by Bobby Knight | May 25, 2021 | Uncategorized
The second day of the NCAA Singles Championship saw a slew of seeds get shown the door. In the women’s draw only 5 of the top 16 seeds remain after 6 lost on Monday with the No. 4 seed Georgia’s Katarina Jokic the highest seed to fall. In the men’s draw 8 of the top 16 remain after 3 were knocked out on Monday with the No. 3 seed Texas A&M’s Hady Habib and the No. 5 seed Florida’s Duarte Vale the two highest to fall. North Carolina fifth-year senior William Blumberg became the first-ever 10-time ITA All-American after he advanced to the Round of 16 in the men’s singles and doubles draws. Blumberg dispatched the No. 3...
by Bobby Knight | May 24, 2021 | Uncategorized
The first day of the NCAA Singles Championship saw 7 of the top 8 seeds advance to the second round in both the men’s and women’s draw. The men’s top seed, Kentucky’s Liam Draxl, fought off a match point to pull his match out while the women’s top seed, UNC’s Sara Daavettila, was pushed to a third set in her match. NCAA Men’s Singles – Round 1[1] Liam Draxl, Kentucky, def. John McNally, Ohio State, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)Axel Nefve, Notre Dame def. Philip Henning, Georgia, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5[9-16] Adam Walton, Tennessee, def. James Davis, Denver, 7-5, 6-2Zeke Clark, Illinois, def. Connor Thompson, South Carolina, 6-2, 6-1[8]...
by Bobby Knight | May 23, 2021 | Uncategorized
14 years ago Bryan Shelton won his first national title as head coach of the Georgia Tech women’s team. Saturday night Shelton added another as his Florida Gators won its first-ever NCAA Men’s Championship with his 18-year old son, Ben, providing the clincher in a 4-1 win over top-ranked and second-seeded Baylor. Shelton became the first D1 tennis coach to win both a NCAA Men’s and Women’s Championship The evening started off on the wrong foot for the Gators after an extremely quick doubles point went to Baylor. Florida’s Sam Riffice and the aforementioned Ben Shelton needed only 21 minutes to win 6-0 at No. 2 however Baylor had...
by Bobby Knight | May 23, 2021 | Uncategorized
Ladies and gentlemen it doesn’t get much better than what we saw on Saturday night in Orlando. The second-seeded Texas Longhorns won their third NCAA National Title, and first since 1995, in an epic four-hour battle over No. 5 Pepperdine. The doubles point had been Pepperdine’s bread and butter all week but despite having multiple match points they’d let it slip through their fingers and in the end that one point proved costly. Pepperdine’s Shiori Fakuda and Taisiya Pachkaleva won all the big points in a 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles. Fakuda and Pachkaleva won all four games that went to a deciding point while also fighting off six break...
by Bobby Knight | May 22, 2021 | Uncategorized
A few months ago we weren’t sure if we were going to get a full season in but we’ve made it to the last day of the dual-match season with a pair of NCAA Championship matches this evening. The Pepperdine women and Florida men will be seeking their first-ever NCAA National Championship while the Texas women will be seeking title No. 3 and the Baylor men will be trying to win title No. 2. Without further ado here are the breakdowns on each of the finals: WOMEN’S FINAL [2] Texas vs [5] Pepperdine (5:30 pm ET)Road to the FINAL#2 Texas def. Denver 4-0 in R1; def. #31 Arizona State 4-0 in R2; #16 Ohio State 4-1 in R16; def. #7 Florida State 4-0 in...
by Bobby Knight | May 22, 2021 | Uncategorized
Friday’s semifinals brought us some close matches and some not so close matches but there was no bigger story than what happened in the matchup between No. 1 North Carolina and No. 5 Pepperdine. The undefeated and top ranked Tar Heels entered the match seeking a second-ever trip the finals and since it hadn’t dropped more than two singles matches in any dual all season it had to like its chances. However it’d be the Waves from Pepperdine that would crush UNC’s dream season with a thrilling 4-3 win in a match that took just over 3 hours to complete. Pepperdine knew going in that it really needed to have the doubles point to put itself in...
by Bobby Knight | May 21, 2021 | Uncategorized
For the second day in a row Barry University claimed a Division II National Championship with the women’s team winning a fourth consecutive title with a 4-0 win over top-ranked Indianapolis. UIndy came into the match with a perfect 23-0 record and were a perfect 23-0 in the doubles point but the day ended with both of the L columns having a 1 in its place. Barry, which came into the match with a 14-0 record (13-0 in doubles), picked up the first victory in doubles when Kim Moosbacher and Daniela Farfan ran their dual-match record to 10-0 with a 6-3 win at No. 3. Moosbacher and Farfan jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back from there. UIndy...
by Bobby Knight | May 21, 2021 | Uncategorized
The top two teams met in the NCAA Division II Men’s Championship match for the third year in a row and for the second consecutive season, and fifth time overall, it was the Barry Buccaneers that were lifting the hardware after a closer than the score indicates 4-1 win. Columbus State entered the match with a perfect 23-0 record and had yet to lose the doubles point but that all changed after about 35 minutes. The Cougars top ranked doubles team of Alvaro Regalado and Javier Cueto Ramos cruised to a 6-0 win at the top spot but Barry’s Alessandro Giuliato and Tim Buttner countered at No 2 with a 6-1 win. The doubles point was decided at No. 3 and...
by Bobby Knight | May 21, 2021 | Uncategorized
For the fourth season in a row Barry will play for the NCAA Division II Women’s Final while the Bucs opponent, top-ranked Indianapolis, is in the final for the first time in school history. Barry has won the title in each of the last three seasons with a win over West Florida in 2018 and a pair over Lynn in 2017 and 2019. UIndy’s path to the finals hasn’t been as smooth as Barry’s but the Greyhounds have managed to navigate each match to reach the final day of the season. UIndy opened up play in Surprise, AZ, in the quarterfinals with a tough 4-2 win over No. 30 St. Mary’s TX. The Greyhounds picked up the doubles point with wins...
by Bobby Knight | May 21, 2021 | Uncategorized
Just four teams remain in the women’s and men’s draw with Texas the only one that can pull off the double. The Friday weather forecast calls for temps in the low 80s with winds close to 20 miles per hour but it’s been windy for the last few days so all the teams should be pretty used to that by this point. North Carolina and Texas have each made it to the women’s final before while both Pepperdine and NC State are making history with each passing round. The Texas men are shooting for a second consecutive finals appearance while Tennessee and Baylor are trying to get back to the final day for the first time since 2010 and 2005...
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