Utah 5-1 – Denver recap SMU def. Wichita State 4-1 – SMU recap Texas A&M Corpus Christi def. South Alabama 4-0 – A&M CC recap Southern Miss def. DePaul 4-3 – USM recap Southern Miss def. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 4-3 – USM recap
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