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USC Slides Past Stanford, Kentucky KOs Illini, Texas A&M Stuns South Florida, Notre Dame Nips Northwestern

by | Feb 25, 2017 | Blog | 2 comments

For the second day in a row USC got pushed on its home courts but just as they did yesterday against Cal Poly they fought back and came away with a 4-3 win over Stanford. Stanford jumped out to the early 1-0 lead in this non-conference matchup after taking the doubles point but USC came back with wins from Brandon Holt, Jack Jaede, and Riley Smith to go in front 3-1. Stanford sophomore Sameer Kumar trimmed the deficit to 3-2 with a three set win at No. 2 but USC sophomore Logan Smith clinched the match with a three set win at No. 3. 

#12 USC 4, #35 Stanford 3
February 24, 2017 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Doubles competition
(1) #29 Holt/R. Smith (USC) vs. Fawcett/Goldberg (STAN) – 6-5 susp.
(2) Kumar/Genender (STAN) def. Crystal/Verboven (USC) – 6-3
(3) Wilczynski/Sutter (STAN) def. Bellamy/Jaede (USC) – 7-5
Stanford wins the doubles point
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles competition
(1) #27 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #12 Tom Fawcett (STAN) – 6-4, 6-2
(2) Sameer Kumar (STAN) def. Nick Crystal (USC) – 6-3, 6-7 (8), 6-2
(3) #42 Logan Smith (USC) def. #73 Michael Genender (STAN) – 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-1*
(4) Jack Jaede (USC) def. #77 Jack Barber (STAN) – 6-4, 6-2
(5) David Wilczynski (STAN) def. Thibault Forget (USC) – 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (4)
(6) Riley Smith (USC) def. Brandon Sutter (STAN) – 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 4, 1, 6, 2, 3*, 5

 

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No. 21 Kentucky came rolling into Champaign and a few hours later they rolled back out with a 4-0 win over No. 19 Illinois. The Illini crowd cost the team two point penalties late in the match at No. 2 doubles and in singles Kentucky got off to a quick start and Beck Pennington, Nils Ellefsen, and Trey Yates each won in straight sets with Yates clinching at No. 6. 

#21 Kentucky 4, #19 Illinois 0
Feb 24, 2017 at Champaign, Ill. (Atkins Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #23 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) vs. #35 William Bushamuka (UK) 6-3, 4-6, unfinished
2. #29 Aleks Vukic (ILL) vs. #21 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) 3-6, 4-4, unfinished
3. Beck Pennington (UK) def. Julian Childers (ILL) 6-2, 6-1
4. Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Gui Gomes (ILL) 6-4, 7-5
5. Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) vs. Enzo Wallart (UK) 6-2, 2-6, 2-1, unfinished
6. Trey Yates (UK) def. Noe Khlif (ILL) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Aron Hiltzik/Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. #33 Beck Pennington/Enzo Wallart (UK) 6-2
2. William Bushamuka/Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Alex Jesse/Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) 7-5
3. Ryotaro Matsumura/Trey Yates (UK) def. Zeke Clark/Gui Gomes (ILL) 6-4
Match Notes:
Kentucky 9-4; National ranking #21
Illinois 6-4; National ranking #19
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,4,6)
T-2:48 A-766
 

Post-Match Quotes from Illinois head coach Brad Dancer
“This was an embarrassing loss for our team and our program tonight. We certainly had a goofy situation with the multiple crowd penalties, when it felt like we were in a winning position during doubles. I think that sucked the life and energy out of the atmosphere a little bit, because no one had any idea what was going on. At the same time, that is an unfortunate situation and you really expect us to respond. Clearly tonight we did not do that.

Typically, this is a very difficult place (Atkins Tennis Center) to come and play, especially when teams are trying to win here. This was not indicative of where we want to be as team. The team talked about it and the coaches will have to continue to look at things, but the bottom line is this is just not Illinois tennis.”

 

Notre Dame picked up a big 4-1 win at home over No. 13 Northwestern. The Irish claimed the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then the lead was extended to 3-0 after Matt Gamble and Guillermo Cabrera won in straight sets at No. 5 and No. 6. Northwestern, which was playing without Konrad Zieba in singles, picked up a win from freshman Dominik Stary at No. 3 but Notre Dame senior Josh Hagar would close out the upset with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Strong Kirchheimer at No. 1. 

Notre Dame 4, #13 Northwestern 1
Feb 24, 2017 at Notre Dame, Ind. (Eck Tennis Pavilion)
Singles competition
1. #44 Josh Hagar (ND) def. #28 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Eddy Covalschi (ND) vs. Sam Shropshire (NU) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 4-3*, unfinished
3. Dominik Stary (NU) def. Alex Lebedev (ND) 6-4, 6-4
4. Grayson Broadus (ND) vs. Ben Vandixhorn (NU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 5-6*, unfinished
5. Matt Gamble (ND) def. Jason Seidman (NU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Guillermo Cabrera (ND) def. Brenden Volk (NU) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles Competition
1. #6 Eddy Covalschi/Josh Hagar (ND) def. Konrad Zieba/Sam Shropshire (NU) 6-3
2. #51 Dominik Stary/Strong Kirchheimer (NU) def. Grayson Broadus/Brendon Kempin (ND) 6-1
3. Matt Gamble/Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Chris Ephron/Ben Vandixhorn (NU) 6-2
Match Notes:
Northwestern 10-4; National ranking #13
Notre Dame 8-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,6,3,1)

Post-Match Quotes from head coach Ryan Sachire via UND’s recap
“Winning is two parts. It is preparation and being ready to play at the level necessary to beat a great team like Northwestern and, during the match, it’s how you compete. It’s how to manage different situations. I thought our guys did a pretty good job tonight of the competing part. We had a great week of practice and a great week of preparation. When we found ourselves in difficult moments, we trusted how we play. We trusted our games.” 
 
“Northwestern’s a great team and when they made runs at us, we had the will to make a run right back at them and not just let them overwhelm us with their energy and their play. We pushed back and I’m super proud of our guys for doing that. The win means so much because we respect Northwestern a lot.” 

 

South Florida looked like it was well on its way to picking up a win over Texas A&M but the Aggies rallied to win it 4-3. South Florida took the doubles point along with straight set wins from Peter Bertran and Vadym Kalyuzhnny while Texas A&M picked up straight set wins from Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot. The final two singles matches were tied at 4-4 in the third and Texas A&M’s AJ Catanzariti and Jordi Arconada both managed to come out on top with Catanzariti clinching at No. 2

Texas A&M 4, South Florida 3
Feb 24, 2017 at Tampa, Fla. (USF Varsity Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. #16 Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. Sasha Gozun (USF) 7-6 (7-3), 6-0
2. AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Justin Roberts (USF) 5-7, 6-1, 7-5
3. Peter Bertran (USF) def. Max Lunkin (TAMU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
4. Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. #83 Alberto Barroso (USF) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
5. Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. Pierre Luquet (USF) 6-4, 6-4
6. Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (USF) def. Hady Habib (TAMU) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Sasha Gozun/Alberto Barroso (USF) def. Arthur Rinderknech/Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) 6-4
2. Peter Bertran/Justin Roberts (USF) vs. AJ Catanzariti/Hady Habib (TAMU) 5-5, unfinished
3. Vadym Kalyuzhnyy/Nils Heimer (USF) def. Jordi Arconada/Max Lunkin (TAMU) 6-4
Match Notes:
Texas A&M 4-3
University of South Florida 2-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (6, 1, 3, 5, 4, 2)
T-3:00 A-124

Post-Match Quote from A&M’s recap
“I am very happy for Valentin, Jordi and AJ; who laid it all out there today,” Texas A&M men’s tennis head coach Steve Denton said. “Our guys just kept hanging around and found a way to get the team victory. That was an awesome tennis match today. USF was really tough today and I know they are going to have a great season. There were no losers today, the players on both side gave their all.”
 
 
Other Friday Scores:
 
  • #5 Oklahoma, playing without Andrew Harris (S1/D1), defeated #41 Tulsa 7-0 – five of six singles matches were competitive with four going the distance but OU pulled them all out including Spencer Papa defeating Or Ram-Harel 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8) at No. 1 singles. 
  • #7 Texas defeated Wichita State 6-1 with Leo Telles clinching at 4-1 with a straight set win at No. 4 – Wichita State’s Haru Inoue picked up the Shockers lone point with a straight set win over ITA No. 11 Christian Sigsgaard at No. 1. Texas’s usual No. 2 George Goldhoff did not play. 
  • #8 Oklahoma State went to Minneapolis and hung on for a 5-2 win over #25 Minnesota – Julian Cash and Tristan Meraut won the final two matches left on court 7-5 in the third. Lukas Finzelberg, who normally plays at No. 2 singles and No. 3 doubles for OSU, did not play. 
  • #16 South Carolina jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Texas Tech but had to hold to win 4-3 with Gabriel Friedrich winning the decider 7-5 in the third at No. 1 – match played at Blue Gray Classic. 
  • #20 Mississippi State won its home opener with a 4-1 win over #22 Tulane – State took the doubles and picked up straight sets wins from Borges, Rakic, and Braun. 
  • #23 Oregon hammered BYU 7-0 – Ducks swept all three doubles courts and won 12 of 13 sets in singles.
  • #24 Cornell took the doubles point and five first sets and won three in straight sets in a 4-1 win over #43 Clemson
  • Yale upset #26 Old Dominion 4-3 with freshman Andrew Heller winning the deciding match at No. 6 singles 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
  • #32 Washington routed Nevada 7-0 – Huskies only dropped five games during doubles and won all 12 sets in singles 
  • #37 Florida State rebounded from losing the doubles point to defeat #40 Pepperdine 4-1 – Noles won four first sets in singles and closed out each in straight sets except for Guy Iradukunda who won his match in a third set at No. 2. 
  • #44 Memphis picked up a close 4-3 road win at Dartmouth with sophomore Chris Patzanovsky winning the decider 6-1, 7-5 at No. 3. 
  • #46 Rice blew past Boise State 4-0 in the opening round of the Blue Gray Classic in Montgomery, Alabama. 

 

2 Comments

  1. 181
    181 on Thu March 19, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    Who are some of the good matchups this weekend?

  2. 3
    3 on Thu March 19, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    I think Central Florida at TCU today is intriguing – John Roddick comes back to the Big 12; UCF leaves Florida for the first time; TCU playing for the first time in two weeks after Roditi called out team for not competing. I think TCU responds and rolls but UCF could surprise.

    Stanford at UCLA on Saturday – both teams trying to put things

    Ohio State at Florida on Sunday – Ohio State's first outdoors match of the year – Florida coming off a less than satisfactory NTI – could go either way though Ohio State should win.

    Oklahoma State at Northwestern on Sunday – second meeting in the last week – NU has lost four in a row and if Zieba doesn't play it could be five in a row.