by Bobby Knight | May 22, 2018 | Blog
If you are a fan of college tennis and didn’t enjoy the two men’s semifinal matches that were played on Monday evening then you need to go see a doctor. Both matches had it all, from the multiple weather delays due to lightning and rain, to the back and forth swings that came with each time they restarted play, and wow how about that doubles point in the Ohio State/UCLA match. It was an unbelievable night that kept me up past 2 a.m. here in London but it was worth every second. So let’s start out with the match on lower courts between No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 Ohio State. The Bruins served first to start the matches at No. 1 and No. 2 but...
by Bobby Knight | May 22, 2018 | Blog
We started with 64 teams and now we’re down to the final 2 after SEC Champion Vanderbilt and Pac-12 Champion Stanford advanced to Tuesday’s NCAA championship match. Vanderbilt will be making its third appearance in the final (2015/2001) and will be seeking its second championship after pulling away late to defeat Georgia Tech 4-2. Vanderbilt got off to a quick start in doubles and went up early breaks at No. 1 and No. 2 while Georgia Tech took the early lead at No. 3. Vandy’s No. 2 team of Emma Kurtz and Emily Smith jumped out to a 2-0* lead and would add one more break, via a double fault on the deciding point, to defeat Ida...
by Bobby Knight | May 21, 2018 | Blog
Just four men’s and women’s teams remain as we head into the second to last day of the dual-match season. The women’s semifinals will kickoff the day at 10 a.m. and both matches should be able to be played outdoors however the men’s matches scheduled for 2 p.m. may not be as fortunate. The forecast currently shows a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms starting around 2 p.m. and staying around for most of the day so hopefully the other 50% with no rain is what we get. On the women’s side, Vanderbilt is appearing in its fourth consecutive NCAA semifinal and will be seeking its third appearance in the championship match while...
by Bobby Knight | May 20, 2018 | Blog
For the first time since play began on Thursday all matches would start and finish outdoors and the fans in attendance were treated to one good match after another. Pac-12 Champion UCLA defeated its crosstown rival USC for the fourth time this season with the doubles point being the difference. Big Ten Champion Ohio State came back from 2-0 down to defeat SEC Champion Mississippi State 4-3. In the All-SEC quarterfinal it was Texas A&M edging Florida 4-3 and in the match that the locals packed the house for Wake Forest shutout Illinois 4-0.The semifinal matches, which will be played at the same time, have been moved up from 4 p.m. eastern tomorrow to 2 p.m....
by Bobby Knight | May 20, 2018 | Blog
After two days of rain the skies finally cleared up some on Saturday which allowed for 2 1/2 of the 4 women’s quarterfinal matches to be played outdoors. The first three matches were pretty uneventful, except for a coach getting ejected in the Duke/Texas Tech match, however the nightcap between Georgia Tech and UCLA lived up to its billing. Georgia Tech played late into the night on Thursday in a 4-3 thriller against Pepperdine but the Jackets were ready for another showdown against a west coast on Saturday. The match began outdoors but midway through singles rain forced a 75 minute delay and then 10 minutes after play resumed it started raining...
by Bobby Knight | May 19, 2018 | Blog
The first pair of men’s quarterfinal matches was originally set for noon eastern on Sunday but with rain expected later in the day the NCAA has adjusted the schedule and moved the two early matches up to 10 a.m. with the later two pushed up from 4 p.m. to 2 p.m. Three of the four matches will be rematches from the regular season with the Ohio State/Mississippi State match the only one that will be a first time meeting. UCLA, USC, and Ohio State have been frequent visitors to the semifinals over the last 20 years while Illinois (2007), Florida (2005), and Mississippi State (1998) will be trying to get back to the promised land for the first time in a...
by Bobby Knight | May 19, 2018 | Blog
There won’t be any scheduling issues in the quarterfinals because the NCAA has decided to play all the matches at Wake Forest and space them out three hours apart starting at 10 a.m. eastern. If it rains they’ll go indoors but there’s a good chance that some will be played outdoors since the rain isn’t due to come in until later in the day. The top seed Vanderbilt will try to beat Florida State for a second time this season while the No. 15 seed Stanford will try to take out another higher seeded team when it plays Georgia. Duke and Texas Tech will kick the day off while Georgia Tech and UCLA will close the night out. [1]...
by Bobby Knight | May 19, 2018 | Blog
The men’s Elite 8 is set with some great matchups in store for Sunday. Another day of rain forced play indoors with all eight matches played under a roof so after two days of play 14 of 16 matches have been played indoors in the national outdoor championship. The tournament host and top seed Wake Forest got some resistance from Ivy League champion Columbia and will now meet Illinois who ran right over TCU. The second seed UCLA got all it wanted and more from Michigan in the day’s first match in Chapel Hill but advanced and will play a familiar foe on Sunday in crosstown rival USC who upset North Carolina with some strong, strong play in singles....
by Bobby Knight | May 18, 2018 | Blog
A rainy Thursday in Winston-Salem forced six of the eight matches indoors with three matches being sent 90 miles away in Chapel Hill. The three matches played indoors at Wake Forest were all fairly lopsided with Vanderbilt, Duke, and Stanford cruising to victories while the three matches in Chapel Hill had more substance with Texas Tech, Georgia, and Florida State coming out on top. The rain had finally cleared out by late evening so the final two matches were played outdoors at Wake Forest. In those two night matches, both of the teams that won avenged regular season losses with Georgia Tech gutting out a 4-3 win over Pepperdine while UCLA defeated Ole...
by Bobby Knight | May 17, 2018 | Blog
In just a few hours the women will kick things off in Winston-Salem though it looks like with the amount of rain expected there’s a better than average chance of plenty of indoor tennis over the next several days. If play goes indoors the highest seeded team in the two-match block will stay in Winston-Salem while the other match will be sent 90 miles away to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The only exception to that rule will be if North Carolina is playing; in those instances they will remain in Winston-Salem regardless of seed so as not to give them a home-court advantage. There will be live streaming available at both indoor sites as...
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