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USC Upends UCLA, Baylor Bears Down to Beat UCSB, Central Florida Rallies Past Penn State, Mississippi State Mugs Alabama

by | Mar 10, 2017 | Blog | 0 comments

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It seems like usually when USC and UCLA meet the match comes down to a deciding court but that was not the case tonight. USC jumped out to the early 1-0 lead after picking up wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and then the Trojans took four opening sets in singles. Three weeks ago when these teams met Thibault Forget lost to Austin Rapp in three sets at No. 4 but tonight Forget cruised to a straight set win over Rapp at No. 5. In the last meeting, USC freshman Brandon Holt lost the decider to Martin Redlicki 6-4 in the third but tonight Holt got revenge with a straight set win which made it 3-0. UCLA senior Gage Brymer put the Bruins on the board with a straight set win over Nick Crystal at No. 2 but USC sophomore Logan Smith clinched the match with a straight set win over Evan Zhu at No. 3. The other two matches went unfinished with UCLA’s Logan Staggs up 5-3 in the third at No. 4 while Riley Smith and Max Cressy had just split sets at No. 6 

#14 USC 4, #13 UCLA 1
Mar 09, 2017 at Los Angeles, CA (Marks Stadium)
Doubles competition
1. #19 Holt/R. Smith (USC) vs. #26 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) 3-5, unfinished
2. Crystal/Verboven (USC) def. Brymer/A. Rapp (UCLA) 6-1
3. Bellamy/Jaede (USC) def. Cressy/Goldberg (UCLA) 6-3
Singles competition
1. #16 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #42 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) 6-4, 6-3
2. #11 Gage Brymer (UCLA) def. Nick Crystal (USC) 7-5, 6-2
3. #45 Logan Smith (USC) def. Evan Zhu (UCLA) 6-4, 7-5
4. Jack Jaede (USC) vs. Logan Staggs (UCLA) 6-1, 5-7, 3-5, unfinished
5. Thibault Forget (USC) def. Austin Rapp (UCLA) 6-2, 6-1
6. Riley Smith (USC) vs. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, unfinished
Match Notes:
UCLA 8-4; National ranking #13
USC 13-2; National ranking #14
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (5,1,2,3)

 

 

Ninth-ranked Baylor went on the road to Santa Barbara and barely scratched out a 4-3 win. UCSB took the doubles point by winning the decider at No. 3 in a tiebreak and then the teams splits opening sets in singles. Baylor’s Juan Benitez, Johannes Schretter, and Will Little each closed out their matches in straight sets at 1, 3, and 5 while UCSB’s Masciorini won in straight sets at No. 6. Baylor senior Max Tchoutakian clinched the match with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 while UCSB’s Anders Holm won the final match with a 10-point supertiebreak played in lieu of a third set. 

#9 Baylor 4, UC-Santa Barbara 3
Mar 09, 2017 at Santa Barbara, Calif. (RecCen Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. #15 Juan Benitez (BU) def. Morgan Mays (UCSB) 6-3, 6-2
2. #35 Max Tchoutakian (BU) def. Nicolas Moreno (UCSB) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
3. #81 Johannes Schretter (BU) def. Simon Freund (UCSB) 6-2, 6-4
4. Anders Holm (UCSB) def. Jimmy Bendeck (BU) 7-5, 6-7 (8-10), 1-0 (10-8)
5. Will Little (BU) def. Cody Rakela (UCSB) 6-3, 6-3
6. Chase Masciorini (UCSB) def. Constantin Frantzen (BU) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #6 Simon Freund/Morgan Mays (UCSB) def. Constantin Frantzen/Will Little (BU) 6-3
2. Jimmy Bendeck/Johannes Schretter (BU) def. Nicolas Moreno/Anders Holm (UCSB) 7-5
3. Kristian Prior/Cody Rakela (UCSB) def. Juan Benitez/Max Tchoutakian (BU) 7-6 (9-7)
Match Notes
Baylor 13-2; National ranking #9
UC-Santa Barbara 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,5,6,2,4)

Post-Match Quotes from Baylor’s recap
“I think that we are improving every day in doubles, but we still have a long way to go. The guys are coming into their own as to what type of doubles player they are and meshing with a new partner in some instances. We got off to a really slow start today in doubles, but we came back strong and had match points to win doubles. We just didn’t go after them aggressively enough. I think that will change moving forward, but it was a good learning experience.” – assistant coach Michael Woodson on the doubles point
“For us to come back in singles and play the way we did was impressive. The court layout was kind of funky and so our guys were really spread out. The conditions were not ideal, but that is why we play matches like this. I think their crowd made it really tough on us and they can really play. We got a lot of respect for them and for us to battle and really steamroll at three spots was impressive. I don’t think we have been playing our best tennis, but we have never had a team that is this close and that has been getting us over the edge in these matches.” – Woodson on singles action
 

 
In that latest edition of College MatchDay it was Central Florida coming back from the dead to defeat Penn State 4-2. Penn State took the doubles point and five first sets in singles but Central Florida came back from breaks down on multiple courts to win a bunch of three setters. 
 
Penn State’s Christos Antonopoulos won in straight sets at No. 3 while UCF’s Korey Lovett won in straight sets at No. 1. Central Florida senior Harrison Richmond trailed PSU’s Christian Lakoseljac 5-7, 3-4* at No. 2 but Richmond would break on the no-ad point for 4-4, hold on the no-ad point for 5-4, and then break from 15/40 to take the set 6-4. Richmond jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third but Lakoseljac broke back from 30/40  to make it 3-2. Richmond broke back on the no-ad point for 4-2 and then pulled away to win it 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
 
Central Florida junior Danny Kerznerman put the Knights ahead 3-2 with a come from behind win at No. 4. Kerznerman trailed Aws Laaribi 3-6, *2-4 before he rattled off four straight games to take the set 6-4. Laaribi went up a break at 2-1 in the third but Kerznerman broke, held, and broke to go up 4-2. Laaribi broke back for 3-4 but Kerznerman broke as well and then served it out from 40/30 to win it 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
 
UCF sophomore Kalman Boyd would get the clincher at No. 6 with you guessed it a come from behind win over Gabriel Nemeth. After Nemeth took the opening set 6-3, Boyd managed to take the second 7-6(0). Nemeth went up a break at 3-1 in the third but Boyd broke on the no-ad point, held, broke, and held again to go up 5-3. After a Nemeth hold, Boyd would serve it out from 40/15 to clinch the 4-2 win.  
 
Also check out the recap by Brian Ormiston on USTA.com which includes plenty of photos. 
 
UCF 4, Penn State 2
Mar 08, 2017 at Orlando, Fla. (USTA National Campus)
Singles competition
1. #44 Korey Lovett (UCF-M) def. C. De La Bassetiere (PSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Harrison Richmond (UCF-M) def. Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
3. C. Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Chris Barrus (UCF-M) 6-2, 6-1
4. Danny Kerznerman (UCF-M) def. Aws Laaribi (PSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
5. Mariano Porter (UCF-M) vs. Marc Collado (PSU) 2-6, 6-4, 5-5, unfinished
6. Kalman Boyd (UCF-M) def. Gabriel Nemeth (PSU) 3-6, 7-6 (3-0), 6-4
Doubles competition
1. C. De La Bassetiere/Christian Lakoseljac (PSU) def. #78 Mariano Porter/Harrison Richmond (UCF-M) 6-4
2. Korey Lovett/Danny Kerznerman (UCF-M) vs. Henry Gordon/Nika Dolidze (PSU) 5-4, unfinished
3. David Kohan/C. Antonopoulos (PSU) def. Chris Barrus/Enrique Paya (UCF-M) 6-1
Match Notes:
Penn State 7-3
UCF 8-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,1,2,4,6)
T-3:10 A-572
 
Post-Match Quotes from UCF’s recap
“I think we just started battling,” said head coach John Roddick. “We had some guys make some good adjustments and commit to it. We were just competing really hard. We were down a break in some of those second sets. We talk about always keeping it tough. We did a good job and got our teeth back in and started believing. It took a while, but I’m proud of that effort to just hang in there and not give up after losing five first sets and the doubles (point).
 
Head Coach John Roddick on the atmosphere: “It was a great atmosphere here. Our guys aren’t used to playing in front of this (572 fans) and I think it took us a little while to settle in.”
 
Redshirt Senior Harrison Richmond on the match: “It was a great team win today. I think we handled adversity well, even though we didn’t play our best tennis at times, but this is what college tennis is all about. We hung in there, found a way to win and that’s what matters most. We’ll take this win and keep moving, it’s great for our confidence.”
 
Junior Danny Kerznerman on the match: ” It was really good to get a comeback win today. We stayed together and pushed through. The crowd really helped a lot. The atmosphere was great. We just want to thank everyone who came out.”
 

 
Mississippi State improved to 2-0 in the SEC with a Thursday afternoon 5-2 win over Alabama. MSU took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then they swept the 3 through 6 spots in the singles lineup while Alabama took 1 and 2.  
 
#16 Mississippi State 5 Alabama 2
Starkville, Miss. – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – March 9, 2017
Doubles competition
1. No. 48 Niclas Braun/Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. No. 66 Mazen Osama/Spencer Richey (UA) 6-3
2. Mate Cutura/ Vaughn Hunter (MSU) vs. Alexey Nesterov/Edson Ortiz (UA) 4-4, suspended
3. Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Thibault Cancel/Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-3
Singles competition
1. No. 41 Mazen Osama (UA) def. No. 4 Nuno Borges (MSU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
2. Thibault Cancel (UA) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Mate Cutura (MSU) def. Edson Ortiz (UA) 6-3, 6-4
4. Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Alexey Nesterov (UA) 6-1, 7-6(4)
5. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Spencer Richey (UA) 7-5, 6-1
6. Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-0, 7-6(6)
Match Notes
Mississippi State 11-3; 2-0 SEC
Alabama 6-9; 0-3 SEC
Order of finish: Singles (5,2,3,4,6,1); Doubles (3,1)
 
Post-Match Quote from MSU’s recap
“We felt great about our doubles play today,” head coach Matt Roberts said. “We’ve worked extra hard in that area of our game this week and it paid off for us today. I think our guys had fun and that was thanks to the momentum we gained from doubles play and the great energy our home crowd gave us. I’m happy of our performance today, but now its time to focus on our upcoming road trip and continue to get better.”

 

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