The hosts of this year’s NCAAs met the hosts of last year’s NCAAs on Thursday night and in a mild surprise it was Tulsa defeating Baylor 4-3.
Baylor played without Will Little, who normally plays at No. 1 doubles and No. 4 singles, and despite a valiant effort it couldn’t get it done at home. Tulsa took the all-important doubles point with Majed Kilani and Carlos Bautista winning the decider at No. 3 doubles 7-6(2).
Each team picked up three first sets in singles but only two of them would finish in straight sets. Tulsa freshman Francois Kellerman won over Baylor walk-on Tyler Stayer 6-4, 6-1 to put the Golden Hurricane up 2-0 but Baylor freshman Jimmy Bendeck countered with a 7-6(8), 6-0 win over Dylan McCloskey at No. 4.
Baylor junior Max Tchoutakian leveled the match at 2-2 with a come from behind 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Juan-Matias Gonzalez at No. 2 however Tulsa freshman Majed Kilani put Tulsa back ahead with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 over Tommy Podvinski at No. 5.
BAYLOR 2, Tulsa 2. Max Tchoutakian takes a big 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win on court two. pic.twitter.com/Eeh6TIGZ23
Despite trailing, Baylor was still in good shape with both Julian Lenz and Felipe Rios leading their matches at No. 1 and No. 3. Lenz had opened up a 5-2 lead in the third set against Or Ram-Harel at No. 1 while Rios led Carlos Bautista 5-3 in the second set tiebreak at No. 3.
Things would turn quickly though with Bautista coming back to take the next four points to send his match to a third set at No. 3 plus Ram-Harel would take the next four games and would serve for the match at No. 1 leading 6-5.
Bautista broke Rios to start the third set but Rios broke back, held, and then broke again to go up 3-1. Bautista broke back and held for 3-3 before each held again to make it 4-4.
Back over at No. 1, Lenz would break Ram-Harel from 15-40 to send the match to a deciding third set tiebreak. Lenz would race out to a 4-0 lead but Ram-Harel took the next four to even it at 4-4 and would then go up 6-5. Lenz fought off a match point on his serve when he hit a nice volley winner to make it 6-6. Ram-Harel went up 7-6 when Lenz netted a forehand from the service line but Lenz fought off a second match point, this one on Ram-Harel’s serve, when Ram-Harel left a forehand too short and Lenz hammered a crosscourt forehand winner. Ram-Harel earned a third match point when Lenz netted a forehand but Lenz came up with a tremendous drop volley winner off his shoelaces to make it 8-8. Ram-Harel would get a fourth match point, and second on his serve, when Lenz overcooked a forehand but Lenz would punish a Ram-Harel second serve to even it at 9-9. Lenz went up 10-9 when a Ram-Harel forehand missed the mark and then Lenz won it 11-9 on this forehand winner.
BAYLOR 3, Tulsa 3. HUGE point for Lenz as he takes it 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(9) on court one. pic.twitter.com/kAmOkVXfLD
The high of the Lenz win didn’t last long as Rios would get broke to go down 5-4. Bautista fell behind 0-15 on his service game when he netted a forehand but he came back with a drop volley winner to even it at 15-all. Rios pushed a backhand just long to make it 30-15 and then a Rios forehand kicked off the net-cord and went wide to make it 40-15. Bautista converted his first match point to win it when Rios netted another forehand and that was game, set, and match.
#27 Tulsa 4, #30 Baylor 3
March 24, 2016 at Waco, Texas (Hurd Tennis Center)
“The goal was to come out and have positive energy throughout the match on every court regardless of how the scores were, and I think the team did a really good job of doing that. I’m really proud of the team. In singles, Julian and Max fought really hard. We fought like little dogs, and we tried everything we could to win. In my match, it was really tough in the first set. Then, I was able to open up a little bit. I think the crowd supported us well. It was a tough match.” –freshman Jimmy Bendeck on tonight’s match
Florida State overcame the loss of the doubles point and a weather delay to defeat Georgia Tech 5-2. The Yellow Jackets took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 but Florida State cooled them off in singles by taking first sets on every court except No. 6.
Ben Lock cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Chris Eubanks at No. 1 and Aziz Dougaz put FSU ahead with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Andrew Li at No. 4. Georgia Tech’s Nathan Rakitt tied it at 2-2 with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Terrance Whitehurst at No. 6.
Florida State’s Jose Gracia was up 6-2, 6-6 on Daniel Yun at No. 5 when play was stopped due to lightning. It was decided to move indoors and a little over an hour later play restarted and shortly thereafter Gracia finished off Yun 7-5 in the second set tiebreak.
Florida State’s Michael Rinaldi would clinch the match with a 7-6, 6-3 win over Cole Fiegel at No. 3. Rinaldi went up an early break in the second set and broke again to win it. Florida State’s Marco Nunez won the final match at No. 2 in a third set tiebreak to make the final 5-2 Seminoles.
Head Coach Dwayne Hultquist – “One of the key points to the match was when we won five first sets and the fact that Michael came back and won being down, that was key to the match. To get five first sets gained momentum and we finished all five off. Momentum kind of got stopped with us coming indoors. But we came back and won the three matches here and the guys did a good job of staying together.
“We had to make the point to them that we had to get after it. We were two points away from Jose and we’re fortunate that Jose won that tiebreaker, because momentum could have shifted. Mike did a real good job holding serve, breaking serve and getting off to a 4-1 lead and hitting a backhand pass for the winner.
Senior Michael Rinaldi:
“I’m just glad I could win the match for us. The guys all fought hard and it was a good match. It was a tough day. Anytime you move from outside to inside, it’s hard to adjust sometimes, but we did a good job and took all three matches that we had.
Senior Benjamin Lock:
“I knew I had to play my best tennis. I played him [Eubanks] last year. He’s really aggressive and likes to go after his shots. We were just so focused on winning today and the team has been on a roll at the moment. We wanted to keep the undefeated record at home, which is pretty cool. Our guys played well today with a lot of energy, so I’m happy for them.
Head Coach Kenny Thorne “We started the match strong in doubles. The Kays won convincingly over a strong No. 1 FSU team, and Banks and Beni did another good job as well. However we gave them momentum back to them too soon in singles. We lost four first sets way too quickly which gave FSU some energy. Nathan did a good job of finishing his match. Beni fought hard and didn’t quite make it to the finish line. FSU has been playing well, and their seniors at the top three spots of the lineup came through for them. We fought them hard, but we simply needed to execute better. We will fortunately be back home on Sunday against Notre Dame.
Dartmouth started its spring break road trip off with a nice shutout win over Midwestern State but after suffering three straight losses the Big Green was looking to finish its road trip off with a win at Memphis.
Dartmouth took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then it picked up straight set wins from Roko Glasovic and Eddie Grabill at No. 4 and No. 6 to go up 3-0.
Memphis won first set tiebreaks at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5 while Dartmouth’s George Wall won the opening set at No. 3. Dartmouth would get a split at No. 1 and No. 5 while Memphis got a split at No. 3.
Dartmouth’s George Wall got broke to go down 3-2 in the third but he’d break back and then take the next three to seal the win.
#42 Dartmouth College 4, #33 Memphis 0
Mar 24, 2016 at Memphis, Tenn. (The Racquet Club of Memphis)
Singles competition
1. #105 Andrew Watson (MEM) vs. #81 Sakinis, Dovydas (DART) 7-6, 1-6, 1-0, unfinished
2. #76 Ryan Peniston (MEM) vs. Riccardi, Ciro (DART) 7-6, 4-1, unfinished
3. Wall, George (DART) def. Kai Lemke (MEM) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
4. Glasnovic, Roko (DART) def. Chris Patzanovsky (MEM) 6-4, 6-2
5. Felix Rauch (MEM) vs. Schmidt, Max (DART) 7-6, 0-6, 1-0, unfinished
6. Grabill, Eddie (DART) def. Shakeel Manji (MEM) 6-1, 6-2
“The doubles point, that wasn’t our best doubles point,” Head Coach Paul Goebel said. “I give Dartmouth credit, they really fought hard and competed well. They played very well and looked like they wanted the doubles point today. The conditions were tough, but it just didn’t go our way today, but we’ll learn from it and keep working hard.” __________________________________________________________
Louisville pushed its record to .500 by edging Tennessee Tech 4-3. Louisville was playing without Alex Gornet, who plays at No. 1 singles and doubles, but the Cards still managed to take the doubles point and three first sets in singles.
Louisville pulled ahead 3-1 with wins from Jeffrey Brown and Sean Donohue at No. 3 and No. 6 while Tennessee Tech got a win from Eduardo Mena at No. 1.
Tennessee Tech would tie it at 3-3 with wins from Marcos Bernardes and Guille Nicolas at No. 5 and No. 4 so the match would be decided at No. 2.
Louisville freshman George Hedley would win the third set tiebreak at No. 2 over Tech senior Alex Arovin to seal the win.
Interesting fact: Tennessee Tech is one of only two Division I programs that has a men’s tennis team but not a women’s team – The Citadel is the other.
Louisville 4, Tennessee Tech 3
March 24, 2016 at Louisville, Ky. (Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Eduardo Mena (TTU 13.23) def. Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff (LOU 12.76) 7-6, 6-2
2. George Hedley (LOU 12.60) def. Alex Arovin (TTU 12.40) 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 (9-7)
3. Jeffrey Brown (LOU 12.70) def. Alberto Esteban (TTU 12.33) 6-4, 6-4
“Tennessee Tech just went to Knoxville and were in position to beat Tennessee,” said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. “They were confident coming in here. They are a veteran team, we’ve been battling those guys for a long time, I know their game like the back of my hand and they’re very, very good. There were a lot of gutsy points out there for us.”
“It was a grueling match,” said Hedley. “I was down a set and I just managed to find a way to come back and just kept going. I was cramping throughout the whole third set pretty much, but I managed to find a way and it felt great to get the win.”
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