Saturday Preview – Oklahoma St/South Florida, UCLA/Stanford, Virginia/Illinois

#9 Oklahoma State (10-1) vs. #14 South Florida (7-3) (Montgomery, AL) – 1:30pm est/12:30pm cst – Live Scoring – These teams were originally slotted in opposite ends of the draw at the Blue Gray but a last minute change was made and they’ll end up facing each other in the semis. Oklahoma State is coming off a 4-0 win over Alabama in a match that could have finished 4-3 because the Tide led on each of the three remaining courts. South Florida was challenged by Boise State on Friday but still won it 4-0 and it probably would have finished 7-0 had it been played out.

South Florida loves playing outdoors while Oklahoma State is probably a little better indoors so I think that may help determine the outcome. Both teams have played great doubles this season so that should be a tightly contested point.

Doubles record: Oklahoma State 9-2, South Florida 8-2

Projected Singles Lineups (w UTR as of 2/27)
1. #75 Julian Cash (OSU 13.80) vs. #5 Roberto Cid (USF 14.50)
2. #115 Temur Ismailov (OSU 13.82) vs. #35 Dominic Cotrone USF 14.32)
3. #109 Arjun Kadhe (OSU 13.87) vs. Sasha Gozun (USF 13.53)
4. Lucas Gerch (OSU 13.58) vs. Justin Roberts (USF 13.12)
5. #123 Tristan Meraut (OSU 13.40) vs. Peter Bertran (USF 13.34)
6. Lukas Finzelberg (OSU 13.77) vs. Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz (USF 13.45)

I like South Florida in doubles and then look for the Bulls to pick up singles wins from Roberto Cid, Dominic Cotrone, and Peter Bertran at #1, #2, and #5 with Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz also ahead at #6. Oklahoma State’s Arjun Kadhe and Lucas Gerch will pull through at #3 and #4 but it won’t be enough. Prediction: South Florida 4-2

#4 UCLA (8-2) at #29 Stanford (5-5) – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Scoring/Video – UCLA last played a week ago when it beat #62 UC Irvine 7-0 while Stanford is coming off a tough 5-2 loss to #13 USC. The teams split meetings last season with each winning on its home court. Stanford has dropped four in a row and is starting to reach a critical point in the season.  If the Cardinal doesn’t get things turned around pretty soon it’s going to end up on the wrong size of the NCAA tournament bubble.

Doubles record: UCLA 9-1, Stanford 7-3

Projected Singles Lineups (w UTR as of 2/27)
1. #19 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA 14.91) vs. #4 Tom Fawcett (STAN 14.77)
2. #36 Martin Redlicki (UCLA 13.86) vs. #48 David Wilczynski (STAN 13.84)
3. #46 Gage Brymer (UCLA 14.10) vs. #102 Nolan Paige (STAN 13.35)
4. #94 Karue Sell (UCLA 14.34) vs. #114 Maciek Romanowicz (STAN 13.38)
5. Logan Staggs (UCLA 13.32) vs. #88 Sameer Kumar (STAN 13.99)
6. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA 13.46) vs. Brandon Sutter (STAN 12.56)

Stanford had dropped the doubles point in three straight matches before it picked it up yesterday against USC. Stanford isn’t going to beat UCLA without the doubles point though realistically it probably isn’t going to win at all. I think UCLA is better in doubles plus it has a stronger top four and Di Giulio will be favored over Sutter at #6 if they get matched up. I’m going to take UCLA in doubles and Mackenzie McDonald, Martin Redlicki, Gage Brymer, Karue Sell, and Joseph Di Giulio in singles with Sameer Kumar picking up the lone point for the Cardinal. Three weeks ago I’d have said this was a pick’em or maybe would have leaned towards Stanford, but this Stanford team just hasn’t figured out how to win the close matches….maybe they’ll figure it out today but not likely. Prediction: UCLA 6-1

#2 Virginia (8-1) at #11 Illinois (6-4) – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring/Video – Virginia takes the court for the first time since losing to North Carolina 4-3 in the NTI finals two weeks ago while Illinois is coming off a 4-2 loss to Texas A&M last Sunday. I wouldn’t be surprised to see each team make some small lineup adjustments. I could see Brian Boland moving Collin Altamirano up to #2 and J.C. Aragone up to #4. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Brad Dancer swap Aleks Vukic and Jared Hiltzik at #1 and #2. The crowd at Atkins was a little small for the Texas A&M match but I have a feeling the place will be buzzing tonight. Illinois is going to need all the help it can get to stay in this match so for its sake I hope the crowd makes a difference.

Doubles record: Virginia 8-1, Illinois 6-4

Projected Singles Lineups (w UTR as of 2/27)
1. #14 Ryan Shane (UVA 14.62) vs. #9 Aleks Vukic (ILL 14.34)
2. #29 Collin Altamirano (UVA 14.33) vs. #6 Jared Hiltzik (ILL 14.30)
3. #3 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVA 14.64) vs. #66 Aron Hiltzik (ILL 13.59)
4. #111 J.C. Aragone (UVA 13.87) vs. Julian Childers (ILL 13.48)
5. Mac Styslinger (UVA 13.90) vs. Alex Jesse (ILL 12.86)
6. Henrik Wiersholm (UVA 14.38) vs. Asher Hirsch (ILL 12.77)
O: Luca Corinteli (UVA 13.57); Brian Page (ILL 12.44), Aiden Jiang (ILL 12.50)

I like Virginia in doubles at all three spots though Illinois probably has the best chances at #1 and #3. I’m going to take the Illini’s Aleks Vukic and Jared Hiltzik at #1 and #2 but Virginia is going to be too strong at #3 through #6 and will pull away to win it. Illinois’s best formula for an upset would be to take the doubles point and get wins from Vukic, Jared Hiltzik, and Julian Childers – that’s an awfully tough task against this deep Virginia team. Prediction: Virginia 5-2