Thursday Recap & Notes: Georgia, South Carolina, & Texas all winners

This morning I got a chance to watch the Fox Sports Oklahoma telecast of Tuesday's Oklahoma/Virginia match and I must say I was impressed with the production of the match and the quality of the announcing.  The version I watched was taped and edited but they did a good job bouncing around from court to court.  They started the telecast a few games into singles and started showing the match at #1 singles but they also showed several games of the Alvarez/Shane match at #2 singles.  After those 2 matches finished up they showed the last 3 games of the Webb/Kwiatkowski match and then showed the last several games of the Bragusi/Aragone match. The only 2 courts they didn't go to were #4 and #5 singles.  I know the match was viewable live for a fee through Oklahoma's site though I don't know if that version had announcers or was just plain old streaming.  I also saw where the match was going to be replayed several times on Fox College Sports so if you have that channel check out a few minutes of the replay.

Today's match between Georgia and Tennessee was originally scheduled to be broadcasted on ESPN3 however recent weather delayed installation of the proper cables back to the Tennessee studio (per UT blog).


For those wondering where the live streaming went for the SEC schools that in the past have steamed matches (Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Auburn, Texas A&M) I got the answer from Tammy Wilson, SEC Director of Communications:

"When we started the SEC Network this year, the schools gave the Network all rights which includes live streaming because we are also on WatchESPN / ESPN3.  It's up to each institution if they want to utilize their production department to show tennis on those outlets (known as SEC Network+).  We do have several schools that have shown tennis using this option"

In Knoxville, Tennessee seemingly had the doubles point all but clinched when they had 4 match points at #3 doubles but Georgia's Wayne Montgomery and Paul Oosterbaan rallied back to force a tiebreak then cruised through the tiebreak 7-3 to give Georgia the point.  Singles was fairly lopsided with Georgia taking 5 1st sets and finishing 3 of them in just over an hour with Austin Smith, Nick Wood, and Paul Oosterbaan all picking up wins.  The 3 remaining matches were abandoned with the match at #1 singles on-serve in the 3rd, Georgia's Nathan Pasha up a set at #3, and Tennessee's Igor Smelyanski up a set and on serve in the 2nd at #5. 

FYI, the number beside the player's school is the player's Universal Tennis Rating as of March 12th.  For more details about UTR check out their website. 

#3 Georgia 4, #55 Tennessee 0

Singles

1. #14 Mikelis Libietis (UT 14.17) vs. #17 Wayne Montgomery (UGA 14.67) 1-6 6-4 2-1 

2. #30 Austin Smith (UGA 14.23) def. Hunter Reese (UT 13.25) 6-3, 6-4

3. #15 Nathan Pasha (UGA 14.28) vs. #95 Jack Schipanski (UT 13.05) 6-3, 5-5 unf.

4. Nick Wood (UGA 13.72) def. Luis Valero (UT 13.27) 6-1, 6-4

5. Igor Smelyanski (UT 13.51) vs. Ben Wagland (UGA 13.25) 6-4, 4-5 unf.

6. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA 13.60) def. Andrew Dromsky (UT 12.33) 6-4, 6-0

Doubles

1. #7 Smith/Wagland, UGA, def. #2 Libietis/Reese, UT, 6-4

2. Dromsky/Smelyanski, UT, def. #70 Diaz/Pasha, UGA, 6-3

3. Montgomery/Oosterbaan, UGA, def. Schipanski/Valero, UT, 7-6 (3)

Match Notes

Georgia 12-2 (5-0); National ranking #3

Tennessee 9-7 (1-3); National ranking #55

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,4,2)

Georgia recap

"Our guys played very well today," said head coach Manuel Diaz. "Tennessee really challenged us in doubles, and it came down to a tiebreaker. Our guys got better in that tiebreaker, and that is a sign of a championship team. I thought we did a tremendous job in all of our singles matches, so it was a good day for our guys."

"Our No. 1 doubles team had a very good win against the defending NCAA champions," Manuel Diaz said. "At No. 3 we were down an early break but our guys did a phenomenal job of competing under pressure."

Tennessee recap

"We are in a place where we know what we have to do," head coach Sam Winterbotham said after the match. "It's become clearer as the season has gone on where our deficiencies are and where our strengths are. We are in the process of correcting those deficiencies and using our strengths. The match today was against a very good team, and the truth is that if we did two things better, we can take that match. As the double points, we had four match points to clench the double's point, so the score line is a little bit misleading. I thought they played very well in singles. They managed their match well."

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Columbia, SC:  South Carolina took the doubles point and then picked up singles wins from Kyle Koch, Harrison O'Keefe, and Thomas Mayronne at 2, 5, and 6.  Kentucky got its lone point from Beck Pennington at #1 singles.  Kentucky made a little bit of a charge by taking 2nd sets at 1, 2, and 3 but they weren't able to make any headway at the bottom 3. 

#38 South Carolina 4, Kentucky 1

Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 1)

1. #44 Kyle Koch / Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. #58 Beck Pennington/Kevin Lai (UK) 7-6 (1)

2. #47 Thomas Mayronne / Harrison O'Keefe (SC) def. Jerry Lopez/Nils Ellefson (UK) 6-3

3.Andrew Adams / Andrew Schafer (SC) led William Bushamuka/Trey Yates (UK) 6-5 susp

Singles (Order of Finish: 5, 1, 6, 2*)

1. #92 Beck Pennington (UK 13.41) def. Andrew Adams (SC 13.57) 6-4, 6-3

2. Kyle Koch (SC 13.79) def. Jerry Lopez (UK 13.28) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2

3. Thiago Pinheiro (SC 13.39) vs. #125 William Bushamuka (UK 13.05) 6-2, 1-6, 5-5 

4. #113 Andrew Schafer (SC 13.60) led Trey Yates (UK 12.93) 7-6 (6), 5-6 susp

5. Harrison O'Keefe (SC 13.27) def. Kevin Lai (UK 13.12) 6-2, 6-2

6. Thomas Mayronne (SC 12.92) def. Jake Stefanik (UK 12.81) 7-6 (5), 6-3

Kentucky recap

South Carolina recap

"This was a great match for us," South Carolina head coach Josh Goffi said. "The team is getting stronger with every match. Now that we have a full lineup, everyone's confidence is growing, especially after a win like this. The doubles point was sticky - down a break on 3 from the start with 1 and 2 teetering. We were finally able to pull ahead on 2, which gave 1 the confidence to win, and that point played a big role in today's win. What I loved about today was the resilience. There were a lot of momentum swings, but we stuck with it and made the final push to the end of the match, which is something we have not always done well this season."

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Austin, TX:  Texas sat 2 of its regular starters (Lloyd Glasspool & Nick Naumann) but still managed to shutout Michigan State 7-0 and only dropped 1 set in singles along the way.  This match was pretty much just a tune-up to get the Longhorns ready for what's coming up which is Illinois on Saturday and Ohio State next Tuesday.

#8 Texas 7, Michigan State 0

03/12/15 at Austin, TX (Caswell Tennis Center)

Singles competition

1. #2 Soren Hess-Olesen (UT 15.02) def. #123 Gijs Linders (MSU 12.85) 6-2, 6-0

2. #52 Adrien Berkowicz (UT 13.77) def. Brett Forman (MSU 13.49) 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)

3. #60 George Goldhoff (UT 13.71) def. Harry Jadun (MSU 12.81) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

4. Adrian Ortiz-Ruiz (UT 13.28) def. John Patrick Mullane (MSU 13.17) 6-3, 6-0

5. John Mee (UT 13.56) def. Mac Roy (MSU 11.96) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)

6. Clement Homs (UT 13.61) def. Michael Dube (MSU 12.07) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. #35 Lloyd Glasspool/Soren Hess-Olesen (UT) def. #21 Harry Jadun/John Patrick Mullane (MSU) 6-4

2. Adrien Berkowicz/George Goldhoff (UT) def. Brett Forman/Gijs Linders (MSU) 6-4

3. Doug Zade/Jasper Koenen (MSU) def. John Mee/Adrian Ortiz-Ruiz (UT) 6-2

Match Notes

Michigan State 8-8

Texas 12-1; National ranking #8; Regional ranking #2

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,4,6,5,2,3)

T-2:41 A-215

Texas recap

"It was nice to get outside and play when the weather is cooperating with us," Head Coach Michael Center said. "We didn't play great, but we didn't play bad. We won the key points today and kept working throughout."

"Søren has long-term goals to be a great tennis player," Center said. "He is staying very poised and emotionally steady out there. If he keeps doing that, he can continue to improve." 

"You could tell Clement was nervous and a little rusty, but he worked through the match and got the win," Center said. "I didn't expect him to be 100-percent since he hasn't played since last May, but I'm proud of him. I know he is excited to be playing again."

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Oxford, MS: After taking the doubles point Ole Miss got off to a slow start in singles taking only 2 of 6 opening sets but fortunately the Rebels the match was halted for a good hour or so by rain and play was eventually resumed indoors.  The downtime seemed to help Ole Miss refocus with the Rebels taking each of the 2nd sets on the 3 courts in action (3 indoor courts) and eventually both Stefan Lindmark and Gustav Hansson would close out their opponents which would put Ole Miss just a point away. While Giammarco Micolani would get Arkansas its lone point with a win at #1 over #23 Nik Scholtz, Ole Miss's Zvonimir Babic would quickly finish off Juan Marino at #5 by winning the only 3 games played after the play resumpion for a 6-4, 6-1 win.

Here is match point courtesy of the Ole Miss Rebels You Tube Page.


Notes:
Ole Miss was without William Kallberg (#1 dubs/#4 singles) for the 2nd match in a row after injuring his ankle against Alabama.

The doubles point was played outdoors and the first set had been completed on 5 of 6 courts before the rain came moving play indoors.  Here a few stats from outdoors vs. indoors

• #1 singles - ARK won 7 of 9 games outdoors, OM won 9 of 16 indoors - ARK won match
• #2 singles - ARK won 5 of 9 games outdoors, OM won 12 of 19 indoors - Rebs won match
• #3 singles - ARK won 7 of 12 games outdoors, OM won 9 of 13 indoors - Rebs won match
• #4 singles - OM won 7 of 13 games outdoors, both won 2 games indoors - did not finish
• #5 singles - OM won 9 of 14 games outdoors, OM won all 3 games indoors - Rebs won match
• #6 singles - ARK won 6 of 11 games outdoors, match was never restarted

#13 Ole Miss 4, #64 Arkansas 1

Doubles 

1. Nik Scholtz/Zvonimir Babic (OM) def. Santiago Munoz/Branch Terrell (UA) 6-1

2. Gustav Hansson/Stefan Lindmark (OM) def. Jovan Parlic/Giammarco Micolani (UA) 6-4

3. Johan den Toom/William Albanese (UA) def. Ricardo Jorge/Grey Hamilton (OM) 6-3

Singles

1. Giammarco Micolani (UA 13.69) vs. #23 Nik Scholtz (OM 14.24) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3

2. #82 Stefan Lindmark (OM 14.21) def.  Jovan Parlic (UA 12.75) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

3. Gustav Hansson (OM 13.68) def. William Albanese (UA 12.23 ) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3

4. Vinod Gowda (OM 12.78) vs. Johan den Toom (UA 12.76) 7-6(3), 2-2

5. Zvonimir Babic (OM 12.79) def. Juan Marino (UA 12.60) 6-4, 6-1 

6. David Herrerias (UA 12.59) vs. Ricardo Jorge (OM 13.11) 6-4, 0-1
Match Notes

Arkansas 11-7, 1-3; National ranking #64

Ole Miss 10-4, 2-1; National ranking #13

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,1,2,5)

Match resumed indoors at 8:30

Ole Miss recap with comments from Toby Hansson:

"The doubles point was huge in giving us a big lift early," head coach Toby Hansson said. "Even though we were down in some singles matches all the guys were battling, and I felt confident that we could turn them around. We took two of the top three singles and that set the tone. We would like to thank the fans who waited out the delays with us and came indoors to see the finish. They made a huge difference in the outcome."

"I am so happy for Zvonimir, because he's been a little unlucky this spring. He's had a tough start, so it was great to see him finish it off. This is a great win for us. The team spirit is really good right now, and it's nice to see everybody step up when we are a missing a player."

"Stefan didn't play his best match, but he kept fighting and was able to turn it around," Toby Hansson said. After a difficult start to his match, Gustav was able to gather himself and get us going once we moved indoors. I have to credit all the guys for responding to adversity. When things don't go your way, you have to respond the right way and compete harder, and they all did that."