Select Page
Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Usually Tuesdays are reserved for the the release of the rankings, but today should have been renamed 4-3day with one match after another going down to the wire.

TCU and Northwestern were originally supposed to meet a few weeks ago in Evanston but due to bad weather TCU’s flight was cancelled so they made up the match up today in Fort Worth. Today in Fort Worth there were high winds anticipated so play was moved indoors though evidently it never got as windy as forecasted.

The doubles point would be a precursor to the type of match that was going to take place over the next two hours and forty-five minutes. Northwestern’s Fedor Baev and Strong Kirchheimer won 6-4 at No. 1 but minutes later TCU’s Cameron Norrie and Jerry Lopez would pick up a 6-4 win at No. 3. The doubles point would be decided in a tiebreak at No. 2 with TCU’s Trevor Johnson and Guillermo Nuez coming back from 4-1 down to take it 7-6(5).

TCU’s indoor facility has just five courts so the top five singles spots went on first with No. 6 not going on until the first match finished.

TCU took three of the five first sets and almost had a fourth but Northwestern’s Strong Kirchheimer pulled out a tiebreak at No. 3. TCU sophomore Cameron Norrie finished first with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Sam Shropshire at No. 2 and then Eduardo Nava made it 3-0 after he defeated Alp Horoz 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5.

Northwestern’s Strong Kirchheimer started the Wildcats comeback with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Guillermo Nunez at No. 3 and then Fedor Baev pulled away from Jerry Lopez in the third set to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 4.

Konrad Zieba tied it up at 3-3 with a big 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win over Alex Rybakov at No. 1 so it would all come down to a third set at No. 6 singles to decide it.

TCU sophomore Trevor Johnson took the first set 6-4 but Northwestern freshman Ben Vandixhorn took the second 6-3. Johnson started off the third set by holding and then breaking but Vandixhorn broke back and held for 2-2. Johnson would hold, break, hold, and break once more to close it out 6-2 in the third.


#3 TCU 4, #12 Northwestern 3
Mar 22, 2016 at Fort Worth, Texas (Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #13 Konrad Zieba (NW) def. #15 Alex Rybakov (TCU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
2. #3 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #42 Sam Shropshire (NW) 6-2, 6-3
3. #97 Strong Kirchheimer (NW) def. #54 Guillermo Nuez (TCU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 
4. Fedor Baev (NW) def. Jerry Lopez (TCU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
5. #103 Eduardo Nava (TCU) def. Alp Horoz (NW) 6-1, 6-3
6. Trevor Johnson (TCU) def. Ben Vandixhorn (NW) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Fedor Baev/Strong Kirchheimer (NW) def. #67 Hudson Blake/Reese Stalder (TCU) 6-4
2. Trevor Johnson/Guillermo Nuez (TCU) def. Konrad Zieba/Sam Shropshire (NW) 7-6 (7-5) 
3. Cameron Norrie/Jerry Lopez (TCU) def. Alp Horoz/Mihir Kumar (NW) 6-4
Match Notes:
Northwestern 14-2; National ranking #12
TCU 14-2; National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,5,3,4,1,6) 
A-175

Post-Match Quotes from TCU’s recap
Head Coach David Roditi – “This is obviously a great win for our guys. We showed a lot of resilience having to go indoors on such a beautiful day because of the prediction of wind. Our rules need to be adjusted, but credit to our guys and we should probably get credit as this being an away match. To be able to beat this Northwestern team on indoor courts that has won 14 of the last 15 matches is a great win for our guys.
“From the very beginning, you could tell that Cameron Norrie was ready to play and you could tell that Eduardo was ready to play. Alex Rybakov got off to a great start and he was looking good but that was a tough match. Guillermo (Nuez) also had a tough match at the No. 3 spot. We knew that it was going to be tough and if you want to beat (Strong) Kirchheimer, you better be ready to compete and we fell a little short there.
“You beat a team like this in these conditions and you are happy, but there are just so many things that we could have done better today. I feel like we got away with one. The highlight of the day was obviously Trevor (Johnson) who clutches the doubles and then comes back in singles after having to wait and wins a three-set match with everybody watching. I was so happy for him. He works so hard and he deserves all of the success he gets. I am pleased, but parts of our team got exposed today and we need to do something about that.
“Now we get to prepare for Texas A&M. That is going to be a tough match on Monday. They are doing very well and we played them twice last year, so I am sure they remember that. It is basically their same team from last year, so it will be a tough match.”

___________________________________________________________

The biggest surprise of the day took place in Lexington as a short-handed Kentucky team knocked off No. 10 Illinois 4-3. Kentucky was playing without its usual No. 3 and No. 4 singles players, Nils Ellefsen and Enzo Wallart, but the substitutes came through in a major way.

Illinois took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 but Kentucky took four of six opening sets in singles. Kentucky senior Kevin Lai was first off the court with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Brian Page at No. 6. It was only Lai’s second dual-match of the season and first against a Power 5 school.

UK sophomore Jake Stefanik put the Cats ahead 2-1 with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Asher Hirsch at No. 5. It just Stefanik’s fifth dual-match of the year although he was coming off a blowout win over Vanderbilt’s Alex Ross.

UK sophomore William Bushamuka put Kentucky within a point of the win with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 win over Jared Hiltzik at No. 1. Hiltzik led 2-0 in the tiebreak when he was defaulted due to a fourth overrule which occurred on a Bushamuka first serve. Hiltzik took to Twitter after the match and was less than pleased with what he thought was some horrible officiating.

Aron Hiltzik trimmed the Kentucky lead to 3-2 with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over Trey Yates at No. 3 and Aleks Vukic tied it up with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Ryotaro Matsumura at No. 2.

The match would be decided at No. 4 singles between Kentucky freshman Austin Hussey and Illinois redshirt junior Julian Childers. Hussey took the first set 6-3 and led 3-1 in the second but Childers took the next five games to take it 6-3. Childers went up an early break in the third and would serve for the match up 5-4 but Hussey broke and then held for 6-5.

Hussey went up 0-15 on the Childers serve when a forehand down the line forced an error but Childers evened it at 15-all with a second serve service winner. Childers went up 30-15 with an overhead put away from the service line but a double fault on the next point made it 30-all. Childers went up 40-30 when a Hussey backhand sailed just long on the 15th shot of the rally but Hussey took the next point when Childers sent a forehand long on the 14th shot of the rally. Hussey elected to receive the deciding no-ad point in the ad-court and on the 19th shot of the rally he hit a forehand from the service line that Childers couldn’t get back in play and that was game, set, and match.

The 17th shot of the rally was the shot that set up the finish because Hussey looped a forehand that the wind carried to the baseline so Childers had to hit a forehand above his shoulders. Childers couldn’t get into position to hit an overhead so just tapped it back and the wind knocked it down enough that Hussey was able to come in and drill it.

Kudos to Kentucky for periscoping the final game!!

#18 Kentucky 4, #10 Illinois 3
March 22, 2016 at Lexington, Kentucky (Boone Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #27 William Bushamuka (UK) def. #10 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2-0)
2. #4 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. #59 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) def. Trey Yates (UK) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
4. Austin Hussey (UK) def. Julian Childers (ILL) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
5. Jake Stefanik (UK) def. Asher Hirsch (ILL) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Kevin Lai (UK) def. Brian Page (ILL) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Aron Hiltzik/Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. William Bushamuka/Gus Benson (UK) 6-3
2. Jared Hiltzik/Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) def. Kevin Lai/Trey Yates (UK) 6-4
3. Austin Hussey/Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) def. Alex Jeese/Julian Childers (ILL) 6-4
Match Notes:
Illinois 8-7 (0-1); National ranking #10
Kentucky 12-4 (3-2); National ranking #18
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,5,1,3,2,4)
Post-Match Quotes from Kentucky’s recap
“I think today we showed that we can play against the best one-two punch in the country, fifth-year head coach Cedric Kauffman said. “Today we really showed our depth without a couple guys in the lineup.
“I thought our guys stepped up big especially on the back end after losing the doubles point. I thought that our energy during doubles was a lot better than normal, especially on the third court that’s what we’re looking for on all courts and what they did was great.
“I think when Austin came down and watched matches as a senior in high school, he had that kind of idea in his head, and his performance today was enormous, Kauffmann said on the freshman’s outing. “For him to come down and clinch the match like that wow. I know he’s talked about it, but for him to do it is different. I’m really proud of how he did today.
Post-Match Quotes from Illinois’s recap
“We have to perform better at the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions,” head coach Brad Dancer said. “We didn’t close out matches where we had momentum. That is the difference in us becoming an elite team. We had some tough performances from Jared and Aleks. They played with great composure.”
__________________________________________________________________
Drake hadn’t played in nine days and was coming off a tough loss to Wisconsin but the Bulldogs were able to gut out a come from behind 4-3 win over No. 26 Oregon.

Oregon blew Drake off the court in doubles winning 6-2 at both No. 2 and No. 3 and they also led 5-2 at No. 1 when play was stopped due to the clinch. Each team took three first sets and five of the six matches would finish in straight sets.

Drake’s Ben Stride cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 6 but Oregon’s Simon Stevens answered with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 3. Drake’s Ben Lott tied the match at 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 1 but Oregon’s Cormac Clissold put the Ducks back ahead with a 7-6, 6-1 win at No. 5. Drake’s Calum MacGeoch tied it back up with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 4 so the match would be decided in a third set at No. 2 between a pair of freshman.

Oregon’s Thomas Laurent took the first set 7-5 but the second set was all Vinny Gillespie as the Scotland native took it 6-1. Gillespie broke Laurent to start the third set and then held for 2-0. Gillespie kept the break lead until Laurent broke for 4-4 and then held for 5-4. Gillespie held, broke, and then held to close it out 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.

It was the fourth time this season that Gillespie clinched a team win and also the fourth time he had been in the final match left on court. After dropping his first two he has now won the last two.

Also nice job by Drake getting some video clips after the match with Davidson and Vinny.

#44 Drake 4, #26 Oregon 3
Mar 22, 2016 at Des Moines, Iowa (Roger Knapp Tennis Center) 
Singles competition
1. Lott, Ben (DU) def. #94 Maasland, Daan (UO) 6-4, 6-4
2. Gillespie, Vinny (DU) def. Laurent, Thomas (UO) 5-7, 6-1, 7-5
3. Stevens, Simon (UO) def. Philips, Bayo (DU) 6-4, 6-3
4. MacGeoch, Calum (DU) def. Amos, Jayson (UO) 6-3, 7-5
5. Clissold, Cormac (UO) def. Wood, Ben (DU) 7-6, 6-1
6. Stride, Ben (DU) def. Young-Smith, Ethan (UO) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #20 Amos, Jayson/Soemarno, Armando (UO) vs. Lott, Ben/Wood, Ben (DU) 5-2 unf.
2. Maasland, Daan/Stevens, Simon (UO) def. Gillespie, Vinny/MacGeoch, Calum (DU) 6-2
3. Clissold, Cormac/Laurent, Thomas (UO) def. Philips, Bayo/Stride, Ben (DU) 6-2
Match Notes
Drake 13-6; National ranking #44
Oregon 13-2; National ranking #26
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,3,1,5,4,2)


Post-Match Quotes from Drake’s recap
“What a great effort from Ben (Lott) today, picking up a nationally ranked win. He is a guy that the team looks too and when he is winning and playing well the guys know we are in good shape,” Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski said.
__________________________________________________________________


In the early match of the day it was No. 27 Tulsa holding on to edge #42 Dartmouth 4-3. Dartmouth won easily at No. 3 doubles but Tulsa cruised at No. 2. Tulsa’s No. 1 team of Matthew Kirby and Okkie Kellerman broke Dartmouth’s Sakinis and Glasnovic to go up 6-5 and then served it out to take the match 7-5.

All six singles matches would finish in straight sets after each team took three first sets. Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel, who normally plays at No. 1, picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2. Dartmouth’s Dovydas Sakinis got past Juan Matias Gonzalez 7-6, 6-2 at No. 1. Dartmouth’s George Wall won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 to tie the match at 2-all but Tulsa’s Francois Kellerman put the Golden Hurricane back ahead with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6.

Dartmouth’s Max Schmidt tied it at 3-all with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 5 so it came down to No. 3 between Tulsa’s Carlos Bautista and Dartmouth’s Max Fliegner.

Flienger jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first set but Bautista took the next four to go up 5-3. Fliegner held for 4-5, broke for 5-5, and then held for 6-5. Bautista held to send it a tiebreak and then he took took the tiebreak 7-4. Fliegner broke Bautista to start the second set and then held for 2-0. After an exchange of holds Bautista would break to even it at 3-3 and then hold for 4-3. Bautista would break again and then hold to seal the win 7-6, 6-3.

#27 Tulsa 4, #42 Dartmouth 3 
March 22, 2016 at Tulsa, Oklahoma (Boone Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #55 Dovydas Sakinis (Dartmouth) def. Juan Matias Gonzalez (Tulsa), 7-6(2), 6-2
2. #39 Or Ram-Harel (Tulsa) def. Ciro Riccardi (Dartmouth), 6-3, 6-2
3. Carlos Bautista (Tulsa) def. Max Fliegner (Dartmouth), 7-6(4), 6-3
4. George Wall (Dartmouth) def. Dylan McCloskey (Tulsa), 6-4, 6-3
5. Max Schmidt (Dartmouth) def. Majed Kilani (Tulsa), 6-4, 6-2
6. Francois Kellerman (Tulsa) def. Eddie Grabill (Dartmouth), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Kirby/O.Kellerman (Tulsa) def #59 Sakinis/Glasnovic (Dartmouth), 7-5
2. Tannenbaum/Wall (Dartmouth) def McCloskey/Bechard (Tulsa), 6-2
3. Kilani/Bautista (Tulsa) def Fliegner/Schidt (Dartmouth), 6-1
Match Notes:
Tulsa 8-8; National ranking #27
Dartmouth 11-7; National ranking #42
Order of doubles finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,1,4,6,5,3)
_______________________________________________________________

UCLA made a quick trip down to Las Vegas to play UCLA but they ended up playing indoors in neighboring Henderson due to high wind. They played singles first and UCLA won five of six match with Karue Sell taking the day off.

Mackenzie McDonald, Martin Redlicki, Logan Staggs, and Joseph Di Giulio won in straight sets while Gage Brymer was pushed to a third set supertiebreak. Austin Rapp, who played his first match since injuring his ankle against North Carolina at the National Indoors on February 14, fell in a third set supertiebreak to Richard Solberg at No. 6.

UCLA swept all three courts in doubles with the closest match coming at No. 2 where Max Cressy and Joey D won 7-6(5).

#6 UCLA 6, UNLV 1
Mar 22, 2016 at Henderson, Nev. (Lifetime Club) 
Doubles competition
1. #4 McDonald/Redlicki (UCLA) def. Alberts/Amilon (UNLV) 6-1
2. Cressy/Di Giulio (UCLA) def. Gage-Brown/ Neto (UNLV) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Brymer/Rapp (UCLA) def. Cozbinov/Croxford (UNLV) 6-3
Singles competition
1. #9 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. Jakob Amilon (UNLV) 6-1, 6-3
2. #49 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. Ruben Alberts (UNLV) 6-4, 6-2
3. #41 Gage Brymer (UCLA) def. Alexandr Cozbinov (UNLV) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-3)
4. Logan Staggs (UCLA) def. Adam Gage-Brown (UNLV) 6-3, 6-2
5. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA) def. Evaldo Neto (UNLV) 6-1, 6-4
6. Richard Solberg (UNLV) def. Austin Rapp (UCLA) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9)
Match Notes
UNLV 5-6
UCLA 12-2; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,4,5,2,3,6)
_______________________________________________________________

Earlier in the day Pepperdine tumbled out of the top 10, but later in the day the Waves were all smiles after defeating No. 20 Stanford for the first time in program history. The match was originally scheduled for Monday but was pushed back to Tuesday due to rain. Rain was still a possibility on Tuesday so the team played singles first and wouldn’t you know but it was all tied at 3-3 after singles.

Stanford picked up straight set wins from Carolina Doyle, Krista Hardebeck, and Kimberly Yee at 2, 3, and 6 while Pepperdine’s Luisa Stefani won in straights at No. 1.

Pepperdine’s Matea Cutura and Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai each won in three-sets with Cutura the last one on court.

The doubles point decided the winner and it was Pepperdine winning 6-3 at No. 1 and 6-1 at No. 2 to take the point and the match.

#11 Pepperdine 4, #20 Stanford 3
Mar 22, 2016 at Palo Alto, Calif. (Taube Family Tennis Stadium) 
Singles competition
1) No. 2 Luisa Stefani (PEPP) d. No. 23 Taylor Davidson (STAN) 6-4, 6-1
2) No. 57 Caroline Doyle (STAN) d. Dzina Milovanovic (PEPP) 6-3, 6-3
3) No. 118 Krista Hardebeck (STAN) d. Laura Gulbe (PEPP) 6-4, 7-6 (12)
4) Matea Cutura (PEPP) d. Caroline Lampl (STAN) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
5) Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai (PEPP) d. Melissa Lord (STAN) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
6) Kimberly Yee (STAN) d. Michaela Capanno (PEPP) 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 5, 6, 3, 4
Doubles competition
1) No. 29 Runglerdkriangkrai/Stefani (PEPP) d. No. 4 Davidson/Doyle (STAN) 6-3
2) No. 13 Cutura/Christine Maddox (PEPP) d. Lord/Yee (STAN) 6-1
3) No. 47 Hardebeck/Lampl (STAN) led Capannolo/Milovanovic 5-2, suspended
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Post-Match Quotes from Pepperdine’s recap
“Our program is heading in the right direction and beating Stanford on their courts is another step forward for us, said head coach Per Nilsson.  “I’m really proud of the team and excited to see what they will do next.
“Matea stepped up today and showed a lot of toughness, said Nilsson.  “There was a lot of pressure on her to get us into doubles.
“We got really excited going into the doubles and Luisa and Jean came up with a big win to clinch the match, Nilsson said.
____________________________________________________________

Tulane stayed out west after playing in San Diego last week and picked up a nice 7-0 win over Santa Clara in Nor Cal. The Green Wave took the doubles point with Constantin Schmitz and Sebastian Rey winning the deciding match at No. 2 by a 7-5 score. 
Tulane won all six singles matches in straight sets with the “Dominator” Dominik Koepfer clinching the team win at No. 1. Koepfer is a rock solid 13-0 in dual-match play and 25-2 overall this year – its no wonder he is the ITA ranked No. 1 singles player. 
#22 Tulane 7, Santa Clara 0
Mar 22, 2016 at Santa Clara University (Degheri Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #1 Dominik Koepfer (TLN) def. Ashot Khacharyan (SCU) 6-4, 6-4
2. #83 Constantin Schmitz (TLN) def. Robert Seby (SCU) 6-3, 7-5
3. Sebastian Rey (TLN) def. Connor Garnett (SCU) 6-2, 7-6
4. Chi-Shan Jao (TLN) def. Kamram Khan (SCU) 6-1, 6-3
5. Alex Van Cott (TLN) def. Sebastien Mathieu (SCU) 6-0, 6-2
6. Tyler Schick (TLN) def. Jeffrey Liang (SCU) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #21 Dominik Koepfer/Chi-Shan Jao (TLN) def. Connor Garnett/Robert Seby (SCU) 6-2
2. Constantin Schmitz/Sebastian Rey (TLN) def. Jeffrey Liang/Kamram Khan (SCU) 7-5
3. Ashot Khacharyan/Max Heerinckx (SCU) def. Nikolas Tukic/Tyler Schick (TLN) 6-3
Match Notes:
Tulane 12-4; National ranking #22
Santa Clara 6-7
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,5,1,4,2,3)
Post-Match Quotes from Tulane’s recap
“The guys did a good job taking care of business today against a very solid Santa Clara team,” Tulane head coach Mark Booras stated. “We set up some team goals and some individual goals about how we wanted to respond from our last match that we lost, and the guys held themselves accountable to reach those goals and learned a lot from today’s match.”
Post-Match Quotes from Santa Clara’s recap
“Tulane is one of the best teams in the country so credit to them for coming out and getting after it,” said Head Coach Derek Mills. “These matches against ranked teams are tough but we are learning how to compete against the best.”