The two biggest upsets of the day on Friday took place between Alabama and Kentucky. The Kentucky men clawed past ITA #17/USTA #24 Alabama 5-2 in Lexington. The Wildcats took the doubles point with a 6-2 win at No. 2 and a 6-3 win at No. 3 and then won the first four singles matches to finish with the wins at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 coming in straight sets.
“We had a big team meeting last week about the standards and the culture that we had to set heading into the SEC season,” said Kentucky volunteer assistant coach Mark Goldberg. “I think this was a big one, protecting our home, setting our standards high. We came out, took care of our business, and we protected our home.”
The Alabama women welcomed #18 Kentucky to Tuscaloosa and rolled to a 4-1 win. The Tide took the doubles point and added straight set wins at No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 while Kentucky scratched out a win at No. 5.
“We kept fighting all night and it led to a big confidence boost for us, we need to use that momentum,” head coach Jenny Mainz stated. “We know what we’re capable of accomplishing and previously had not been able to turn the corner and we said we just need that one to get over the hump. It was a big win for us tonight.”
Unranked Cal improved to 3-5 after upsetting #21 Arizona in Berkeley 4-2. The Bears won the doubles point and then added straight set wins at 3, 4, and 5 with Jack Molloy clinching at 4 with a 7-6, 7-6 win. Arizona won at 1 and 2 while Cal led 5-3 in the third in the unfinished match at 6.
“It was great to play at home for the first time this year,” said Director of Cal Men’s Tennis Peter Wright. “We’ve been on the road for the first seven matches, and it was a wonderful feeling to win our first Pac-12 match of the season in front of our home crowd.
“Arizona is a strong team, and they gave us a battle. We played with better composure today, and that helped us carry momentum from the doubles into the singles. It’s a long season, and I know this team is starting to click, so we’re looking at each match as an opportunity to grow, and we’re not trying to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Georgia, ranked No. 2 by the ITA and No. 1 by the USTA, was pushed by #15/#13 LSU but the Bulldogs managed to pull through with a 4-2 win in a match played indoors in Athens. Georgia took the doubles point and added straight set wins at 3 and 4 to go up 3-0 but LSU answered with wins at 1 (Eden Richardson def. #1 Katarina Jokic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4) and 2 to make it 3-2. UGA freshman Meg Kowalski clinched at No. 6 with a 7-5, 6-1 win while the match at No. 5 went unfinished with UGA lead 4-3 in the third.
“It’s just good to get another SEC win,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “It would’ve been nice to play outside, but the weather put us inside. It was good to see us get the doubles point. We got down 3-0 on court three and came back and won. It was the second week in a row our team did that, which shows good resiliency. We never got out of it, [you] got to keep fighting. In singles, I thought Elena [Christofi] did a great job of staying on that court and making it a little bit easier for Meg [Kowalski] to close it out. She didn’t go away, she never does, and she just keeps fighting. That’s really important. I think Lourdes [Carle] looked really solid and I think Vivian [Wolff] had a great day her doubles and singles were just MVP stuff.”
Men’s Results
- #7/#6 Stanford def. Arizona State 4-0 – Cardinal won 9 of 10 sets in singles and led in the three matches that went unfinished
- #9 Florida def. #40 Ole Miss 6-1 – Gators won in straights at 1, 3, 5, and 6 while 2 & 4 were both decided in 10 point third set supertiebreaks.
- #15/#16 Illinois def. #45 Northwestern 4-0 – Illini won a close doubles point and then took 8 of 10 sets in singles
- #18/#15 Oklahoma def. #50 Memphis 4-0 – Sooners won in dubs and added straight set wins at 3, 5, and 6. Memphis had set leads on 1 and 2.
- #20/#13 UCLA won at #41 Utah 4-2 – Bruins won the doubles decider in a tiebreak – Cressy and Nanda won in straights with Goldberg clinching 6-3 in the third on 5. Utah led on unfinished court.
- Duke def. #23 Penn 6-1 – Blue Devils dominated by winning 11 of 13 sets in singles
- #26 Vanderbilt def. Auburn 6-1 – Dores dropped the dubs decider in a tiebreak but then took 12 of 14 sets in singles
- #30 Oklahoma State def. #35 NC State 4-2 – Cowboys took dubs and added straight set wins at 1, 3, and 6
- Indiana def. #32 Texas Tech 4-2 – Hoosiers took dubs and added straight set wins at 1 and 5 with Vikash Singh clinching 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 at No. 6
- #49 UCF def. #36 Penn State 4-3 – Knights came back from 3-0 down winning the final three matches in three sets – Alan Rubio clinched 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 at No. 3
- South Florida def. #42 Tulane 4-3 – Bulls won the doubles decider in a tiebreak then came back from 3-1 down with Alberto Barroso-Campos clinching with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 1 – 10th straight loss for Tulane
- Iowa def. Drake 4-3 – Hawkeyes first win over state rival Drake since 2011 – Joe Tyler won the decider at No. 4 singles 7-6, 7-5
- Wisconsin def. Nebraska 6-1 – Badgers clinched at 4-1 with 3 of 6 matches going the distance
Women’s Results
- #1/2 North Carolina won at #25/#20 Virginia 5-2 – Heels took dubs but then dropped No. 4 and No. 6 singles in straights before winning the last four in straights
- #5 Vanderbilt won at #36 Auburn 4-1 – Dores won dubs with 6-0 wins at 2 and 3 and rolled in singles with straight set wins at 3, 5, and 6
- #6/#9 UCLA won at Arizona State 4-2 – Bruins dropped the dubs decider in a tiebreak but rallied in singles with Alaina Miller clinching 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 at No. 5 (ASU led in unfinished match)
- #7/#21 Washington won at Colorado 4-1 – Huskies took dubs and won in straights at 1 & 5 with Vanessa Wong clinching 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2
- #9/#7 South Carolina won at #41 Missouri 4-0 – Gamecocks won every completed set in singles
- #11/#14 NC State def. Clemson 6-1 & Appalachian State 7-0 – Wolfpack won 11 of 12 singles matches in straight sets
- #14/#24 USC won at Arizona 6-1 – Trojans took dubs and won in straights at 3 & 5 while winning in three sets at 2, 4, and 6.
- #16/#6 Texas def. #17/#11 Florida State 4-1 – Horns dropped dubs but came back in singles winning in straights at 4 and 5 while adding three set wins at 2 and 6. Unfinished matches were both in the third set too.
- #19/#25 Wake Forest def. #32 Georgia Tech 7-0 – Deacs won the dubs decider in a tiebreak and then won all 12 sets in singles
- #20/#19 Cal won at Oregon 5-2 – Bears won dubs and clinched at 4-0 after straight set wins at 2, 5, and 6
- Utah def. #28 Washington State 4-3 – Utes won dubs and freshman Madison Tattini broke a 3-3 tie by clinching with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) win at No. 2 – WSU freshman Hikaru Sato had a match point at 6-5
- #27/#23 UCF def. Tulane 4-1 and Miami (OH) 7-0 – Knights have won 10 in a row
- #33 Tennessee def. #21 Texas A&M 4-2 – Vols won the doubles decider in a tiebreak (7-0) and then won in straights at 1 and 3 with Rebeka Mertena clinching 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 4
- Indiana def. #31 Illinois 4-3 – Hoosiers beat Illinois for the first time since 2008 despite dropping the doubles point – IU senior Natalie Whalen won the decider at No. 2 singles 7-6, 4-6, 7-5
- #34 Oklahoma def. #47 Tulsa 4-3 – Sooners dropped the doubles point and came back from 3-2 down with Ivana Corley winning 3-6, 6-0, 7-5 at No. 6 and Oleksandra Korashvil clinching at No. 1 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win
- #45 Florida won at #44 Arkansas 4-3 – Gators won dubs but had to come back from 3-2 down with Tsveta Dimitrova winning 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 at No. 6 and Marlee Zein clinching 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 (4) at No. 6 – it was win No. 500 for head coach Roland Thornqvist
- #46 Denver def. Oral Roberts 7-0 – Pioneers only dropped 6 total games in singles
*All quotes are from the respective school’s recaps
**If there are two rankings listed the first ranking is the ITA ranking and the second is the USTA rankings
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