With the ball set to drop later tonight I thought it was a perfect time to look back at 2016 and highlight some of the biggest moments of the year. There were five teams that qualified for the National Team Indoors for the first-time in school history and both of the eventual champions ended up being first-time winners.
North Carolina won the Men’s National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville by defeating the host Virginia Cavaliers in a 4-2 thriller. Virginia came into the match riding a 140-match ACC winning streak and had beaten North Carolina 15 straight times but despite winning the doubles point and taking four first sets North Carolina rallied to win it.
California won the Women’s National Team Indoor Championships in Madison by winning a 4-3 thriller over North Carolina. Cal freshman Olivia Hauger clinched the win by breaking Marika Akkerman on the deciding point to win it 7-5 in the third.
Return winner by freshman @OliviaHauger and the University of California Golden Bears win the 2016 #ITAIndoors pic.twitter.com/TgPTBfmGG1
— ??? (@jokelley_tennis) February 8, 2016
Wake Forest won its first-ever ACC Championship by upsetting the 9-time defending champion Virginia Cavaliers 4-3. Wake freshman Dennis Uspensky rallied from a 7-6, 4-1 deficit to force a third set on what would be the championship deciding court. Uspensky fell behind Luca Corinteli 4-2 in the third set but the young Deac stayed the course and pulled it out 7-6(4).
Oklahoma State won it’s first Big 12 Women’s Championship since 2003 after winning a drama-free tournament in Stillwater that saw the Cowgirls blank Kansas State, Kansas, and Texas Tech. The Cowgirls continued to play well at the NCAA Championships, which took place just 70 miles away in Tulsa, and advanced all the way to the championship match for the first-time in school history. Stanford found itself in fifth place in the Pac-12 and ranked as low as No. 19 in early April but a late season surge, which included a win over then #1 and undefeated Cal, helped propel the Cardinal to their 25th conference championship. Stanford entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 15 seed but they kept finding ways to win day after day. The Cardinal beat No. 19 Texas A&M 4-3 in the second round, No. 2 Florida 4-3 in the round of 16, No. 10 Michigan 4-3 in the quarterfinals, and No. 6 Vanderbilt 4-2 in the semifinals.
Stanford would win its 18th National Championship in a 4-3 classic over Oklahoma State in a match that was played in front of a huge orange-clad crowd of over 1700 spectators. Stanford junior Taylor Davidson won the match-decider by holding on a lengthy deciding point by playing some tough defense.
Virginia suffered a few uncharacteristic losses during the regular season (see above) but in the do or die setting of the NCAA Championships they rose to the occasion and won their second straight national championship, and third in the last four years, with a 4-1 win over Oklahoma. Virginia got pushed pretty hard by Oklahoma State in the Round of 16 but the Cavaliers routed Florida and Cal in the quarterfinals and semifinals and were in control against Oklahoma in the finals.
UCLA junior Mackenzie McDonald and Virginia senior Danielle Collins won NCAA Singles Championships in what turned out to be their final collegiate singles matches. McDonald would also win NCAA Doubles Championship with Martin Redlicki and would decide to turn pro a few weeks later.
Less than a week after the NCAA Team Championship John Roddick resigned at Oklahoma to become the Director of Tennis at Central Florida. Roddick had led OU to three straight national runner-up finishes but the USTA’s new Lake Nona facility played a major role in his decision to make the move.
Arizona State announced that the men’s tennis program, which was shut down in 2008, would be reinstated for the 2017-18 season. The ITA’s relocation from New Jersey to Arizona played a significant role along with the $5M that was raised. Arizona State announced that Adam Steinberg would lead the upstart program but nine days later he reversed course and decided to remain at Michigan so South Florida’s Matt Hill was tapped as the new head coach.
Ohio State sophomore Francesca Di Lorenzo swept both of the women’s fall majors by defeating UCLA freshman Ena Shibahara in the finals of the Riviera/ITA All American Championship and North Carolina senior Hayley Carter in the finals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiates. Di Lorenzo went a perfect 10-0 in the fall and went 26-3 last year during the dual-match season.
Wake Forest sophomore Petros Chrysochos won the Saint Francis Health System All American Championship with a straight set win over Ohio State junior Hugo Di Feo and Arkansas senior Mike Redlicki won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiates after defeating Ohio State junior Mikael Torpegaard in straight sets.
Seven more men’s programs were lost last season while four women’s programs came to a close. Best of luck to those that were involved with the Albany (W) Hartford (M/W), Maryland-Baltimore County (M/W), Maryland-Eastern Shore (M), Morehead State (M/W), Murray State (M), SIU Edwardsville (M), and Western Illinois (M) programs.
I was fortunate enough to have seen several exciting dual-match matches in person in 2016 with several of them coming down to the final court including many of those 4-3 thrillers in Tulsa. I saw dual-matches in seven different states (California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee) and shot a lot of quick video clips that I posted on my YouTube page.
I’m looking forward to another exciting season of college tennis that will culminate with the NCAA Championships at my alma mater the University of Georgia. Thank you for your continued support and for following me on Twitter and Facebook.
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