It has become customary over the last several years to see schools play doubleheaders against perceived “lighter” schools but very rarely do you ever see the bigger school actually lose one of these – until today. #64 Clemson and Mercer met in Charlotte for a doubleheader and after Clemson took the opener 4-0 Mercer turned the tables on them in the nightcap and stunned the Tigers 4-3. According to Mercer’s recap it is the Bears first ever win against an ACC school although they had previous beaten Clemson but it was back in 1939 which was 14 years before the ACC was founded.
Clemson won the opener 4-0 although Mercer was ahead in the 3 matches that were abandoned at the time of the clinch. In the second match Clemson head coach Chuck McCuen made some changes to his doubles lineup and those changes ended up coming back to hurt him. Robert Dudley, who played at #1 with Luke Johnson in the first match, was pulled from the lineup and replaced by Ryan McMullan who played with Johnson at #3. McMullan hadn’t played a doubles match all fall and in fact had only played 2 doubles match in the previous 2 years with both of those coming coincidentally enough with Dudley. Johnson and McMullan lost 6-1 at #3 and Mercer’s Arnav brothers clinched the point with a 6-4 win at #1. In singles play, 5 of the 6 matches finished in straight sets with Clemson winning at 1, 2, and 6 and Mercer taking 3 and 4. The match came down to a third set at #5 between Clemson’s newest roster addition, Tennessee transfer Jess Jones, and Mercer’s 6’6″ sophomore Ruben Vanoppen. Vanoppen went 3-10 last season in dual-match play while Jones went 6-8 but 1 of those 6 wins came when he played in the deciding match against Troy so you figured he’d be able to use that experience to pull through. Vanoppen made sure it didn’t happen this time and won it 6-4 in the 3rd.
Note: Mercer’s wins at #4 and #5 singles were both Universal Tennis Rating upsets with Clemson’s guys having a UTR of more than 1.0 higher than Mercer’s guys.
Mercer 4, #64 Clemson 3
Jan 16, 2016 | 1 p.m. | Charlotte, N.C. | Charlotte Indoor Tennis Club
Singles
1. Luke Johnson (CU 13.21) def. Sam Philp (MER 12.44) 6-4, 6-0
2. Alex Favrot (CU 13.89) def. Arnav Mohanty (MER 12.35) 6-1, 7-5
3. Nicolas Guillon (MER 12.01) def. Austin Ansari (CU 12.31) 6-1, 6-4
4. Anderson Scarpa (MER 11.77) def. Christian Harris (CU 12.83) 6-4, 6-4
5. Ruben Vanoppen (MER 11.16) def. Jess Jones (CU 12.58) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
6. Brent Lett (CU 11.78) def. Zacharia El Ayat (MER) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
1. Arnav Mohanty/Arsav Mohanty (MER) def. Daffra Sanon/Alex Favrot (CU) 6-4
2. Christian Harris/Jess Jones (CU) def. Nicolas Guillon/Anderson Scarpa (MER) 6-1
3. Sam Philp/Ruben Vanoppen (MER) def. Luke Johnson/Ryan McMullan (CU) 6-1
Match Notes:
Mercer 1-1
Clemson 1-1; National ranking #64
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,3,2,4,6,5)
Comments from Mercer recap
“It was a tremendous effort by the guys today after losing the first match, 4-0. It was a huge win for the program.,” said Head Coach Eric Hayes. “Ruben (Vanoppen) did a tremendous job keeping his composure in the deciding match. We’ll feel good for a couple of hours driving to Knoxville, but we need to come out with the same intensity against Southern Illinois tomorrow afternoon.”
“Our coaches and team learned a lot from today’s matches versus Mercer. We all have roles to play and will continue to work as a collective group to achieve our long term goals, said Head Coach Chuck McCuen. “We will go right back to work on Monday to get ready for Dartmouth and Penn State next week. Credit today goes out to the Bears, who fought all day long.
#64 Clemson 4, Mercer 0
Jan 16, 2016 | 1 p.m. | Charlotte, N.C. | Charlotte Indoor Tennis Club
Singles
1. Sam Philp (MER 12.44) vs. Luke Johnson (CU 13.21) 4-6, 6-2, 2-1 unf
2. Alex Favrot (CU) def. Nicolas Guillon (MER 12.01) 6-3, 6-3
3. Arnav Mohanty (MER 12.35) vs. Daffra Sanon (CU 12.94) 6-2, 4-4, unf
4. Anderson Scarpa (MER 11.77) vs. Christian Harris (CU 12.83) 7-5, 1-3 unf
5. Arturo Pinazo (CU 11.73) def. Arsav Mohanty (MER 12.18) 6-3, 6-2
6. Robert Dudley (CU 12.26) def. Fernando Guardia (MER 12.02) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. Luke Johnson/Robert Dudley (CU) def. Arnav Mohanty/Arsav Mohanty (MER) 6-1
2. Alex Favrot/Daffra Sanon (CU) def. Nicolas Guillon/Anderson Scarpa (MER) 6-4
3. Jess Jones/Austin Ansari (CU) def. Sam Philp/Ruben Vanoppen (MER) 6-4
Match Notes:
Mercer 0-1
Clemson 1-0; National ranking #64
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,6,2)
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A day after getting blanked by Florida Gulf Coast, St. John’s rebounded with a big 4-3 win over Miami in a match that came down to a pair of guys that had each joined their respective teams in the last week. St. John’s newest addition, Dusan Vukicevic, made his presence felt by coming back from a set down at #6 singles to beat Miami’s Fermin Calvo 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and clinch the victory for the Red Storm. St. John’s also captured the doubles point and picked up wins from Roberto Livi and Andrei Crapcenco at #3 and #5. The most surprising result was Livi’s thrashing of Max Andrews at #3 because Andrews had a great fall racking up a team high 14 wins including his last 6.
St. John’s 4, Miami 3
Jan 16, 2016 at Coral Gables, Fla. (Neil Schiff Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #23 Piotr Lomacki (UM 13.99) def. #56 Lucas Hejhal (SJU 13.33) 6-3, 6-4
2. #70 Christian Langmo (UM 13.44) def. Daniel Skripnik (SJU 12.83) 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
3. Roberto Livi (SJU 13.12) def. #107 Max Andrews (UM 13.42) 6-3, 6-1
4. Jesse Flores (UM 12.42) def. Vaidik Munshaw (SJU 12.80) 6-4, 6-4
5. Andrei Crapcenco (SJU 12.03) def. Kevin Bondar (UM 12.12) 7-5, 6-2
6. Dusan Vukicevic (SJU 12.72) def. Fermin Calvo (UM 11.89/10%) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Vaidik Munshaw/Lucas Hejhal (SJU) def. Piotr Lomacki/Max Andrews (UM) 6-2
2. Christian Langmo/Jesse Flores (UM) def. Daniel Skripnik/Roberto Livi (SJU) 6-4
3. Andrei Crapcenco/Dusan Vukicevic (SJU) def. Kevin Bondar/Bernard Tefel (UM) 6-3
Match Notes:
Due to a weather delay, match was postponed to 5:15 p.m.
Post match comments from Miami’s recap
“It was tight being our first match and being down a point because of the doubles, said head coach Mario Rincon. “Little by little we started playing better, we started making some shots but it wasn’t enough.
“Hopefully our guys understand that they’ve got to be ready from the get-go, said Rincon. “We have FAU tomorrow and we’ve got to get over this loss quickly and learn from it.”
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The weather pushed the schedule around on Saturday but #17 Texas Tech held it together and ended up being the big winner by going 2-0 with wins over Pacific and New Mexico and they did it without its #1 Felipe Soares (see Masi’s comments below). Pacific and Arizona each got a win on the day with Pacific knocking off Arizona 4-3 and Arizona knocking off New Mexico 4-2. New Mexico came away empty handed on the day going 0-2. Box scores and coaches comments below.
Pacific 4, Arizona 3
Jan 16, 2016 at Lubbock, Texas (McLeod Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Verbeek, Sem (PAC 12.83) def. Takeda, Naoki (ARZ 13.95) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
2. Alameh, Daniel (PAC 12.65) def. Busby, Harry (ARZ 12.68) 7-5, 6-2
3. Diaz, Miguel (PAC 12.93) def. Botha, Trent (ARZ 13.03) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
4. Jaruvang, Jason (ARZ 12.70) def. Chamba, Jose (PAC 12.78) 4-6, 6-3, 5-3
5. Kneale, Will (ARZ 11.99) def. Giannini, Alex (PAC 12.25) 6-3, 6-2
6. Kasahara, Shoki (ARZ 12.14) def. Oliveira, Bernardo (PAC 12.13) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Verbeek, Sem/Chamba, Jose (PAC) def. Botha, Trent/Takeda, Naoki (ARZ) 6-3
2. Alameh, Daniel/Giannini, Alex (PAC) def. Jaruvang, Jason/Kasahara, Shoki (ARZ) 6-2
3. Diaz, Miguel/Oliveira, Bernardo (PAC) def. Busby, Harry/Adkisson, Will (ARZ) 6-2
Match Notes
Arizona 1-2
Pacific 1-2
Post match comments from Pacific’s recap
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