Mid-Week Recap: Wake Forest Beats UNC; Georgia Gwinnett Win Streak Tops 100; Cal Poly Edges Utah State; New Rankings Released
Wake Forest defeated North Carolina for the second time in the last five weeks with a 5-2 victory at home in Winston-Salem. North Carolina got off to a promising start after taking the doubles point and adding a straight set win from Mac Kiger at No. 6 but Wake tied it up at 2-2 with straight set wins from Petros Chrysochos and Rrezart Cungu at No. 2 and No. 5. The three remaining matches went three sets with Wake taking them all. Borna Gojo won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 to make it 3-2, Bar Botzer got the clincher with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 3, and to close out the day Melios Efstathiou won 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4 at No. 4.
The Winston-Salem Journal has a good recap of the match with quotes from Tony Bresky, Sam Paul, Borna Gojo, and Bar Botzer so make sure you give it a read.
Wake Forest now has a two game lead in the ACC over North Carolina and Virginia while Miami is just one game back however the Canes still have to play both Wake and UVA.
Sunday Recap: USC Upsets #3 Texas; Mississippi State Fortunate To Get Past Georgia; Ohio State Routs Michigan; Cline Clinches Again For South Carolina
After a pretty ho-hum Saturday, Sunday brought us several good matches with a few upsets and a few near-upsets. #15/#11 USC pulled off the biggest upset of the day by going to Austin and defeating #3/#1 Texas 4-2. The Trojans grabbed the early lead with doubles wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and then the teams split opening sets in singles. All matches that finished did so in straight sets with USC getting wins from Brandon Holt, Riley Smith, and Mor Bulis at 1, 5, and 6 while Texas picked up wins from Yuya Ito and Harrison Scott at 2 and 4 while Leo Telles led 6-4, 4-4 on 3.
#8/#12 Mississippi State extended its home winning streak to 24 with a late rally to get past #22/#19 Georgia 4-3. Georgia claimed the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 but Mississippi State fought back in singles with four opening sets. Strahinja Rakic and Nuno Borges rolled to straight set wins at No. 4 and No. 1 to make it 2-1 but Georgia’s Trent Bryde would tie it at 2-2 with a straight set win at No. 3. Georgia senior Walker Duncan made it 3-2 with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 6 and it looked like match at No. 4 was all but over with Georgia freshman Philip Henning serving up 4-6, 6-2, 5-2 (30/0) against MSU senior Trevor Foshey. However on the 30/0 point Henning would go down on the baseline with what appeared to be a pretty severe ankle sprain.
Henning did his best to continue after a lengthy medical timeout but he could barely put any weight on his injured ankle and Foshey quickly won point after point. With the outcome of that match all but certain the focus went to No. 2 where MSU junior Giovanni Oradini led Georgia senior Jan Zielinski 5-4 in the third. Oradini had jumped out to a 4-1 lead early in the set but Zielinski managed to get it back on serve at 4-4. After Oradini held for 5-4 he’d get the pivotal break to close it out 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to make it 3-3. Moments later Foshey would close out Henning 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to extend the home winning streak to 25. Unlike most match clinchers there was no celebration in this one with Foshey and Henning hugging at the net while the teams exchanged handshakes.
Friday Recap: South Carolina Blanks Vandy in Nashville; Miss State Survives Against Tennessee; Texas Roars Past Columbia; & More
Friday brought us seven matchups between top 25 teams with five taking place on the men’s side and two on the women’s side. The only top 10 matchup took place in Nashville with fifth-ranked Vanderbilt hosting sixth-ranked South Carolina. The Gamecocks hadn’t beaten Vandy in Nashville since 2005 but the 14 year drought came to end thanks to a few key points in doubles and then getting all around strong play throughout the singles lineup.
South Carolina grabbed the early lead after taking the doubles point with a 6-1 win at No. 1 and a 7-6(4) win at No. 2. In singles, SC claimed four opening sets and they’d manage to close three out in straight sets. Ingrid Gamarra Martins was first off the court with a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 1 and Kennedy Wicker followed with a 6-2, 7-6 win at No. 6. While the matches at No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 were deep in the third set, SC senior Paige Cline would close out her match at No. 2 in straight sets with a 6-2, 7-6(4) win.
Mid-Week Update: Gators Cruise Past Illini; TCU Tops Columbia; Wake Wiggles Past NCST; Texas A&M Over Oklahoma; New Rankings Released
Wednesday had a pretty solid schedule on the men’s side with five matches between top 50 teams including a pair between top 15 teams. Fourth-ranked Florida improved to 13-2 with a dominating 6-1 win at home over #13/#16 Illinois. The Gators grabbed the early lead with 6-3 wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles and then in singles they won five opening sets. Sam Riffice, Andy Andrade, Johannes Ingildsen, and McClain Kessler won in straight sets at 2, 3, 4, and 5 while Duarte Vale came back from a set down to win in three sets at 6. Illinois picked up its lone point from Aleks Kovacevic who came back from a set down to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 singles over Oliver Crawford.
The other top 15 matchup between #10/#7 TCU and #12/#10 Columbia saw TCU win a close doubles point and then take all six opening sets in singles before Columbia fought back to force third sets on five courts. The Horned Frogs claimed the doubles point by winning the decider at No. 1 in a tiebreak (7-5) and senior Alex Rybakov rolled to a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 1 over #16 Jack Lin. Columbia cut the deficit to 2-1 after a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win by Austen Huang at No. 6 but TCU would close it out with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win by Reese Stalder at No. 3 and a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win by Alastair Gray at No. 2. The other two matches went unfinished with TCU a game away from a win at No. 4 while Columbia was a game away at No. 5.
2019 Women’s Conference Tournament Central
How is seeding done at most conferences?
There are some conferences that play a round robin format during the regular season and some that do not. The ones that do not play a full round robin format usually seed the conference tournament based off the most recent ITA rankings. The next thing you’re probably wondering is what if there aren’t any teams ranked in the ITA top 50 – then what? The conferences and schools are able to see the unpublished rankings so that way they can seed accordingly.
Pac-12 Conference – Ojai, Ca – April 24-27
#9 Washington State def. #8 Colorado 4-0
#1 Stanford def. #9 Washington State 4-0
#1 Stanford def. #4 USC 4-0
Thursday (First Round)
#9 Purdue def. #8 Michigan State 4-2
#10 Iowa def. #7 Indiana 4-2
Friday (Quarterfinals)
#1 Michigan vs. #9 Purdue 4-0
#5 Northwestern def. #4 Ohio State 4-0
#2 Wisconsin def. #10 Iowa 4-3
#3 Illinois def. #6 Minnesota 4-0
#1 Michigan def. #5 Northwestern 4-1
#1 Michigan def. #3 Illinois 4-1
#4 Duquesne def. #13 St. Bonaventure 4-0
#5 Davidson def. #12 Saint Joseph’s 4-1
#9 Saint Louis def. #8 Rhode Island 4-3
#3 Massachusetts def. #14 La Salle 4-0
#6 Richmond def. #11 Dayton 4-0
#7 Fordham def. #10 George Mason 4-0
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
No. 5 Southern Utah def. No. 4 Eastern Washington 4-3
No. 1 Northern Arizona def. #5 Southern Utah 4-0
No. 2 Idaho def. #3 Weber State 4-3
#1 Northern Arizona def. #2 Idaho 4-0
No. 1 UC Santa Barbara def. #9 UC Riverside 5-0
No. 4 Hawai’i def. No. 5 UC Davis 4-0
No. 3 Long Beach State def. No. 6 Cal Poly 4-0
No. 2 Cal State Fullerton def. No. 7 CSUN 4-3
#4 Hawai’i def. #1 UC Santa Barbara 4-3
#3 Long Beach State def. #4 Hawai’i 4-3
Friday (Quarterfinals)
No. 5 Wright State def. No. 4 Milwaukee 4-2
No. 1 UIC def. #4 Wright State 4-1
#1 Illinois Chicago def. #2 Cleveland State 4-0
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) – West Windsor, NJ – April 27-28
Saturday (Semifinals)
No. 1 Quinnipiac def. No. 4 Siena 4-1
No. 2 Fairfield def. No. 3 Marist 4-1
Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) – Norfolk, VA – April 25-27
South No. 1 South Carolina State def. North No. 4 Coppin State 4-0
South No. 2 Florida A&M def. North No. 3 Delaware State 4-0
South No. 3 North Carolina Central def. North No. 2 Howard 4-1
Mid-American Conference (MAC) – Buffalo, NY – April 26-28
No. 4 Ball State def. No. 5 Toledo 4-1
No. 6 Buffalo def. No. 3 Western Michigan 5-0
#1 Miami OH def. #4 Ball State 4-0
#7 Utah State def. #10 Boise State 4-3
#6 Colorado State def. #11 Nevada 4-1
#1 UNLV def. #8 San Jose State 4-0
#2 Air Force def. #7 Utah State 4-1
#3 San Diego State def. #6 Colorado State 4-2
#1 UNLV def. #5 Wyoming 4-0
#1 UNLV def. #3 San Diego State 4-0
Friday (Quarterfinals)
No. 2 Illinois St. def. No. 7 Valparaiso 4-0
No. 3 Bradley def. No. 6 UNI 4-0
Ohio Valley – Nashville, TN (April 26-28)
#6 UT Martin def. #3 Murray State 4-3
#5 Southeast Missouri def. #4 Belmont 4-1
#1 Austin Peay def. #5 Southeast Missouri 4-0
No. 4 Bucknell def. No. 5 Loyola Maryland 4-0
No. 3 Army West Point def. No. 6 Lehigh 4-0
No. 2 Navy def. No. 7 Colgate 4-0
Southland Conference – Corpus Christi, TX – April 25-27
No. 2 Northwestern State def. No. 7 New Orleans 4-1
No. 1 Abilene Christian def. No. 8 Lamar 4-0
No. 4 Sam Houston State def. No. 5 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-2
#3 Central Arkansas def. #4 Sam Houston State 4-2
Friday (Semifinals)
Saturday (Finals)
#1 Denver def. #3 Omaha 4-0
West Coast Conference – Claremont, CA – April 25-27
#1 Pepperdine def. #3 Gonzaga 4-1
#4 UT Rio Grande Valley def. #5 Chicago State 4-1
#3 Kansas City def. #6 Seattle 4-`
#2 New Mexico State def. #1 Grand Canyon 4-3
Week of April 15th-21st
#11 Arkansas def. #14 Missouri 4-1
#9 Syracuse def. #8 Georgia Tech 4-3
#1 North Carolina def. #9 Syracuse 4-0
#1 North Carolina def.. #5 Miami FL 4-0
#1 North Carolina def. #2 Duke 4-2
#8 Baylor def. #9 Iowa State 4-0
Sunday (Finals)
Big South – Radford, VA (April 16-19)
Wednesday (First Round)
#5 Wichita State def. #12 UConn 4-0
#6 SMU def. #11 Tulane 4-2
#10 Cincinnati def. #7 ECU 4-1
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
Sunday (Finals)
#1 UCF def. #2 South Florida 4-0
Atlantic Sun – DeLand, FL (April 18-20)
#4 Florida Gulf Coast def. #5 Stetson 4-0
#4 Florida Gulf Coast def. #1 Liberty 4-3
#7 Creighton def. #10 Providence 4-0
#2 DePaul def. #7 Creighton 4-0
#6 Villanova def. #3 Marquette 4-3
#4 St. Johns def. #5 Seton Hall 4-0
#2 DePaul def. #1 Xavier 4-3
Conference USA – Houston, TX (April 18-21)
#7 Middle Tennessee def. #10 LA Tech 4-1
#4 FIU def. #13 UTEP 4-1
#3 Florida Atlantic def. #14 WKU 4-0
#5 North Texas def. #12 UAB 4-0
#6 Charlotte def. #11 Marshall 4-0
#2 Rice def. #1 Old Dominion 4-2
Colonial Athletic Association – Elon, NC (April 17-20)
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
Northeast Conference – West Windsor, NJ (April 18-20)
#1 LIU Brooklyn def. #8 St. Francis Brooklyn 4-0
#3 Bryant def. #6 Wagner 5-0
#5 Samford def. #4 UNCG 4-1
#2 ETSU def. No. 7 Western Carolina 5-0
#3 Wofford def. No. 6 Mercer 4-0
#1 Furman def. #2 ETSU 4-2
Sun Belt – Peachtree City, GA – April 18-21
#2 South Alabama def. #7 Troy 4-0
#4 UT Arlington def. #5 Louisiana-Monroe 4-1
#8 Georgia Southern def. #1 Appalachian State 4-3
#2 South Alabama def. #6 Georgia State 4-1
Week of April 8th-14th
#1 Alabama State def. #6 Jackson State 4-3
2019 Men’s Conference Tournament Central
How is seeding done at most conferences?
There are some conferences that play a round robin format during the regular season and some that do not. The ones that do not play a full round robin format usually seed the conference tournament based off the most recent ITA rankings. The next thing you’re probably wondering is what if there aren’t any teams ranked in the ITA top 50 – then what? The conferences and schools are able to see the unpublished rankings so that way they can seed accordingly.
2018 Conference Tournament Central
2017 Conference Tournament Central
2016 Conference Tournament Central
Conference Tournament Champions (2010-2018)
Pac-12 Conference – Ojai, Ca – April 24-27
#8 Utah def. #9 Oregon 4-1
#8 Minnesota def. #9 Wisconsin 4-0
Friday (Quarterfinals)
#1 Ohio State def. #8 Minnesota 4-0
Saturday (Semifinals)
#1 Ohio State def. #4 Michigan 4-2
Sunday (Finals)
#1 Ohio State def. #2 Illinois 4-1
#8 Duquesne def. #9 Saint Joseph’s 4-1
#5 George Washington def. #12 St. Bonaventure 4-0
#11 La Salle def. #6 George Mason 4-2
#7 Fordham def. #10 Saint Louis 4-0
#4 Dayton def. #5 George Washington 4-1
#3 Davidson def. #11 LaSalle 4-0
#2 Richmond def. #7 Fordham 4-1
No. 4 Portland State def. No. 5 Montana 4-2
#4 Portland State def. No. 2 Southern Utah 4-3
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
No. 3 UC Irvine def. No. 6 Hawai’i 4-1
No. 4 UC Davis def. No. 5 UC Riverside 4-1
No. 1 UC Santa Barbara def. #4 UC Davis 4-0
No. 2 Cal Poly def. #3 UC Irvine 4-2
Sunday (Finals)
#1 UC Santa Barbara def. #2 Cal Poly 4-0
Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) – Norfolk, VA – April 25-27
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) – West Windsor, NJ – April 27-28
#1 Monmouth def. #4 Fairfield 4-0
#3 Quinnipiac def. #2 Marist 4-1
Sunday (Finals)
#1 Monmouth def. #3 Quinnipiac 4-0
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
#1 New Mexico def. #8 Air Force 4-0
#4 San Diego State def. #5 UNLV 4-1
#2 Utah State def. #7 Boise State 4-0
#3 Fresno State def. #6 Nevada 4-0
#4 San Diego State def. #1 New Mexico 4-3
Saturday (Finals)
#3 Fresno State def. #4 San Diego State 4-2
Ohio Valley – Nashville, TN – April 26-28
#3 Jacksonville State def. #6 Tennessee State 4-0
#5 Eastern Illinois def. #4 Austin Peay 4-2
#1 Tennessee Tech def. #5 Eastern Illinois 4-0
Southland Conference – Corpus Christi, TX – April 26-27
#1 Abilene Christian def. #4 Nicholls 4-0
#2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi def. #3 Incarnate Word 4-2
#2 Texas A&M Corpus Christi def. #1 Abilene Christian 4-3
West Coast Conference – Claremont, CA – April 25-27
#4 LMU def. #5 Pepperdine 4-2
Saturday (Finals)
#1 San Diego def. #6 Santa Clara 4-1
#4 Chicago State def. #5 UT Rio Grande Valley 4-2
#1 Grand Canyon def. #4 Chicago State 4-0
Week of April 15th-21st (14)
#12 Arkansas def. #13 Auburn 4-1
#2 Mississippi State def. #6 South Carolina 4-2
#9 Notre Dame def. #8 Virginia Tech 4-0
#1 Wake Forest def. #9 Notre Dame 4-3
#1 Wake Forest def. #2 Virginia 4-2
Sunday (Finals)
Thursday (First Round)
#7 Temple def. #10 UConn 4-0
#9 SMU def, #8 East Carolina 4-0
Friday (Quarterfinals)
Atlantic Sun – DeLand, FL (Stetson) – April 18 – 20
#4 Kennesaw State def. #5 Stetson 4-2
#1 Florida Gulf Coast def. #4 Kennesaw State 4-0
#2 Butler def. #7 Villanova 4-2
#3 Marquette def. #6 Georgetown 5-1
#4 DePaul def. #5 Creighton 4-1
Big South – Radford, VA (Radford) – April 17-20
#1 Gardner-Webb def. #8 USC Upstate 4-0
#5 Radford def. #4 Presbyterian 4-1
#2 Campbell def. #7 Winthrop 4-1
#3 UNC Asheville def. #6 Longwood 4-3
#5 Radford def. #1 Gardner-Webb 4-3
#2 Campbell def. #3 UNC Asheville 4-0
Conference USA – Murfreesboro, TN (MTSU) – April 19 – 21
#5 Rice def. #4 Charlotte 4-0
#2 Old Dominion def. #7 Southern Miss 4-0
#3 Middle Tennessee def. #6 UTSA 4-3
Colonial Athletic Association – Elon, NC – April 18 – 20
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
#4 James Madison def. #5 Charleston 4-2
#2 Elon def. #7 Hofstra 4-0
#3 William & Mary def. #6 Drexel 4-3
#2 Elon def. #3 William & Mary 4-2
Mid-American Conference (MAC) – Kalamazoo, MI – April 19-21
#1 Western Michigan def. #5 Ball State 4-0
Northeast Conference – West Windsor, NJ – April 18-20
#3 Fairleigh Dickinson def. #6 St. Francis Brooklyn 4-0
#5 Mount St. Mary’s def. #4 Sacred Heart 4-2
#5 Boston University def. #4 Bucknell 4-2
#3 Lehigh def. #6 Colgate 4-1
#2 Army West Point def. #7 Loyola Maryland 4-0
#4 Wofford def. #5 Samford 4-3
#2 Furman def. #7 UNCG 4-0
#6 Mercer def. #3 Chattanooga 4-1
#2 Furman def. #6 Mercer 4-0
#1 ETSU def. #2 Furman 4-2
Sun Belt – Peachtree City, GA – April 18-21
#3 Coastal Carolina def. #6 Georgia Southern 4-3
#2 South Alabama def. #1 Georgia State 4-1
Week of April 8th-14th (1)
#4 Prairie View A&M def. #6 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4-0
#3 Jackson State def. #5 Alcorn State 4-2
#1 Alabama State def. #4 Prairie View A&M 4-0
Sunday Recap: Wake Rolls Over UVA in Top 3 Showdown; Baylor Beats USC to Win BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge; Georgia Women Take Top 10 Tilt Over South Carolina
A pair of top 20 matches highlighted the day on the men’s side while there was a top 7 showdown on the women’s side.
In Winston Salem, second-ranked Wake Forest avenged an early season loss to third-ranked Virginia with a convincing 6-1 win. The Demon Deacons opened things up by taking the doubles point with a 6-4 win at No. 3 and a 7-5 win at No. 3. Wake would add five opening sets in singles, with three of them coming in tiebreaks, and they’d close four of those out in straight sets with freshman Melios Efstathiou clinching at No. 4 with a 7-6, 6-3 win. Full results available at this link.
#6 Baylor won the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge in Indian Wells with a 4-2 win over #16 USC. The Bears won the doubles point and added straight set wins from Matias Soto, Sven Lah, and Jimmy Bendeck at 2, 5, and 6 while USC got straight set wins from Brandon Holt and Riley Smith at 1 and 4. The match at No. 3 went unfinished with USC’s Laurens Verboven leading 5-3 in the third.
The second-ranked Georgia women improved to 13-0 and 5-0 in the SEC after picking up a nice 4-2 win on the road over seventh-ranked South Carolina. Georgia dropped the doubles point for the first time since the National Team Indoors and then the teams split opening sets in singles. Georgia picked up straight set wins from Lourdes Carle and Vivian Wolff at No. 3 and No. 4 while South Carolina’s Paige Cline won in straight sets at No. 2.
Georgia’s Elena Christofi gave the Dawgs its first lead of the match with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5 and Meg Kowalski would clinch at No. 6 with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 win. The match at No 1 went unfinished at 5-5 in the third after SC’s Ingrid Gamarra Martins reeled off four straight games from 1-5 down.
Latest Comments