Men's Sweet 16 Previews | Bobby Knight College Tennis Today

Tagged with: Baylor, Cal, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, NCAA Tournament Previews, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma Sooners, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC, Virginia, Wake Forest

The opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament were completed last weekend so now it’s time to look at the Sweet 16 matchups that will take place on Thursday in Athens, Georgia. There will two matches taking place at the same time with one on the main Henry Feild Stadium Courts and the other on the McWhorter Courts. The first matches start at 9 a.m. ET with the final two set to start at 7 p.m. ET though it wouldn’t surprise me to see both of the 4 p.m. matches run late. Six of the eight matches will be rematches from the regular season so it’ll be interesting to see how those teams do the second time around.

I have the schedule of play listed on my NCAA Tournament page and in each of my match previews below I’ll list the projected lineups with individual singles and doubles records, individual and team UTRs, team doubles records, box scores from the previous meetings this season, plus I’ll make my prediction at the end. I’ll give the first one away for free but to see the rest you’ll need to be a CTT subscriber ($9.99 month/no long term commitment required).

#1 Wake Forest [1] vs. #16 Stanford [16] – Thursday 7 p.m. ET – The top seeded Demon Deacons rolled through the first round but got a stiff test from Kentucky in the second round. The Cardinal trounced Idaho in the opening round and then fought off a pesky Michigan team 4-1. Last year Wake Forest got routed in the round of 16 by Oklahoma while Stanford was edged by UCLA. I think Stanford is good enough to keep this one interesting but I can’t see Wake going home early for a second year in a row. I’ll take Wake in doubles and Chrysochos, Seraphim, and Uspensky in singles while Stanford will be up on a court or two but won’t quite get there. Prediction: Wake Forest 4-0

Overall Record: Wake 29-2; Stanford 18-8

Doubles Record: Wake 27-4; Stanford 17-8

UTR Power 6: Wake Forest 86, Stanford 84

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Pos	ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L			ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L
1	4	Skander Mansouri Christian Seraphim	WF	14.67	22	6	vs.	54	Tom Fawcett Yale Goldberg	Stan.	13.85	10	5
2		Borna Gojo Alan Gadjiev	WF	14.13	13	5			Michael Genender Sameer Kumar	Stan.	13.95	13	8
3		Petros Chrysochos Dennis Uspensky	WF	14.40	19	6			David WIlczynski Brandon Sutter	Stan.	13.83	17	4

Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	5	Petros Chrysochos	Wake	14.73	22	6	vs.	11	Tom Fawcett	Stan	14.41	12	5
2	45	Borna Gojo	Wake	14.62	22	4			Sameer Kumar	Stan	14.19	12	9
3	13	Skander Mansouri	Wake	14.37	20	6			David Wilczynski	Stan	14.04	16	3
4	84	Christian Seraphim	Wake	14.11	20	8			Michael Genender	Stan	13.79	6	7
5		Dennis Uspensky	Wake	14.07	19	5			Brandon Sutter	Stan	13.81	16	7
6		Alan Gadjiev	Wake	13.90	16	8			William Genesen	Stan	13.45	8	3
Bench Players
7		Max Kan	Wake	12.58	2	1			Jack Barber	Stan	13.48	3	7
8		Charlie Parry	Wake	12.13	0	2			Yale Goldberg	Stan	12.59	1	0

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#8 California [8] vs. #9 North Carolina [9] – Thursday 7 p.m. ET – North Carolina faced little resistance in its two opening round matches while Cal was pushed hard by Northwestern in the second round before pulling through 4-1. North Carolina won the regular season meeting 4-2 in a thrilling match that took place at the National Indoor Intercollegiates (box score below). Cal’s starting four will be the same as the last meeting while its bottom two will change with JT Nishimura at 5 and Bjorn Hoffman at 6. UNC puts out close to the same lineup with the only change coming at 3 and 4 with Robert Kelly playing up a spot while Simon Soendergaard drops down a spot.

Cal won the doubles point in the first meeting and I think they’ll get it again on Thursday night. In singles I’ll go with Schneider, Blumberg, Murray, and Boyden for UNC and Bergevi and Griffith for Cal. Prediction: North Carolina 4-3

Overall Record: Cal 20-7; North Carolina 26-4

Doubles Record: Cal 20-7; North Carolina 24-6

UTR Power 6: Cal 85, North Carolina 85

Regular Season Result:

#5 North Carolina 4, #4 California 2
Feb 18, 2017 at Charlottesville, Va. (Boar’s Head Sports Club)
Singles competition
1. #11 Florian Lakat (CAL) vs. #16 Ronnie Schneider (NC) 4-6 (4-1), 6-1, 6-6 (4-1), unfinished
2. #27 Andre Goransson (CAL) def. William Blumberg (NC) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Simon Soendergaard (NC) def. #42 Filip Bergevi (CAL) 6-4, 6-2
4. Robert Kelly (NC) def. #40 Billy Griffith (CAL) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
5. Jack Murray (NC) def. Bjorn Hoffmann (CAL) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
6. Blaine Boyden (NC) def. Connor Heap (CAL) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #3 Filip Bergevi/Florian Lakat (CAL) def. #21 William Blumberg/Robert Kelly (NC) 6-3
2. Andre Goransson/Billy Griffith (CAL) def. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (NC) 6-3
3. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (CAL) vs. Blaine Boyden/Simon Soendergaard (NC) *5-4 (40/40), unf
Match Notes:
North Carolina 11-0; National ranking #5
California 4-1; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,6,2,5,4)
ITA National Team Indoor Championship Quarterfinals
T-2.50

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Pos	ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L			ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L
1	5	Filip Bergevi Florian Lakat	Cal	14.65	14	5	vs.	12	William Blumberg Robert Kelly	UNC	14.46	18	6
2	74	Andre Goransson Billy Griffith	Cal	14.13	12	5		82	Jack Murray Simon Soendergaard	UNC	14.04	8	4
3		Bjorn Hoffmann JT Nishimura	Cal	13.64	12	9			Anu Kodali Ronnie Schneider	UNC	13.82	9	2

Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	12	Florian Lakat	Cal	14.67	12	7	vs.	22	Ronnie Schneider	UNC	14.64	21	6
2	61	Andre Goransson	Cal	14.61	13	7		16	William Blumberg	UNC	14.69	22	2
3		Filip Bergevi	Cal	14.13	7	7		116	Robert Kelly	UNC	14.15	19	4
4	81	Billy Griffith	Cal	14.18	16	6			Simon Soendergaard	UNC	13.60	9	13
5		JT Nishimura	Cal	13.91	13	5			Jack Murray	UNC	14.21	22	5
6		Bjorn Hoffmann	Cal	13.56	10	11			Bo Boyden	UNC	14.06	20	3
Bench Players
7		Connor Heap	Cal	12.64	2	5			Anu Kodali	UNC	13.23	5	0
8		Dominic Barretto	Cal	12.95	1	5			Josh Peck	UNC	13.81	1	1

#5 UCLA [1] vs. #13 Texas A&M [12] – Thursday 4 p.m. ET – UCLA found out it’d be without its top player, Gage Brymer, just days before the first round but then proceeded to rout both Army and Ole Miss. Texas A&M posted a pair of shutouts as well defeating Buffalo and Oregon though both matches were a little closer than the score shows. UCLA has been much more stronger in doubles this year so I’d be surprised if UCLA didn’t take the early 1-0 lead. I think a lot of the singles matches will be toss-ups but I’m going with A&M at 1, 2, 4, and 5 while UCLA wins at 3 and 6. Prediction: Texas A&M 4-3

Overall Record: UCLA 21-5; Texas A&M 21-6

Doubles Record: UCLA 17-9; Texas A&M 14-13

UTR Power 6: UCLA 84, Texas A&M 85

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Pos	ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L			ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L
1	3	Martin Redlicki Evan Zhu	UCLA	14.34	16	2	vs.	9	AJ Catanzariti Arthur Rinderknech	TAMU	14.38	8	2
2		Austin Rapp Joseph DiGiulio	UCLA	13.98	8	4			Hady Habib Jordia Arconada	TAMU	13.87	6	4
3		Maxime Cressy Ben Goldberg	UCLA	13.29	5	6			Alexsandre Bakshi Maxim Lunkin	TAMU	13.75	4	2

Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	60	Martin Redlicki	UCLA	14.49	21	3	vs.	6	Arthur Rinderknech	aTm	14.85	17	5
2		Evan Zhu	UCLA	14.05	12	8		48	Jordi Arconada	aTm	14.23	19	2
3		Logan Staggs	UCLA	14.03	19	2			AJ Catanzariti	aTm	14.13	11	13
4		Maxime Cressy	UCLA	13.93	10	3			Valentine Vacherot	aTm	13.98	19	3
5		Austin Rapp	UCLA	13.56	10	7			Hady Habib	aTm	14.16	14	3
6		Joseph DiGiulio	UCLA	14.11	3	2			Alexsandre Bakshi	aTm	13.56	13	6
Bench Players
7		Ben Goldberg	UCLA	13.09	3	0			Maxim Lunkin	aTm	13.52	2	7
8		Michael Guzman	UCLA	12.17	1	0			James Martell	aTm	12.89	2	1

#4 USC [1] vs. #12 Georgia [13] – Thursday 4 p.m. ET – USC breezed through the opening rounds with shutout wins over Denver and Wisconsin while Georgia rolled over Florida A&M and South Florida. USC had its way with Georgia earlier in the season with the Trojans blanking the Bulldogs during the Pac-12/SEC Challenge in Gainesville however all the singles matchups and two of the doubles matchups will be different this time around. These two met in the same round of last year’s NCAAs with Georgia winning a 4-3 thriller and I think we’ll see another on Thursday.

On paper this is a match that USC should win however Georgia will have the crowd on its side plus it’ll be much more used to the heat and humidity (90 degree temps expected). I think the crowd will play the biggest role during doubles and Georgia will hand USC only its fourth loss in doubles this season. I like USC at 1, 4, and 6 but I’m going to take Georgia at 2, 3, and 5 to pull the upset. Prediction: Georgia 4-3

Overall Record: USC 27-5, Georgia 20-7

Doubles Record: USC 29-3; Georgia 20-7

UTR Power 6: USC 85, Georgia 86

Regular Season Result:

#8 USC 4, #5 Georgia 0
Feb. 5, 2017 at Gainesville, Fla. (Ring Tennis Complex)
Doubles Results
1. Brandon Holt/Riley Smith (USC) def. #54 Jan Zielinski/Robert Loeb (Georgia), 6-4
2. Paul Oosterbaan/Walker Duncan (Georgia) vs. Nick Crystal/Laurens Verboven (USC), 4-4* (30/40), unf
3. Rob Bellamy/Jack Jaede (USC) def. Wayne Montgomery/Nathan Ponwith (Georgia), 6-2
Singles Results
1. #22 Wayne Montgomery (Georgia) vs. #28 Logan Smith (USC), 3-6, 6-3, 2-0*, unfinished
2. #20 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #31 Emil Reinberg (Georgia), 6-1, 6-4
3. #88 Nick Crystal (USC) vs. #124 Nathan Ponwith (Georgia) 6-1, 5-6* (30/30), unf
4. Paul Oosterbaan (Georgia) vs. #114 Thibault Forget (USC), 7-5, *2-5, unf.
5. Jack Jaede (USC) def. #79 Walker Duncan (Georgia), 6-1, 7-6(4)
6. Rob Bellamy (USC) def. Robert Loeb (Georgia), 6-2, 6-3
Match Notes
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (6, 2, 5)

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Pos	ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L			ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L
1	14	Brandon Holt Riley Smith	USC	14.17	17	5	vs.	1	Robert Loeb Jan Zielinski	UGA	14.33	16	8
2		Nick Crystal Laurens Verboven	USC	14.42	17	5			Emil Reinberg Nathan Ponwith	UGA	14.12	8	3
3		Rob Bellamy Jack Jaede	USC	14.36	18	3			Wayne Montgomery Walker Duncan	UGA	14.15	14	2

Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	19	Brandon Holt	USC	14.70	17	5	vs.	56	Nathan Ponwith	UGA	14.31	12	3
2		Nick Crystal	USC	14.16	10	8		33	Wayne Montgomery	UGA	14.38	14	11
3	88	Logan Smith	USC	14.07	14	11		59	Emil Reinberg	UGA	14.18	12	8
4		Jack Jaede	USC	14.21	20	3			Jan Zielinski	UGA	13.97	13	6
5		Thibault Forget	USC	13.88	16	7			Walker Duncan	UGA	14.01	18	5
6		Riley Smith	USC	13.73	19	2			Robert Loeb	UGA	13.75	12	7
Bench Players
7		Rob Bellamy	USC	13.75	6	1			Alex Phillips	UGA	13.47	0	0
8		Laurens Verboven	USC	13.97	3	0			Andy Martinez	UGA	13.09	0	0

#3 Ohio State [3] vs. #14 Oklahoma [14] – Thursday Noon ET – Ohio State moved into the Sweet 16 with shutouts over Butler and Louisville while Oklahoma blanked Bryant before taking out Mississippi State 4-1. Ohio State won both of the regular season meetings by shutout though both came indoors. In both of the previous matches Oklahoma had chances to win the doubles point but couldn’t pull it out and that kind of set the tone for each match. I think Oklahoma must take the point if they want to have a legitimate shot in this one because Mikael Torpegaard, Herkko Pollanen, and Kyle Seelig will be fairly sizable favorites at 1, 5, and 6.

I’m going to say that Oklahoma does take the doubles point and both Andrew Harris and Florin Bragusi will win in singles but Ohio State gets it done with Torp, Herkko, Seelig, and Hugo Di Feo each winning. Prediction: Ohio State 4-3

Overall Record: Ohio State 31-3; Oklahoma 17-10

Doubles Record: Ohio State 30-4; Oklahoma 14-13

UTR Power 6: Ohio State 86, Oklahoma 84

Regular Season Results:

#3 Ohio State 4, #14 Oklahoma 0
Feb 17, 2017 at Charlottesville, Va. (Boar’s Head Sports Club)
Singles competition
1. #2 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #29 Andrew Harris (OU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
2. #8 Hugo Di Feo (OSU) def. #24 Spencer Papa (OU) 7-5, 6-3
3. Alex Ghilea (OU) vs. JJ Wolf (OSU) 7-5, *4-4, (40/15), unfinished
4. #105 Florin Bragusi (OU) vs. #47 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) 6-2, 6-6 (2-2), unfinished
5. #77 Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Adrian Oetzbach (OU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Jochen Bertsch (OU) vs. Kyle Seelig (OSU) 7-6 (5), 2-4* (40/15), unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #38 Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. #42 Spencer Papa/Andrew Harris (OU) 7-5
2. Alex Ghilea/Florin Bragusi (OU) def. #25 Hugo Di Feo/Martin Joyce (OSU) 7-5
3. Matt Mendez/Hunter Tubert (OSU) def. A.J. Chamdani/Adrian Oetzbach (OU) 6-0
Match Notes
Oklahoma 7-2; National ranking #14
Ohio State 11-0; National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,5,1)
T-2:20

#1 Ohio State 4, #4 Oklahoma 0
Mar 05, 2017 at Columbus, Ohio (OSU Varsity Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #1 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #24 Spencer Papa (OU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
2. #74 Alex Ghilea (OU) vs. JJ Wolf (OSU) 7-6 (4), *2-3, unfinished
3. #3 Hugo Di Feo (OSU) vs. #65 Florin Bragusi (OU) 6-2, 3-6, *0-1, unfinished
4. #56 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) vs. Adrian Oetzbach (OU) 7-5, 5-2, unfinished
5. Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Jochen Bertsch (OU) 6-1, 6-4
6. #88 Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Arnaud Restifo (OU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Florin Bragusi/Spencer Papa (OU) def. #20 Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) 6-2
2. #56 Hugo Di Feo/Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Adrian Oetzbach/Alex Ghilea (OU) 7-6 (7-3)
3. Hunter Tubert/Matt Mendez (OSU) def. Jochen Bertsch/Mason Bridegan (OU) 6-3
Match Notes
Oklahoma 10-3; National ranking #4
Ohio State 16-1; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,5,1)
Official: Marcus Lee T-2:15 A-449

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Pos	ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L			ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L
1		Herkko Pollanen Mikael Torpegaard	OSU	14.74	19	5	vs.	15	Spencer Papa Andrew Harris	OU	14.53	8	3
2	30	Hugo Di Feo Martin Joyce	OSU	14.67	18	1		63	Alex Ghilea Florin Bragusi	OU	14.24	10	5
3		Hunter Tubert JJ Wolf	OSU	14.35	10	3			Jochen Bertsch Adrian Oetzbach	OU	13.65	3	1

Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	2	Mikael Torpegaard	OSU	14.93	27	1	vs.	24	Spencer Papa	OU	14.14	10	11
2	46	JJ Wolf	OSU	14.36	15	4		32	Andrew Harris	OU	14.59	6	6
3	9	Hugo Di Feo	OSU	14.60	24	2		47	Alex Ghilea	OU	14.33	18	3
4		Martin Joyce	OSU	13.78	13	6		113	Florin Bragusi	OU	14.02	15	6
5		Herkko Pollanen	OSU	14.20	19	5			Jochen Bertsch	OU	13.53	14	6
6		Kyle Seelig	OSU	14.19	22	4			Adrian Oetzbach	OU	13.03	8	14
Bench Players
7		Hunter Tubert	OSU	13.39	1	1			Arnaud Restifo	OU	13.66	6	6
8		Matt Mendez	OSU	13.47	3	0			Mason Bridegan	OU	12.97	0	0

#6 TCU [1] vs. #25 Illinois [17-32] – Thursday Noon ET – TCU strolled through the first two rounds shutting out Jackson State and Florida State while Illinois blanked Drake and then pulled off the upset of the tournament by coming back from 3-0 down to defeat Oklahoma State 4-3. Aleks Vukic did not play in the match against Drake due to a nagging wrist injury but he was able to play against Okie State and won the match decider. TCU won the regular season meeting 5-2 although Vukic did hand Cameron Norrie his only loss of the season (STB). Both teams will have the same top four, and TCU has the same top five, though the bottom two individual matchups will be different. Trevor Johnson didn’t play in the first meeting though he will on Thursday.

TCU was a national title contender a year ago but got stunned indoors against Cal. There won’t be any reason to play indoors on Thursday and I see TCU winning its 17th consecutive match in fairly dominating fashion. I like TCU in doubles and Cameron Norrie, Guillermo Nunez, and Trevor Johnson in singles. Prediction: TCU 4-0

Overall Record: TCU 21-4; Illinois 18-11

Doubles Record: TCU 20-5; Illinois 12-17

UTR Power 6: TCU 86, Illinois 84

Regular Season Result:

#19 TCU 5, #25 Illinois 2
Mar 22, 2017 at Fort Worth, Texas (Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #20 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. #3 Cameron Norrie (TCU) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 10-6
2. #27 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #30 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) 6-2, 6-1
3. #78 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) def. Gui Gomes (ILL) 6-1, 6-4
4. #81 Jerry Lopez (TCU) def. Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) 7-5, 6-2
5. Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Julian Childers (ILL) 6-2, 6-3
6. Zeke Clark (ILL) def. Hudson Blake (TCU) 3-6, 6-2, 2-0, retired
Doubles competition
1. Jerry Lopez/Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #23 Aleks Vukic/Aron Hiltzik (ILL) 6-1
2. Reese Stalder/Hudson Blake (TCU) vs. Alex Jesse/Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) 5-2, unfinished
3. #21 Guillermo Nuñez/Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. Gui Gomes/Zeke Clark (ILL) 6-2
Match Notes:
Illinois 9-6; National ranking #25
TCU 10-4; National ranking #19
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (3,5,4,2,6,1)
A-682

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Pos	ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L			ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L
1	25	Jerry Lopez Reese Stalder	TCU	14.50	11	5	vs.		Alex Jesse Aleks Kovacevic	ILL	13.30	7	9
2	57	Alex Rybakov Guillermo Nuñez	TCU	14.73	13	3		71	Vuk Budic Aleks Vukic	ILL	13.55	7	2
3		Cameron Norrie Trevor Johnson	TCU	14.65	9	1			Gui Gomes Aron Hiltzik	ILL	13.60	3	7

Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	1	Cameron Norrie	TCU	15.11	19	1	vs.	3	Aleks Vukic	ILL	14.91	22	1
2	20	Alex Rybakov	TCU	14.60	20	1		41	Aron Hiltzik	ILL	14.36	12	4
3	83	Guillermo Nuñez	TCU	14.31	12	6			Gui Gomes	ILL	13.48	8	11
4	114	Jerry Lopez	TCU	14.27	10	3			Aleks Kovacevic	ILL	14.16	17	6
5		Reese Stalder	TCU	13.72	13	7			Noe Khlif	ILL	13.55	10	5
6		Trevor Johnson	TCU	13.96	5	0			Zeke Clark	ILL	13.67	11	10
Bench Players
7		Gianni Mancini	TCU	11.22	1	9			Vuk Budic	ILL	12.86	5	4
8		Hudson Blake	TCU	13.31	1	1			Julian Childers	ILL	13.39	4	9

#7 Baylor [7] vs. #11 Texas [10] – Thursday 9 a.m ET – Nothing like a Big 12 tussle in the Sweet 16 to get the day started. Baylor cruised past Lamar and Cornell to book its spot in Athens while Texas got a huge scare from Tulane before pulling off a miraculous comeback to win 4-3. Baylor won the regular season meeting, in Austin, 4-1 although three of the six matches went three sets. Baylor has Bjoern Petersen scheduled to play at No. 4 after missing the first match due to an injury and Texas has Christian Sigsgaard back at No. 1 with Harrison Scott dropping down to No. 2. Yuya Ito got injured during the regular season meeting and didn’t play again until the NCAA Tournament so it’ll be interesting to see how he does this time around against Johannes Schretter at No. 3.

Baylor has been more consistent in doubles but it has still dropped the point 11 times this season so it wouldn’t be a total shock if Texas had the lead after 30-45 minutes. Originally when I filled out my bracket I had Baylor winning this one but I think Texas’s close call against Tulane was a wake up call and I think they play much better in this one. I’ll take Baylor in doubles and Benitez and Tchoutakian in singles but I’m going with Ito, Goldhoff, Telles, and Banzer to give Texas the W. Prediction: Texas 4-3

Overall Record: Baylor 23-7; Texas 21-8

Doubles Record: Baylor 19-11; Texas 15-14

UTR Power 6: Baylor 84, Texas 85

Regular Season Result:

#4 Baylor 4, #8 Texas 1
Apr 12, 2017 at Austin, Texas (Caswell Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #12 Juan Benitez (BU) def. #48 Harrison Scott (UT) 6-3, 7-5
2. #51 Max Tchoutakian (BU) def. #22 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 6-3, 6-1
3. #78 Johannes Schretter (BU) def. #42 Yuya Ito (UT) 6-4, 1-6, 6-0
4. George Goldhoff (UT) def. Will Little (BU) 6-1, 7-5
5. Leo Telles (UT) vs. Jimmy Bendeck (BU) 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 1-0, unfinished
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) vs. Constantin Frantzen (BU) 6-3, 5-7, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #13 Juan Benitez/Will Little (BU) def. Yuya Ito/Harrison Scott (UT) 6-3
2. Jimmy Bendeck/Johannes Schretter (BU) def. #67 George Goldhoff/Leo Telles (UT) 6-2
3. Christian Sigsgaard/Colin Markes (UT) vs. Max Tchoutakian/Constantin Frantzen (BU) 5-4, unfinished
Match Notes
Baylor 21-4, 2-1 Big 12; National ranking #4
Texas 18-6, 1-2 Big 12; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,4,1,3)
T-2:16

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Pos	ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L			ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L
1	22	Juan Benitez Will Little	BU	14.31	5	4	vs.	76	George Goldhoff Leonardo Telles	UT	14.05	7	12
2	84	Johannes Schretter Jimmy Bendeck	BU	13.92	11	2			Christian Sigsgaard Julian Zlobinsky	UT	14.18	8	4
3		Max Tchoutakian Bjoern Petersen	BU	13.71	2	1			Yuya Ito Harrison Scott	UT	14.28	5	4

Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	15	Juan Benitez	BU	14.76	17	8	vs.	25	Christian Sigsgaard	UT	14.21	10	13
2	50	Max Tchoutakian	BU	14.28	15	2		36	Harrison Scott	UT	14.27	19	7
3	63	Johannes Schretter	BU	14.20	20	3		55	Yuya Ito	UT	14.35	12	6
4		Bjoern Petersen	BU	13.57	2	2			George Goldhoff	UT	14.10	11	9
5		Will Little	BU	13.72	15	7			Leonardo Telles	UT	13.95	16	4
6		Jimmy Bendeck	BU	13.78	13	7			Rodrigo Banzer	UT	13.92	18	5
Bench Players
7		Constantin Frantzen	BU	13.32	13	10			Julian Zlobinsky	UT	14.01	7	2
8		Tyler Stayer	BU	11.77	1	3			John Mee	UT	13.54	3	1

#2 Virginia [1] vs. #15 Florida [15] – Thursday 9 a.m. ET – Virginia and Florida both rolled through the first two rounds posting two shutouts each with neither team facing much of a test. Virginia crushed Florida in the NCAA quarterfinals last year and also won this year during the regular season in a match that was closer but never in doubt. All the singles matchups will be different this time with the most notable shift being Alex Ritschard moving up from No. 5 to No. 1.

Virginia has made it to the NCAA quarterfinals every year since 2005 and it would be a massive upset if they failed to do so this year. I like Virginia in doubles and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Collin Altamirano, J.C. Aragone in singles while Florida gets a win from Alfredo Perez at No. 1 and leads at No. 3. Prediction: Virginia 4-1

Overall Record: Virginia 30-1; Florida 19-9

Doubles Record: Virginia 27-4; Florida 18-10

UTR Power 6: Virginia 88, Florida 85

Regular Season Result:

#1 Virginia 5, #6 Florida 2
February 11, 2017 at Charlottesville, Virginia (Boar’s Head Sports Club)
Singles competition
1. #9 Alfredo Perez (FLA) def. Collin Altamirano (VA) 7-6 (7-1), 7-5
2. #28 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. Chase Perez-Blanco (FLA) 6-4, 6-2
3. Carl Soderlund (VA) def. #60 Elliott Orkin (FLA) 6-2, 6-2
4. #64 J.C. Aragone (VA) def. #76 McClain Kessler (FLA) 6-4, 7-5
5. #109 Johannes Ingildsen (FLA) def. Alexander Ritschard (VA) 6-2, 0-6, 6-3
6. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) def. Maxx Lipman (FLA) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #55 Luca Corinteli/Carl Soderlund (VA) vs. #7 Alfredo Perez/Johannes Ingildsen (FLA) *3-5, unfinished
2. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Alexander Ritschard (VA) def. Chase Perez-Blanco/Maxx Lipman (FLA) 6-3
3. Collin Altamirano/J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Elliott Orkin/McClain Kessler (FLA) 6-2
Match Notes
Virginia 4-0; National ranking #1
Florida 6-1; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,2,4,3,5,1)
T-2:23 A-614

PROJECTED LINEUPS

Pos	ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L			ITA	Players	Team	UTR	DM W/L
1	17	Luca Corinteli Carl Söderlund	UVA	14.73	8	2	vs.	2	Alfredo Perez Johannes Ingildsen	FLA	14.61	13	6
2		Thai-Son Kwiatkowski Alexander Ritschard	UVA	14.78	21	1			Maxx Lipman Elliott Orkin	FLA	13.92	11	4
3		Collin Altamirano J.C. Aragone	UVA	14.62	19	3			Josh Wardell Chase Perez-Blanco	FLA	13.89	7	7

Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	91	Alexander Ritschard	UVA	14.57	21	5	vs.	8	Alfredo Perez	FLA	14.49	17	7
2	14	Thai-Son Kwiatkowski	UVA	14.96	22	4		85	Elliott Orkin	FLA	14.18	14	10
3		Carl Söderlund	UVA	14.69	13	2			Chase Perez-Blanco	FLA	14.25	13	11
4	40	Collin Altamirano	UVA	14.68	17	5			Maxx Lipman	FLA	13.56	10	7
5	109	J.C. Aragone	UVA	14.52	23	4		123	Johannes Ingildsen	FLA	14.17	17	7
6	102	Henrik Wiersholm	UVA	14.54	22	1			McClain Kessler	FLA	13.90	13	3
Bench Players
7		Luca Corinteli	UVA	14.09	7	1			Joseph Guillin	FLA	13.75	3	0
8		Aswin Lizen	UVA	13.27	3	0			Jordan Belga	FLA	13.82	4	4

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