Snyder Tennis Center – Charlottesville, VA
[1] Virginia (24-4) vs. [49-64] Monmouth (11-9) – Saturday Noon ET – Virginia is the No. 1 overall seed though it got in as an at-large after losing to Wake Forest in the finals of the ACC Championship. Monmouth earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth after coming back from 3-0 down to beat Quinnipiac in the finals of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
Doubles Records: Virginia 24-4, Monmouth 11-8
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of May 7th. For more details about UTR check out their website.
The UTR Power 6 is the combined UTRs of the starting 6 (rounded to a whole #). An individual win/loss to anyone with a UTR difference of 1.0 or greater would be considered an upset.
Monmouth’s NCAA debut will probably be over in less than 90 minutes as I expect the defending champs to roll over the Hawks. Prediction: Virginia 4-0.
[17-32] Columbia (17-5) vs. [33-48] Penn State (21-8) – Saturday 9am ET – Columbia earned the Ivy League’s automatic bid after going undefeated in the conference play during the regular season while Penn State earned an at-large bid after losing to Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Doubles Records: Columbia 15-7, Penn State 19-10
UTR Starting 6 Power Rating: Columbia 82, Penn State 80
Projected Singles Lineups
1. #81 Shawn Hadavi (CU 14.07) vs. Leo Stakhovsky (PSU 13.62)
2. Victor Pham (CU 13.59) vs. Constant De La Basseteire (PSU 13.79)
3. Eric Rubin (CU 13.75) vs. Matt Barry (PSU 13.45)
4. Mike Vermeer (CU 14.10) vs. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU 13.10)
5. Richard Pham (CU 13.07) vs. Aws Laaribi (PSU 13.13)
6. Michal Rolski (CU 13.11) vs. Marc Collado (PSU 13.07)
O: Miguel Alda (CU 12.82), Timothy Wang (CU 13.21); Ben Lieb (PSU 12.94)
Columbia’s quest to make it back to the round of 16 for the third year in a row should start off a win though I expect Penn State to keep it pretty close. I look for Columbia to take the doubles point and then pick up singles wins from Shawn Hadavi, Eric Rubin, and Mike Vermeer while Penn State will get a win from Constant De La Basseteire with the other going unfinished. Prediction: Columbia 4-1
Regional Final – [17-32] Columbia at [1] Virginia – Sunday 1pm ET
Virginia ended Columbia’s season last year in the NCAA round of 16 in a match that was much closer than the 4-0 final. I expect Columbia to give Virginia a stiff test but the Cavaliers are just too strong top to bottom and will book its ticket to Tulsa. Prediction: Virginia 4-0
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1. #56 Julian Cash (OSU 13.87) vs. Max Vogt (BU 12.32)
2. Arjun Kadhe (OSU 14.00) vs. Oliver Welsh (BU 11.29)
3. Lucas Gerch (OSU 13.94) vs. Luke Lorenz (BU 11.54)
4. Tristan Meraut (OSU 13.62) vs. Michael Plutt (BU 11.53)
5. Lukas Finzelberg (OSU 13.86) vs. Artur Jakubowski (BU 11.99)
6. Jurence Mendoza (OSU 13.39) vs. Jorge Ortiz-Garcia (BU 11.43)
As with most of the 1 vs. 16 matches I don’t expect this one to be close. I expect Oklahoma State to take the doubles point and then win three straight sets singles matches. Prediction: Oklahoma State 4-0
[17-32] Arkansas (19-8) vs. [33-48] Wichita State (17-10) – Saturday – 9am CT – Arkansas earned an at-large after a loss in the opening round of the SEC Tournament to South Carolina. Wichita State earned the Missouri Valley’s automatic bid after winning a 4-3 thriller of Drake in the finals. Arkansas lost its last three and four of its last six while Wichita State won its final four.
1. #21 Michael Redlicki (ARK 14.35) vs. #95 Tin Ostojic (WSU 13.69)
2. #62 Jose Salazar (ARK 14.20) vs. Miroslav Herzan (WSU 12.90)
3. Santiago Munoz (ARK 13.23) vs. Jocelyn Devilliers (WSU 12.85)
4. Giammarco Micolani (ARK 13.55) vs. Haru Inoue (WSU 13.16)
5. Adam Sanjurjo (ARK 13.42) vs. Eddie Stoica (WSU 12.58)
6. Johan den Toom (ARK 12.74) vs. Sergio de Vilchez (WSU 12.38)
Arkansas should win this match but I don’t think it’ll be a slam dunk. I like Wichita State in doubles point and I think the Shockers will win at either at No. 5 or No. 6 and possibly both. Fortunately for Arkansas they’ll sweep the top four spots to pull out a close one. Prediction: Arkansas 4-2
Regional Final – [17-32] Arkansas at [16] Oklahoma State – Sunday 1pm CT
Regular Season Meeting
T-3:01 A-257
Oklahoma State won the regular season meeting 5-2 but four of the six singles matchups will be different this time since Temur Ismailov is no longer on Okie State’s roster. I like Oklahoma State in doubles and Lucas Gerch and Jurence Mendoza in singles but I’m going to take Michael Redlicki, Jose Salazar, Giammarco Micolani, and Adam Sanjurjo to pull it out for Arkansas. Prediction: Arkansas 4-3
That's where they have him listed though I'm skeptical he will play – here is an article from the Daily Progress that mentions his situation<br /><br />http://www.dailyprogress.com/cavalierinsider/virginia-receives-no-seed-in-ncaa-tournament/article_ea94b96e-bdce-50c7-9ecb-20c63de6c6b1.html
Alex Rischard is listed at #4 for Virginia. Are they going to put him in for the tournament which bumps Aragone and Wiersholm down a notch?
Well "anonymous" if you know different, do tell… It sounds like you might be close to the situation.
I heard it's true, the head coach wanted him to try hard every day, that wasn't going to work
Hi "Mike"- just curious who you play for? Your statement is complete misinformation.
He didn't get along with the head coach.. We played them in march
Left school after a few months to go back out on the pro tour – he made the finals at an Uzbekistan Futures a month ago. I guess the college experience wasn't what he thought it would be.
What happened to Ismailov?
Oklahoma State's home effort vs. Baylor was so meek it is hard to believe they advance. Arkansas too is in a free fall but the trajectory is less precipitous in that the matches were reasonably close. Would have liked to see Usf in this regional as they are mire deserving than either of these teams. This is the lamest regional of the lot. I' m going with Arkansas. <br />The Virginia regional is obviously one sided. There will not be any 3rd sets for Uva.