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It’s preview time!! The 2017 Men’s National Team Indoor Championships get underway on Friday morning at 9 a.m. ET at the Boar’s Head Sport Club in Charlottesville, Virginia. The top seeded Virginia Cavaliers were the only team that didn’t have to qualify since they got an automatic berth as the host while each of the other 15 participants had to win a Kick-Off Weekend regional three weeks ago. Each team is guaranteed three matches with consolation matches played on Saturday and Sunday for teams that lost on Friday and Saturday. Nine schools in the draw have won an NTI Championship and five of them have won more than one. UCLA leads the way with seven titles (2001), Virginia has five (2013), USC has three (2012), and Georgia (2007) and Cal (1989) have two – number in parenthesis is the year each school last won one. There has been a different winner in each of the last five years with Virginia winning in 2013, Ohio State in 2014, Oklahoma in 2015, and North Carolina in 2016.

I have previews of each round of 16 match with the following information listed: approved master lineups, each player’s current Universal Tennis Rating as of 2/16, team doubles records, notable wins/losses, interesting facts/tidbits, and lastly my predictions. 

FloTennis will have live streaming on all 12-courts which if I’m not mistaken is the first time that more than six courts will have been streamed for this event. If you haven’t purchased a subscription yet now would be the perfect time to try them out – $20 a month or $150 for the year. While you are at make sure you purchase a subscription to my site as well so you can view all the information that I have down below plus you’ll have access to all the live scoring links from matches across the country. 

 
[1] Virginia vs. [16] Utah State
[8] UCLA vs. [9] USC
[5] North Carolina vs. [12] Georgia
[4] California vs. [13] Baylor
[3] Ohio State vs. [14] Oklahoma
[6] Northwestern vs. [11] Oklahoma State
[7] Florida vs. [10] Texas
[2] Wake Forest vs. [15] Mississippi State
 
NTI Friday Schedule (ET)
[3] Ohio State vs. [14] Oklahoma – 9 a.m. 
[6] Northwestern vs. [11] Oklahoma State – 9 a.m.
[2] Wake Forest vs. [15] Mississippi State – 12 noon
[7] Florida vs. [10] Texas – 12 noon
[4] California vs. [13] Baylor – 3:30 p.m. 
[5] North Carolina vs. [12] Georgia – 3:30 p.m.
[1] Virginia vs. [16] Utah State – 6:30 p.m. 
[8] UCLA vs. [9] USC – 6:30 p.m. 
 
 

Wilson Camp 728X90 

 
 
[3] Ohio State vs. [14] Oklahoma (9 a.m ET) – These two teams were already scheduled to meet in Columbus on March 5th but they’ll get to play sooner than expected. This will be the fourth year in a row that they’ve played with Oklahoma winning the first two while Ohio State won last in Norman last year. Ohio State has yet to drop the doubles point this year and its projected starters have gone 14-1 overall. Ohio State has made one lineup adjustment with first-semester freshman JJ Wolf dropping from No. 2 to No. 3 while junior Hugo Di Feo moves up from No. 3 to No. 2. There are several intriguing singles matches up and down the lineup with that matchup at No. 1 between Mikael Torpegaard and Andrew Harris expected to be a gem. Oklahoma’s Spencer Papa played doubles last Sunday against Alabama but he sat out singles after some discomfort in his back – word is he’ll be ready to go. I think Oklahoma can hang with Ohio State but I don’t quite think they can get the win in this one. I’ll take the Buckeyes in doubles and Torpegaard, Di Feo, and Joyce in singles while Oklahoma gets wins from Ghilea and Bragusi.  Prediction: Ohio State 4-2
 
Team: Overall record, doubles record; UTR Power 6, Notable Wins (Losses)
Ohio State 10-0, 10-0, UTR 85, #10 Georgia, #15 Kentucky, South Florida
Oklahoma 7-1, 6-2, UTR 83, #17 Illinois, #18 Michigan, Arkansas, #2 Wake Forest (L)
 
Projected Singles Lineup 
1. #2 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU 15.21) vs. #29 Andrew Harris (OU 14.80)
2. #8 Hugo Di Feo (OSU 14.02) vs. #24 Spencer Papa (OU 14.06)
3. JJ Wolf (OSU 14.42) vs. Alex Ghilea (OU 14.31)
4. #47 Herkko Pollanen (OSU 13.96) vs. #105 Florin Bragusi (OU 14.09)
5. #77 Martin Joyce (OSU 13.63) vs. Adrian Oetzbach (OU 12.75)
6. Kyle Seelig (OSU 13.93) vs. Jochen Bertsch (OU 13.45)
B. Hunter Tubert (OSU 13.29); Adrian Chamdani (OU 11.94
 
Projected Doubles Lineup
1. #38 Torpegaard/Pollanen (OSU) vs. #42 Harris/Papa (OU)
2. #25 Joyce/Di Feo (OSU) vs. Ghilea/Bragusi (OU)
3. Mendez/Tubert (OSU) vs. Chamdani/Oetzbach
 

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[6] Northwestern vs. [11] Oklahoma State (9 a.m ET) – This will only be the second-ever meeting between these two programs with Oklahoma State winning the first all the way back in 1988; coincidently these two are scheduled to meet again in Evanston on February 26th. Northwestern is making its first-ever appearance at the NTIs while Oklahoma State is making its first appearance since 2008. Northwestern is off to its best start in program history and has a team that’s built to play indoors. Oklahoma State’s Julian Cash retired in his match last Sunday against Wake Forest with a wrist injury so it’ll be interesting to see if he’s 100% – if not that will definitely hurt the Pokes! I think the two swing matches in singles that will decide the match will be at No. 3 and No. 4 because I like Kirchheimer and Zieba up top and Gerch and Mendoza down low. I’ll take Northwestern in doubles and Shropshire over Kadhe at No. 3 while Dubinski will be up on Stary at No. 4. Prediction: Northwestern 4-2
 
Team: Overall record, doubles record; UTR Power 6, Notable Wins (Losses)
Northwestern 10-0, 10-0, UTR 83, #22 Georgia Tech, #24 TCU, Vanderbilt, Duke, Memphis
Oklahoma State 7-1, 7-1, UTR 83, #15 Kentucky, #19 Columbia, #2 Wake Forest (L)
 
Projected Singles Lineup 
1. #25 Strong Kirchheimer (NU 14.37) vs. #32 Julian Cash (OSU 14.00)
2. Konrad Zieba (NU 14.21) vs. #48 Lukas Finzelberg (OSU 13.93)
3. Sam Shropshire (NU 14.21) vs. Arjun Kadhe (OSU 13.86)
4. Dominik Stary (NU 13.69) vs. Artur Dubinski (OSU 13.61)
5. Ben Vandixhorn (NU 13.14) vs. Lucas Gerch (OSU 14.22)
6. Jason Seidman (NU 13.15) vs. #65 Jurence Mendoza (OSU 13.54)
B. Brenden Volk (NU 12.73); Tristan Meraut (OSU 13.40)
 
Projected Doubles Lineup
1. #53 Shropshire/Zieba (NU) vs. #5 Cash/Kadhe (OSU)
2. Kirchheimer/Stary (NU) vs. #50 Mendoza/Gerch (OSU)
3. Lorenzini/Ephron (NU) vs. Finzelberg/Dubinski (OSU
 
 
[2] Wake Forest vs. [11] Mississippi State (12 p.m ET) – Mississippi State is making its 11th appearance at NTIs but first since 2014 while Wake Forest is making its second appearance with its first coming last year. Mississippi State qualified by beating Texas Tech and Iowa while Wake booked its spot with wins over Nebraska and Georgia State. Wake has one of the best top threes in the country with Petros Chrysochos the ITA No. 1, Skander Mansouri the ITA No. 10, and first-semester freshman Borna Gojo sporting a 6-0 record without yet dropping a set. Mississippi State has a very young team with five of six starters either a freshmen or sophomore and in fact they have two first-semester freshmen starting at No. 4 (Oradini) and No. 6 (Baudry). Mississippi State is coming off a close loss at South Florida and I think they’ll be looking a second straight L after this one. I like Wake in doubles and Mansouri, Gojo, and Gadjiev in singles while State picks up a win from Braun. Prediction: Wake Forest 4-1
 
Team: Overall record, doubles record; UTR Power 6, Notable Wins (Losses)
Wake Forest 6-0, 5-1, UTR 85, #12 Oklahoma State, #14 Oklahoma, North Florida, ETSU, Ga State
Mississippi State 4-1, 4-1, UTR 83, Florida State, Iowa, South Florida (L)
 
Projected Singles Lineup 
1. #1 Petros Chrysochos (WF 14.78) vs. #3 Nuno Borges (MSU 14.48)
2. #10 Skander Mansouri (WF 14.31) vs. Mate Cutura (MSU 13.44)
3. Borna Gojo (WF 14.45) vs. Strahinja Rakic (MSU 13.71)
4. #26 Christian Seraphim (WF 14.06) vs. Giovanni Oradini (MSU 13.86)
5. Dennis Uspensky (WF 13.64) vs. Niclas Braun (MSU 13.63)
6. Alan Gadjiev (WF 13.53) vs. Simon Baudry (MSU 12.81)
B. Max Kan (WF 12.80); Trevor Foshey (MSU 13.02)
 
Projected Doubles Lineup
1. #1 Mansouri/Seraphim (WF) vs. #44 Braun/Foshey (MSU
2. Gojo/Gadjiev (WF) vs. Cutura/Oradini (MSU)
3. Chrysochos/Uspensky (WF) vs. Borges/Rakic (MSU)
 
 
[7] Florida vs. [10] Texas (12 p.m ET) – Florida and Texas met last year during the Kick-Off Weekend with Florida winning in Austin 4-0 but the only repeat singles matchup will come at No. 3. The Gators are back at the NTIs for the first time since 2014 after they ran through UNC Wilmington and LSU while the Longhorns are making their third appearance in the last four years after knocking off Drake and Oregon. Texas has played all 10 of its matches indoors while Florida has only stepped indoors once and that came last Saturday when it lost to Virginia so it’ll be interesting to see if that plays a role in the outcome. Florida has lost the doubles point in its last three matches while Texas has won it in five of its last six matches. Usually when I go through the lineups there are some obvious picks but this one has six singles matches that could really go either way. Christian Sigsgaard beat Alfredo Perez back in November at the National Indoor Intercollegiates but Perez hasn’t lost since and is coming off an indoor win over Collin Altamirano while Sigsgaard has been good but not great lately. I’m going to take Florida in doubles and Perez and Ingildsen in singles but I’ll go with Goldhoff, Scott, Telles, and Banzer for the Horns. Prediction: Texas 4-3
 
Team: Overall record, doubles record; UTR Power 6, Notable Wins (Losses)
Florida 6-1, 4-3, UTR 83, #7 UCLA (W), #9 USC (W), Virginia (L)
Texas 9-1, 7-3, UTR 84, #21 SMU (W), Arkansas (W), Oregon (W), Tulsa (L)
 
Projected Singles Lineup 
1. #9 Alfredo Perez (UF 14.48) vs. #5 Christian Sigsgaard (TX 14.30)
2. Chase Perez-Blanco (UF 14.09) vs. George Goldhoff (TX 14.09)
3. #60 Elliott Orkin (UF 13.99) vs. #58 Harrison Scott (TX 13.93)
4. #109 Johannes Ingildsen (UF 13.85) vs. #45 Yuya Ito (TX 14.29)
5. #76 McClain Kessler (UF 13.61) vs. Leo Telles (TX 13.80)
6. Maxx Lipman (UF 13.45) vs. Rodrigo Banzer (TX 13.80)
B. #125 Jordan Belga (UF 13.67); John Mee (TX 13.32)
 
Projected Doubles Lineup
1. #7 Perez/Ingildsen (UF) vs. Telles/Goldhoff (TX)
2. Lipman/Wardell (UF) vs. #27 Scott/Ito (TX)
3. Orkin/Belga (UF) vs. Sigsgaard/Zlobinsky (TX)
 
 
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[4] California vs. [13] Baylor (3:30 p.m ET) – This is the only round of 16 match between two undefeated teams with Baylor 7-0 and Cal 3-0. Cal will be making its fifth NTI appearance in the last six years after defeating Cal Poly and Tulane during the KOW while Baylor is back for the fourth year in a row, and seventh time in the last nine years, after defeating Texas A&M and SMU. In addition to being undefeated overall both teams are also undefeated in doubles. Baylor has played its last three matches indoors while Cal has yet to step foot indoors. Baylor had to retool its doubles pairings and the bottom of its singles lineup after freshman Bjoern Petersen retired with an injury during the Lamar match and in fact Petersen will not be available at all this weekend. Cal has JT Nishimura penciled in at No. 6 singles but the junior from San Jose hasn’t played a collegiate singles match since last May, although he has been in the doubles lineup, so we may see freshman Connor Heap get the start for the fourth match in a row.  
 
Even though these teams are separated by nine spots in the most recent rankings I think this match is pretty much a flip of the coin. I like Lakat, Goransson, and Bergevi up top while I like Bendeck, Little, and Frantzen down low. I think the team that wins the doubles point wins the match. I don’t see Bergevi and Lakat losing at No. 1 doubles so it comes down to whether Cal can win pick up one more court – I’m going to say no. Prediction: Baylor 4-3
 
Team: Overall record, doubles record; UTR Power 6, Notable Wins (Losses)
California: 3-0, 3-0, UTR 85, Tulane, Pepperdine, Cal Poly
Baylor: 7-0, 7-0, UTR 84, #21 SMU (W), #25 Texas (W-2X)
 
Projected Singles Lineup 
1. #11 Florian Lakat (Cal 14.42) vs. #54 Juan Benitez (BU 14.60)
2. #27 Andre Goransson (Cal 14.47) vs. #57 Max Tchoutakian (BU 13.82)
3. #42 Filip Bergevi (Cal 14.43) vs. Johannes Schretter (BU 13.53)
4. #40 Billy Griffith (Cal 14.07) vs. Jimmy Bendeck (BU 13.88)
5. Bjorn Hoffman (Cal 13.69) vs. Will Little (BU 13.22)
6. JT Nishimura (Cal 13.73) vs. Constantin Frantzen (BU 13.21)
B. Connor Heap (Cal 12.22); Tyler Stayer (BU 11.70)
 
Projected Doubles Lineup
1. #3 Bergevi/Lakat (Cal) vs. Tchoutakian/Schretter (BU)
2. Goransson/Griffith (Cal) vs. Benitez/Frantzen (BU)
3. Hoffmann/Nishimura (Cal) vs. Bendeck/Little (BU)
 
 
[5] North Carolina vs. [12] Georgia (3:30 p.m ET) – Georgia will be making its 13th straight appearance at the NTIs but they enter on a three match losing streak while North Carolina is headed back for the third year in a row and will be looking to defend its title from last year. North Carolina enters with a perfect 8-0 record though Georgia will be the highest ranked team they’ve played thus far. Georgia ended North Carolina’s season last year by taking it to the Tar Heels in the NCAA Quarterfinals so you have to think that’ll be some added motivation for the guys from Chapel Hill. North Carolina has three freshmen scheduled to start in singles including first-semester freshman William Blumberg who will play at No. 2. UNC freshman Simon Soendergaard joined the team in the fall but he wasn’t eligible to play until the Kick-Off Weekend so it’ll be interesting to see how he holds up against Georgia’s top freshman Nathan Ponwith.  Georgia’s Paul Oosterbaan missed the entire fall with a wrist injury and his return to competitive play has been a rocky one thus far with the 6’7″ junior winless in four matches although he did have a set lead against USC’s Thibault Forget in a match that went unfinished. 
 
Georgia has the talent to win this match but I’m not so sure they have the confidence to do it. I’m going to take North Carolina in doubles and Blumberg, Kelly, and Murray in singles while Georgia picks up wins from Ponwith and Duncan with the match at No. 1 going unfinished while in a third set. Prediction: North Carolina 4-2
 
Team: Overall record, doubles record; UTR Power 6, Notable Wins (Losses)
North Carolina: 8-0, 8-0, UTR 83, #17 Illinois (W), #23 Ole Miss (W), Vanderbilt (W), Notre Dame (W)
Georgia: 3-3, 3-3, UTR 83, #22 Georgia Tech (W), Washington (W), #3 Ohio State (L), #7 UCLA (L), #9 USC (L)
 
Projected Singles Lineup 
1. #16 Ronnie Schneider (UNC 14.13) vs. #15 Wayne Montgomery (UGA 14.62)
2. William Blumberg (UNC 14.71) vs. #55 Emil Reinberg (UGA 13.80)
3. Simon Soendergaard (UNC 13.25) vs. #117 Nathan Ponwith (UGA 14.02)
4. Robert Kelly (UNC 14.11) vs. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA 14.06)
5. Jack Murray (UNC 13.79) vs. Jan Zielinski (UGA 13.41)
6. #79 Josh Peck (UNC 13.44) vs. Walker Duncan (UGA 13.54)
B. Bo Boyden (UNC 13.45); Robert Loeb (UGA 13.33)
 
Projected Doubles Lineup
1. #21 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) vs. Zielinski/Loeb (UGA 14.04)
2. Murray/Schneider (UNC 14.02) vs. Reinberg/Duncan (UGA 13.67)
3. Boyden/Soendergaard (UNC) vs. Ponwith/Montgomery (UGA 13.80)
 
 
[1] Virginia vs. [16] Utah State (6:30 p.m ET) – Utah State is the feel-good story of the tournament after the Aggies stunned TCU to punch its first-ever ticket to this event. Utah State comes into this one riding a five-match winning streak but they’ve yet to face a lineup that is as deep as Virginia’s plus to top it off the match will be in Charlottesville. Virginia dropped the doubles point in its first two matches but they’ve won it the last three times out and seem to have everything under control. Utah State knows it has nothing to lose when it takes the court so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some competitive first sets but I think they’ll hit the wall after that and we’ll see a lot of 6-0 and 6-1 second sets. Virginia takes the doubles point and gets wins from Kwiatkowski, Ritschard, and Wiersholm. Prediction: Virginia 4-0
 
Team: Overall record, doubles record; UTR Power 6, Notable Wins (Losses)
Virginia: 5-0, 3-2, UTR 87, #6 Florida (W), #15 Kentucky (W), #17 Illinois (W), Vanderbilt
Utah State: 7-3, 6-4, UTR 79, #24 TCU (W), Oregon (L), Washington (L), San Diego (L)
 
Projected Singles Lineup 
1. Collin Altamirano (UVA 14.33) vs. Jack Swindells (USU 13.13)
2. #28 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVA 14.87) vs. Kai Wehnelt (USU 13.41)
3. Carl Soderlund (UVA 14.61) vs. Jaime Barajas (USU 12.90)
4. #64 JC Aragone (UVA 14.43) vs. Sergiu Bucur (USU 13.52)
5. Alex Ritschard (UVA 14.56) vs. Samuel Serrano (USU 13.01)
6. Henrik Wiersholm (UVA 14.32) vs. Jonas Maier (USU 12.84)
B. Luca Corinteli (UVA 13.86); Daniel Echeverry (USU 12.97)
 
Projected Doubles Lineup
1. #55 Corinteli/Soderlund (UVA) vs. Serrano/Wehnelt (USU)
2. Kwiatkowski/Ritschard (UVA) vs. Maier/Swindells (USU)
3. Altamirano/Aragone (UVA) vs. Nakajima/Barajas (USU
 
 
[8] UCLA vs. [9] USC (6:30 p.m ET) – These two LA rivals are already scheduled to play twice during the regular season and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them play again in the Pac-12 Tournament so it’s fitting that they’ll both fly all the way across the country to play each other in this opening round match. Both of these teams have been regulars at the NTIs with USC making its 10th straight trip while UCLA is back for the 36th year in a row. USC had played in the finals four straight years up until last season while UCLA hasn’t made it there since 2004. This will be USC’s first indoor match of the season while UCLA stepped indoors for the first time on Monday when they blitzed Tulsa 7-0. Both teams have wins over Georgia and losses to Florida though USC has yet to drop a doubles point while UCLA has dropped it once. Both Martin Redlicki and Brandon Holt have primarily played at No. 2 so far this year but they’ll both move up to No. 1 this weekend. Neither player has lost a dual-match and each has only dropped one set so far. UCLA first-semester freshman Evan Zhu has been up and down so far with a 3-3 dual-match record while his opponent Nick Crystal has been playing well except for the straight set loss to Florida’s Elliott Orkin. 
 
All these guys are extremely familiar with each other so this should be a fun one to watch. I’m going to take USC in doubles and Holt, Crystal, and Jaede in singles while I like Brymer, Di Giulio, and Staggs for UCLA. Prediction: USC 4-3
 
Team: Overall record, doubles record; UTR Power 6, Notable Wins (Losses)
UCLA: 6-1, 6-1, UTR 84, #10 Georgia (W), Tulsa (W), #6 Florida (L)
USC: 8-1, 9-0, UTR 83, #10 Georgia (W), East Tennessee St (W), #6 Florida (L)
 
Projected Singles Lineup 
1. #73 Martin Redlicki (UCLA 14.38) vs. #13 Brandon Holt (USC 14.47)
2. #19 Gage Brymer (UCLA 14.26) vs. #36 Logan Smith (USC 13.70)
3. Evan Zhu (UCLA 13.89) vs. Nick Crystal (USC 13.95)
4. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA 13.94) vs. Thibault Forget (USC 13.84)
5. Austin Rapp (UCLA 13.63) vs. #119 Jack Jaede (USC 13.51)
6. Logan Staggs (UCLA 13.84) vs. #97 Rob Bellamy (USC 13.52)
B. #112 Max Cressy (UCLA 13.53); Riley Smith (USC 13.40)
 
Projected Doubles Lineup
1. #16 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) vs. #32 Holt/R Smith (USC)
2. Rapp/Di Giulio (UCLA) vs. #35 Crystal/Verboven (USC)
3. Brymer/Staggs (UCLA) vs. Bellamy/Jaede (USC)

 

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