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Saturday was moving day with some teams moving into conference finals, and/or wrapping up regular season play with a huge win, while others moved off the bubble and into an early offseason after a tough loss. Let’s start off with conference tournament action in the American Athletic Conference. A week ago the four-time reigning AAC Champion South Florida Bulls looked like a team that was ready to call it a season after losing six of seven and heading into the regular season finale against UCF with just a 7-15 record. But somehow the Bulls have caught fire and after taking it to UCF in the War on I-4 they’ve now found themselves in a fifth straight conference final after a pair of 4-3 wins over No. 4 seed Wichita State and No. 1 seed Memphis.

On Friday in the Wichita State match, it was junior Alberto Barroso-Campos that was the hero after he won the final three games to win the decider at No. 1 over Haru Inoue 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Then on Saturday against No. 18 Memphis, the Bulls came back from 3-2 down with senior Grayson Goldin defeating Kai Lemke 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 and sophomore Pierre Luquet clinching the match with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Chris Patzanvsky at No. 4. The result was one that took many, including me, by surprise because Memphis had just defeated USF 4-0 a little over two weeks ago in a match that Memphis thoroughly dominated winning doubles matches 6-0 and 6-1 and singles matches 6-2, 6-0; 6-3, 6-2; and 6-0, 6-0. On another note USF is now a perfect 14-0 in AAC conference tournament play.

South Florida (recap) head coach Ashley Fisher on the big win, “A lot of people were surprised by today’s result, but no one that has anything to do with USF men’s tennis. We have always known that when we leave it out there as a team and embrace big moments, anything is possible. Pierre Luquet grew up in front of my eyes today and we got inspiring performances from Grayson and Kuba. We played the best doubles point of the season and maintained an incredible level of energy and passion throughout the match. I couldn’t be any prouder of this group than I am right now”.

 

South Florida’s opponent in Sunday’s final will be Tulane after the Green Wave (recap) turned back a tough UCF squad 4-2. The Knights, who were fighting for their NCAA at-large lives, took the doubles point with lopsided wins at No. 2 and No. 3, but the Green Wave got it done in singles winning 9 of 12 completed sets with freshman Hamish Stewart clinching 6-1, 7-6 at No. 3. 

Notes – Tulane senior Constantin Schmitz won his 100th career singles match with a straight set win over Korey Lovett at No. 1. Tulane will be playing in its first conference tournament final since 2014 (CUSA) and attempting to win its first conference tournament title since 2005 (CUSA). 

 

 

At the Conference USA semifinals at Rice, the top seed Old Dominion rolled to a 4-0 shutout win over Southern Miss and will play the No. 3 seed Florida Atlantic in the finals after FAU snapped No. 2 seed Middle Tennessee State’s 10-match winning streak with a 4-1 win. FAU won the doubles decider in a tiebreak and then after winning four first sets in singles managed to close out three of them in straight sets. ODU won the regular season meeting at a neutral site 4-1

At the Southern Conference finals at Chattanooga, the top seed East Tennessee State will attempt to win a 12th straight conference championship win it meets the No. 3 seed Furman. ETSU blanked No. 5 seed Samford in the semifinals while Furman took out the No. 2 seed Mercer 4-1. Furman’s last conference title came in 2009 when the Paladans defeated Elon. ETSU won the regular season meeting at Furman 5-2. 

At the Sun Belt Tournament in Peachtree City, Georgia, the top seed and host Georgia State will attempt to win the conference for a second year in a row when it meets the No. 3 seed South Alabama. In Saturday’s semifinals, GSU roughed up Troy 4-0 while USA had its way with Appalachian State 4-0. Georgia State won the regular season meeting at home 4-1 plus these teams also met in last year’s final which took place in New Orleans.

At the Atlantic Sun Tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, the top seed and hosts North Florida will be attempting to win its second-ever conference title when it faces the No. 2 seed Stetson in the final. In Saturday’s semifinals, UNF defeated Kennesaw State 4-1 while Stetson edged defending champion Florida Gulf Coast 4-3 with sophomore William Shkrob winning the decider 7-5 in the third at No. 6. UNF won the regular season match at Stetson 5-2. 

 

 

At the Ohio Valley Tournament in Nashville, it’ll be 1 versus 2 in the final. The top seed and host Belmont advanced to its first-ever conference final after defeating Eastern Kentucky 4-2 in what will be EKU’s final match since the school decided to discontinue tennis after this season. The No. 2 seed Tennessee Tech will be seeking it’s third straight conference title after holding off Jacksonville State 4-3. TT junior Wencesalo Albin came back from a set down to win the deciding match 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 at No. 3. Belmont won the regular season meeting over Tennessee Tech 5-2. 

At the Colonial Tournament in Elon, top seed Wiliam & Mary and third seed UNC Wilmington will meet in the final for the second year in a row. In Saturday’s semifinals W&M routed Drexel 5-0 while UNCW took out the No. 2 seed and hosts Elon 4-1. William & Mary will be seeking its fifth CAA Championship while UNCW will be going for its sixth. 

At the Northeast Conference Tournament in West Windsor, New Jersey, it’ll also be 1 versus 2 in the final. The top seed Bryant will be playing for its fifth straight NEC title after a 4-0 rout over FDU while the No. 2 seed Wagner will be playing in its first conference final after coming back from 3-2 down to defeat Saint Francis U 4-3. Wagner junior Anatoliy Lashkul won the deciding match at No. 2 with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 win.

 

 

For all of the rest of Saturday’s conference tourmament results check out my men’s and women’s hub pages. 

 

In the regular season finale for both teams it was No. 17 Oklahoma rallying from a 3-0 deficit to win Bedlam over No. 14 Oklahoma State 4-3. OSU won a tightly contested doubles point, which saw all three courts go to a tiebreak, and then extended the lead with straight set wins by Mathieu Scaglia and Luke Hammond. OU got on the board with a straight set win by Ferran Calvo at No. 4 and then picked up three-set wins from Alex Bakshi, Jake van Emburgh, and Stefano Tsorotiotis with van Emburgh getting the clinch at No. 2. The win by the Sooners was the 11th straight in the rivalry and most likely will secure OU as a NCAA regional host. 

 

 

Oregon moved off the bubble and into the field after defeating Cal for the first-time in school history. Cal took the early lead after taking the doubles point but Oregon claimed five first sets in singles and closed out four in straight sets with Thomas Laurent clinching 7-6, 7-5 at No. 1 (trailed 2-5 in the second set).

 

 

Arizona State was pretty much a lock to make the NCAAs but they removed any doubt after winning the Territorial Cup 4-0 over Arizona. ASU won a close doubles point and then despite a game effort from Arizona the Sun Devils pulled out singles wins at 1, 2, and 3 while Arizona led at 4, 5, and 6.