Wake Wallops Texas, South Alabama Wins H-E-B, Drake Downs Washington, Ohio State (W) Rocks Pepperdine, Texas Tech (W) Trounces TCU

Wake Forest and Texas had played a lot of close matches over the past three years (four 4-3 matches) but on Saturday afternoon in Austin there wouldn’t be any suspense as the third ranked Demon Deacons would run over the eighth ranked Longhorns 4-0. The ITA top ranked doubles team of Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim jumped out to an early 3-0 lead at No. 1 and they’d make the break lead hold up and take it 6-3. Texas’s Harrison Scott and Julian Zlobinsky jumped out an early 2-0 lead at No. 2 against Borna Gojo and Alan Gadjiev but the Wake duo would break back on the no-ad point to make it 2-1. After a Wake hold for 2-2, Texas held on the no-ad point for 3-2. The next break opportunity would come when Texas served at 4-4 but they managed to hold on the no-ad point for 5-4. Wake held for 5-5, broke from 30/40 for 6-5, and then they held on the no-ad point to win 7-5 which gave the Deacs the early 1-0 lead. The match at No. 3 doubles saw a lot of break opportunities but neither team could convert and it’d go unfinished with Wake Forest serving at 5-6. 

Wake Forest used the momentum from the doubles point as a springboard in singles and would take all six opening sets with only Petros Chrysochos needing to come back from a break down to do so. Wake freshman Borna Gojo was the first off the court with a straight set win over Harrison Scott at No. 3. Gojo took the first set 6-0 and then he got broke to start the second set but he’d break right back and hold for 2-1. It’d stay on serve until Scott broke from 15/40 to go up 5-4 but Gojo would break back from 30/40 to even it at 5-all. Gojo held at love for 6-5 and then he broke Scott on the no-ad point to win it 6-0, 7-5.

Wake junior Christian Seraphim made it 3-0 with a straight set win over Leo Telles at No. 4. Seraphim broke from 30/40 to go up 4-3 in the first and a few games later he’d hold from 40/30 to take the opening set 6-4. Seraphim broke at love to start the second set and then he’d break from 30/40 to extend the lead to 4-1. After back-to-back holds on the no-ad point, Seraphim would serve it out at love to win it 6-4, 6-2. 

Wake sophomore and ITA No. 1 Petros Chrysochos would get the clincher at No. 1 with a straight set win over Christian Sigsgaard. Chrysochos fell behind 4-1 in the opening set but he’d reel off five straight to take the set 6-4. The final two games of the set finished on no-ad points with Chrysochos breaking for 5-4 and then holding to take the set 6-4. Chrysochos broke to start the second set but Sigsgaard would break back to even it at 2-all. Sigsgaard went up 40/0 on his 2-2 service game but Chrysochos would break on the no-ad point to go up 3-2. Chrysochos held on the no-ad point for 4-2 and then three games later he’d break from 15/40 to close it out 6-4, 6-3.

The other three matches went unfinished with Wake up sets in two of them while the match at No. 5 was just getting ready to start a third set.  

Note: Texas was without Yuya Ito (#4 singles) due to what I was told was a lower back injury.

#3 Wake Forest 4, #8 Texas 0
Mar 04, 2017 at Austin, Texas (Caswell Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #1 Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. #11 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 6-4, 6-3
2. #8 Skander Mansouri (WF) vs. #124 George Goldhoff (UT) 6-3, *5-6, unfinished
3. Borna Gojo (WF) def. #48 Harrison Scott (UT) 6-0, 7-5
4. #34 Christian Seraphim (WF) def. #86 Leo Telles (UT) 6-4, 6-2
5. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) vs. Dennis Uspensky (WF) 2-6, 6-4, unfinished
6. Alan Gadjiev (WF) vs. Julian Zlobinsky (UT) 6-4, 5-5, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #1 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) def. Leo Telles/George Goldhoff (UT) 6-3
2. Borna Gojo/Alan Gadjiev (WF) def. Harrison Scott/Julian Zlobinsky (UT) 7-5
3. Christian Sigsgaard/Colin Markes (UT) vs. Petros Chrysochos/Dennis Uspensky (WF) 6-5*, unfinished
Match Notes
Wake Forest 10-1; National ranking #3
Texas 12-3; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,4,1)
T-2:13 

South Alabama won its 14th consecutive match and its third in the last 24 hours with a 4-0 win over Arizona in the finals of the H-E-B Tournament of Champions in Corpus Christi, Texas. Due to rain in the forecast they played singles first and South Alabama jumped on Arizona and took all six opening sets. Tuki Jacobs, Clement Marzol, Loic Cloes, and Pierre Noyton each won in straight sets for the Jags with Noyon getting the clincher at No. 5. 

Here is the list of the 14 teams who USA has defeated over the last five weeks: Charlotte, Southern Miss, Florida A&M, Nicholls, Auburn, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, Jackson State, North Florida, Samford, UAB, UTRGV, Louisiana Lafayette, and Arizona.

Post-Match Quotes from South Alabama’s recap
“It was a great team effort today,” said USA head coach Nick Brochu. “We were aggressive, loud, and focused.”

“We had an excellent start on all six courts,” Brochu said. “It is great to see the guys compete so hard even if it was our third match in 24 hours.”

“It is nice to see a guy like Pierre being reinserted into the lineup and clinch the championship for us,” said Brochu. “We still have many matches to finish the season. We will enjoy this win but go right back to work on Monday.”

Post-Match Quotes from Arizona’s recap
“We lost a tough match today,” said head coach Clancy Shields. “Congratulations to South Alabama, they are having a great season and added to that today. The score wasn’t indicative of how close the match was. I thought that our guys competed well and every match we were a few points away from it going our way. We are in the process of building winning habits, and we will look back at this weekend in the future as a giant step in the right direction for our program.”

Drake snapped a three match losing streak with a neutral site 4-3 win over No. 47 Washington. Washington picked up a quick 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles but Drake managed to win in tiebreaks at No. 1 and No. 2 to take the early 1-0 lead. Each team picked up three first sets in singles and the matches at 1, 2, and 3 would finish in straight sets with Drake’s Vinny Gillespie and Ben Stride winning at 1 and 2 while Washington’s Jake Douglas won at 3. 

Washington’s Piers Foley would trim the Drake lead to 3-2 by breaking on the no-ad point to defeat Ben Clark 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 at No. 6. Washington’s Amit Batta tied the match at 3-3 with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) win over Bayo Philips at No. 5 so the match would be decided at No. 4.

Drake sophomore Tom Hands jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third set against Washington senior Gal Hakak and Hands had two break points to go up 4-1 but Hakak managed to hold for 3-2. After Hands held for 4-2, he hit a ball towards Hakak that went over the back wall and then there was a good five minute stoppage in play with the Washington coaches asking for a point penalty because of where the ball landed. The chair eventually said no and once play resumed Hands broke at love to go up 5-2. Hakak would break back from 30/40 with the key point coming at 30-all when Hands’ serve hit the net cord and kicked up and a charging Hakak finished the point with a forehand winner. Hakak held from 40/15 to pull within 4-5 but Hands went up 40/30 on his next service game to give himself two match points. Hands would net a backhand on a long 20+ shot rally to bring up the no-ad point and then he double faulted the break to even it at 5-all. Hands broke back on the no-ad point to go up 6-5 but Hakak broke from 30/40 to send it to a tiebreak. Hands regrouped in the tiebreak and after missing a volley to make it 2-1 he’d win the next five points to close it out 7-1 to give Drake the 4-3 win. 

Drake 4, No. 47 Washington 3
March 4, 2017 at Minnesota, Minn. (Baseline Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Vinny Gillespie (DU) def. Mitch Stewart (UW) 6-3, 6-2
2. Ben Stride (DU) def. Enzo Sommer (UW) 7-5, 6-2
3. Jake Douglas (UW) def. Barny Thorold (DU) 7-6, 6-1
4. Tom Hands (DU) def. Gal Hakak (UW) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1)
5. Amit Batta (UW) def. Bayo Philips (DU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
6. Piers Foley (UW) def. Ben Clark (DU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Philips/Wood (DU) def. Sommer/Watanabe (UW) 7-6 (3)
2. Gillespie/Hands (DU) def. Douglas/Foley (UW) 7-6 (6)
3. Batta/Hakak (UW) def. Clark/Stride (DU) 6-2
Match Notes
Drake 7-5
Washington 8=4; National ranking #47
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,3,2,6,5,4)

Post-Match Quotes from Drake’s recap
“What a way for this team to bounce back after a disappointing trip to Oregon last weekend,” Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski said. “Somehow, we found a way to win the big points today. We have been letting those chances slip the past few times out. We had great determination and effort from everyone.”

“Doubles tipped the match in our favor and what a great job by Ben Wood digging out one of the most difficult volleys I’ve seen to save a match point. And then win it in a tiebreaker,” said Kozlowski.

Post-Match Quote from Washington’s recap
“This match isn’t sitting well with me,” said head coach Matt Anger. “Personally, we had plenty of opportunities, and this match looks totally different if we take advantage of just half of them.”

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The top 10 women’s match between second ranked Ohio State and ninth ranked Pepperdine turned into a one-sided affair with the Buckeyes rolling to a 6-1 win in a neutral site match played in Tempe, Arizona. Ohio State took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then the Buckeyes took five first sets in singles. Francesca Di Lorenzo, Gabrielle De Santis, Miho Kowase, and Ferny Angeles Paz won in straight sets to put Ohio State in front 5-0 before Pepperdine picked up its lone point from Ashley Lahey at No. 2. Ohio State’s Sandy Niehaus closed out the match with a three set win at No. 4.

#2 Ohio State 6, #9 Pepperdine 1
Mar 04, 2017 at Tempe, Ariz. (Whiteman Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #1 Di Lorenzo,Francesca (OSU) def. #6 Stefani, Luisa (PEP) 6-0, 6-4
2. #25 Lahey, Ashley (PEP) def. #53 Sanford, Anna (OSU) 6-4, 6-4
3. #57 De Santis, Gabrielle (OSU) def. #17 Sherif Ahmed, Mayar (PEP) 7-5, 6-3
4. #84 Niehaus, Sandy (OSU) def. #51 Gulbe, Laura (PEP) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
5. #42 Kowase, Miho (OSU) def. Milovanovic, Dzina (PEP) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
6. #120 Angeles Paz, Ferny (OSU) def. Runglerdkriangkrai,A (PEP) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #26 Di Lorenzo,Francesca/Kowase, Miho (OSU) def. #2 Maddox, Christine/Sherif Ahmed, Mayar (PEP) 6-3
2. Stefani, Luisa/Lahey, Ashley (PEP) def. #47 Niehaus, Sandy/Sanford, Anna (OSU) 6-1
3. De Santis, Gabrielle/Angeles Paz, Ferny (OSU) def. Milovanovic, Dzina/Runglerdkriangkrai,A (PEP) 6-2
Match Notes
Ohio State University 12-1; National ranking #2
Pepperdine University 5-4; National ranking #9
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (6,1,3,5,2,4)
Arizona State Invitaitonal – Tempe, Ariz.

Post-Match Quotes from Ohio State’s recap
“It was a great team effort today beating a good Pepperdine team,” Adam Cohen, Ohio State assistant coach, said. “It’s not easy coming out here and getting ready to play a really good team. To get that win today is a credit to the team and all of the hard work they have put in on and off the court. We are really proud of this group and looking forward to a tough match against Arizona State tomorrow.”

Eighth ranked Texas Tech improved to 7-3 with a 4-0 win over No. 22 TCU. Texas Tech took the doubles point by winning a tiebreak at No. 3 and then the Red Raiders took all six opening sets in singles. Gabriela Talaba, Felicity Maltby, and Alex Valenstein won in straight sets with the three only dropping a combined 12 games. The other three matches went unfinished with TCU ahead in the second sets of each. 

#8 Texas Tech 4, #22 TCU 0
03/04/17 at Lubbock, Texas (McLeod Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #11 Gabriela Talaba (TTU) def. #94 Seda Arantekin (TCU) 6-1, 6-3
2. #32 Felicity Maltby (TTU) def. Donika Bashota (TCU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Sarah Dvorak (TTU) vs. Aleksandra Zenovka (TCU) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
4. #106 Alex Valenstein (TTU) def. Marie Norris (TCU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Sabrina Federici (TTU) vs. Olaya Garrido-Rivas (TCU) 7-5, 1-5, unfinished
6. Katelyn Jackson (TTU) vs. Sofiko Kadzhaya (TCU) 7-6, 2-4, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #23 Sabrina Federici/Sarah Dvorak (TTU) def. Donika Bashota/Caroline Wegner (TCU) 6-1
2. Seda Arantekin/Olaya Garrido-Rivas (TCU) def. #33 Gabriela Talaba/Felicity Maltby (TTU) 6-4
3. Alex Valenstein/Alba Cortina-Pou (TTU) def. Alexis Pereira/Aleksandra Zenovka (TCU) 7-6 (7-2)
Match Notes:
TCU 6-3; National ranking #22
Texas Tech 7-3; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,4,1)
T-2:30 A-150

Post-Match Quote from head coach Lee Taylor Walker via TCU’s recap
“The doubles point really put us in a hole today that was too much to get out of. Texas Tech is a very gritty and tough team. It takes a great amount of effort to beat them every time out. We didn’t have the full embodiment of our philosophies to get close today. We scheduled these last three matches very intentionally because we believe our team is able to win, not just compete. In a lot of ways, it was good but in many ways it was bad. We are a 20-40 team without playing our best. Our goal is top-16 and bringing a mediocre commitment to our values won’t get us there. We need everyone all in.”

Other Saturday Results:

• #25 Old Dominion def. St. John’s 4-0 – Monarchs won a tight doubles point but then took all but one completed set in singles
• #40 South Florida def. Michigan State 7-0 – Bulls won all but one set in singles – Vadym Kalyuzhnyy won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4!
• #43 Duke def. Virginia Tech 6-1 – Solid result by Duke considering everyone was playing up two spots in the lineup since Nicolas Alvarez is still out with an injury and Vincent Lin left the team.
• Penn State def. Brown 5-2 – Nittany Lions won in straight sets at 1 and 2 while the other four matches went three sets (no box score??)
• Princeton def. Denver 5-2 – Princeton won the doubles decider in a tiebreak and then picked up two straight set wins and two three-set wins in singles
• BYU def. Santa Clara 4-2 – all of BYU’s wins came in straight sets
• UC Santa Barbara def. Loyola Marymount 7-0 – Gauchos won all but one set in singles – Nicolas Moreno won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2!
• Fresno State def. New Mexico 4-1 and Pacific 4-3 at the Pacific-Mountain Invitational – Bulldogs will play the winner of the Cal Poly/Wichita State match in the finals on Sunday afternoon
• Wichita State def. UT Arlington 4-1 – Shockers will play Cal Poly on Sunday morning and then either Fresno State or Pacific in the afternoon

Other Saturday Women’s Results

• #11 Oklahoma State def. #38 Northwestern 5-2 – OSU dropped the doubles point for only the second time this year but they came back strong in singles picking up five straight sets wins
• #13 Baylor (video) def. #21 UCLA 4-3 – UCLA took the doubles point but Baylor picked up four wins in singles with Elizabeth Profit winning the decider 7-6(2) in the third set over Terri Fleming
• #16 Stanford (video) def. #31 Texas 4-2 – singles was played first and with the match tied at 2-2 Stanford’s Caroline Doyle and Emily Arbuthnott each pulled out third sets 6-4 and 6-3 respectively to push the Cardinal past the Horns
• #50 Oklahoma (video) def. Wichita State 5-2 – Sooners took the doubles point and won four singles matches in straight sets
• Cornell def. Penn State 4-0 – it was the first-time that Cornell had ever defeated Penn State (10 meetings)
• Indiana def. West Virginia 4-3 and Southern Illinois 7-0 – Caitlin Bernard clinched the WVU win with a straight set win at No. 3
• Denver def. Oregon 4-2 in a match played in Boise – Oregon took the doubles point but Denver picked up four straight set wins in singles
• Nebraska def. Houston 4-0 – Huskers won all but two sets in singles
• SMU def. Central Florida 5-2 – Sarai Monarrez Yesaki clinched the win at No. 2 with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 win over Monica Matias