It was pretty easy picking the 2 through 6 spots but picking #1 was a little tougher. None of the matches at #1 singles finished during the semifinals and finals so at most my selection would only have 2 results and that's if his first two matches actually finished. I went with Hanfmann because he was undefeated even though it appeared he was headed towards a loss against Wayne Montgomery.
Each player had to play in at least 3 matches to qualify and to make the All Tournament Team each player's team had to at least advance to the quarterfinals (similar to the ITA's rules for its All Tournament Team). FYI, DNF = Did Not Finish.
College Tennis Today All Tournament Team:
Singles:
MVP: Alex Ghilea (Oklahoma) - he clinched the semifinal win against Baylor by coming back from a set and 5-2 down and clinched the championship against USC by knocking off the guy, Max De Vroome, that finished their season the year prior in the NCAA Championship. 1 of only 2 guys that went 4-0 on the weekend in singles (Eric Johnson was the other).
PlaySight
Showing posts with label 2015 Men's National Team Indoors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2015 Men's National Team Indoors. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
Oklahoma Is the New Indoor King (Full Tournament Box Scores)
Last May at the NCAA Championship Final versus USC , Oklahoma won the doubles point but then couldn't follow up in singles. Today they won the doubles point and then stepped up its game even more during singles play in route to a 4-2 win over #1 USC which gave the Sooner program its 1st ever National Team Indoor Championship.
Things didn't start out looking great for Oklahoma as it looked like USC was going to run them off the court by taking commanding leads on all 3 doubles courts. While USC's #2 doubles tandem of Max De Vroome and Eric Johnson would cruise to a 6-1 win, the other 2 USC teams wouldn't be able to close out their respective matches. At #3 doubles USC's Nick Crystal and Connor Farren would lead 5-2 but after an OU hold the Sooner tandem of Florin Bragusi and Alex Ghilea would break on the deciding point for 4-5 and would then reel off an additional 3 games to win the court 7-5. All said and done Bragusi an Ghilea fought off 4 match points in route to the comeback win. While USC was cracking under pressure at #3 the Trojan #1 doubles team of Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz was looking to avoid the same thing as they served for the match up 5-4. After going up 40-30 to give USC 2 match points, Oklahoma's Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb would take the next 2 points to tie it at 5. 2 holds of serve later the deciding match went to a tiebreak. OU would go up 3-0 in the tiebreak and not look back as they took it 7-4 and with that Oklahoma had capped off an incredible comeback and taken the doubles point for the 1-0 lead.
Men's National Team Indoor Championship Preview
Monday's National Team Indoors Championship will be a
rematch from last year's NCAA Championship (box score below) as #1 USC takes on #2 Oklahoma. USC has only dropped 2 points so far this
tournament while Oklahoma has dropped just 4 points (2 doubles & 2 singles)
so both teams are accustomed to not only winning but winning fairly
comfortably. USC will be making its 4th
straight appearance in the finals and 10th overall after winning in 2012 and
finishing as the runner up in 2013 and 2014.
Oklahoma will be making its 1st appearance in the finals.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
National Indoors Semifinals
A great start to the day in Chicago as Oklahoma comes back from getting shellacked in doubles to win 4 singles matches and knock off fellow Big 12 member Baylor 4-2. Baylor looked as fired up today as it did yesterday and it showed during the doubles point but once singles got underway that emotion started to fade as Oklahoma really established itself on the top 4 courts. Oklahoma took the opening set on 1, 2, 3, and 4 while Baylor was able to pick up opening sets at 5 and 6.
Tony Lupieri was one of yesterday's heroes for Baylor but he just didn't seem to have the same giddy-up in his step today and Dane Webb really pushed him all over the court in route to a 6-4, 6-0 win at #3 singles. Axel Alvarez would put Oklahoma ahead 2-1 when he out worked Max Tchoutakian at #2 winning 6-4, 6-4. Down at #4 singles Oklahoma's Spencer Papa would go up 4-2 in the 3rd set and was serving for 5-2 but Diego Galeano would break back and hold to even it at 4 a piece. Papa would compose himself and hold serve and then break Galeano to take the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. With Oklahoma now ahead 3-1 the search was on for that 4th point but the last person it looked like it would come from was Alex Ghilea at #5 singles. Ghilea was getting roughed up by Mate Zsiga trailing 6-4 4-2 and in fact Zsiga served for the match twice up 5-2 and 5-4 but Zsiga's serve started to abandon him as he double faulted twice from 15-15 to face 3 break points in the 5-4 game - he fought off the 1st one but Ghilea lured him in on the 30-40 point with a low slice and Zsiga's return hit the net cord and kicked wide. That point was in essence the match because Zsiga never recovered nor won another game and ended up going down 4-6, 7-5, 6-0. Baylor picked up another point when Felipe Rios won in 3 sets on 6 but the outcome was cemented when Ghilea won at 5.
Tony Lupieri was one of yesterday's heroes for Baylor but he just didn't seem to have the same giddy-up in his step today and Dane Webb really pushed him all over the court in route to a 6-4, 6-0 win at #3 singles. Axel Alvarez would put Oklahoma ahead 2-1 when he out worked Max Tchoutakian at #2 winning 6-4, 6-4. Down at #4 singles Oklahoma's Spencer Papa would go up 4-2 in the 3rd set and was serving for 5-2 but Diego Galeano would break back and hold to even it at 4 a piece. Papa would compose himself and hold serve and then break Galeano to take the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. With Oklahoma now ahead 3-1 the search was on for that 4th point but the last person it looked like it would come from was Alex Ghilea at #5 singles. Ghilea was getting roughed up by Mate Zsiga trailing 6-4 4-2 and in fact Zsiga served for the match twice up 5-2 and 5-4 but Zsiga's serve started to abandon him as he double faulted twice from 15-15 to face 3 break points in the 5-4 game - he fought off the 1st one but Ghilea lured him in on the 30-40 point with a low slice and Zsiga's return hit the net cord and kicked wide. That point was in essence the match because Zsiga never recovered nor won another game and ended up going down 4-6, 7-5, 6-0. Baylor picked up another point when Felipe Rios won in 3 sets on 6 but the outcome was cemented when Ghilea won at 5.
#2 Oklahoma 4, #10 Baylor 2
Doubles:
1. #40 Zsiga/Lupieri (BU) vs. #5 Alvarez/Webb (OU) 4-2
2. Lenz/Galeano (BU) def. Papa/Harris (OU) 6-2
3. Schneider/Felipe Rios (BU) def. Salazar/Ghilea (OU) 6-1
1. #40 Zsiga/Lupieri (BU) vs. #5 Alvarez/Webb (OU) 4-2
2. Lenz/Galeano (BU) def. Papa/Harris (OU) 6-2
3. Schneider/Felipe Rios (BU) def. Salazar/Ghilea (OU) 6-1
Singles:
1. #26 Andrew Harris (OU) vs. #10 Julian Lenz (BU) 6-1, 4-6, 5-5 DNF
2. #11 Axel Alvarez (OU) def. #67 Max Tchoutakian (BU) 6-4, 6-4
3. #31 Dane Webb (OU) def. #27 Tony Lupieri (BU) 6-4, 6-0
4. Spencer Papa (OU) def. Diego Galeano (BU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
5. #63 Alex Ghilea (OU) def. Mate Zsiga (BU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-0
6. Felipe Rios (BU) def. Jose Salazar (OU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
Match Notes:
Order of Finish - Doubles (3,2) Singles (3,2,4,6,5)
In the late afternoon match it was Georgia who got off to the fast start and surprised USC by taking the doubles point to grab the early 1-0 lead. Just one day earlier the Georgia duo of Montgomery/Oosterbaan looked out of sync and had a tough time keeping the ball in play but today was the exact opposite as they controlled play and finished points much quicker and won easily 6-1. Below is match point at #3 doubles.
USC's #2 doubles team of Max De Vroome and Eric Johnson looked like they were going to cruise after going up an early double break and led 4-0 but Georgia's Eric Diaz and Nathan Pasha chipped away at the lead with a Pasha hold, a break, and a Diaz hold to get within 4-3. USC held for 5-3 and then had a match point on the Pasha serve but he fought it off and then USC was broke serving for the match to even it at 5. While the 5-5 game was in progress Georgia would clinch the point by taking #1 doubles.
The Georgia #1 doubles pairing of Ben Wagland and Austin Smith pulled off a big upset over the ITA #1 ranked doubles team of Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz but it took a little extra effort to close it out. After 5 straight holds to start the match Georgia would break the Hanfmann serve to go up 4-2 and would then consolidate the break with an Austin Smith hold for 5-2. Quiroz held for 3-5 then Ben Wagland served for the match and went up 40-15 but USC battled back to get the break for 4-5. Wagland and Smith refocused and managed to break back to take the court 6-4 which cliched the doubles point and gave Georgia the early 1-0 lead.
In singles play USC jumped out to early break leads on 2, 4, and 6 singles while Georgia would go up early breaks at 3 and 5.
USC's Eric Johnson was in total control at #4 after breaking the Nick Wood serve to start the match and in fact he would break the Wood serve 6 straight times before Wood finally held to make it 1-6 1-5. Every facet of Johnson's game was on while Wood struggled the entire match. Wood couldn't find the range on his forehand with the majority of his shots either going too long or too short with Johnson jumping all over the short ones. The 6-1 6-1 scoreline was definitely odd considering they just played 2 weeks ago with Johnson winning 7-5 in the 3rd.
Down at 6 USC's Nick Crystal would open up an early 3-1 lead before Paul Oosterbaan would break back to put it on serve at 3-2. Crystal would then reel off 8 straight games to not only take the opening set 6-2 but also open up a 5-0 lead in the 2nd set. During that 8 game stretch Oosterbaan struggled with his serve and Crystal kept the big 6'7 Bulldog on the run point after point. With nothing to lose Oosterbaan finally loosened up and started going for broke while Crystal started to tighten up and was hitting shot after shot into the bottom half of the net. Oosterbaan would win 4 straight to put it back on serve and it looked like we might be headed to a 3rd set which would have been a huge momentum boost for Georgia with several of the other guys in trouble. Unfortunately for Georgia the big Oosterbaan serve that got him 2 straight holds would fade away and Crystal would break at love to take the match 6-2, 6-4 to put USC up 2-1.
Exactly 2 minutes later the USC lead would be extended to 3-1 as Max De Vroome would finish off Ben Wagland 7-5 6-1 at #5 singles. Wagland jumped out to an early break lead at 2-1 but De Vroome would break back on the next game and would then break Wagland at love to take the opening set 7-5. The Wagland forehand that was working in the first set disappeared in the 2nd set and De Vroome made quick of him.
With all 3 of the back courts finished off everyone's attention turned to the front 3 courts where USC just needed to win 1 of the final 3 matches while Georgia needed them all. Georgia's Wayne Montgomery was up a break in the 3rd set at 1 while Nathan Pasha and Jonny Wang were on serve at 3 in a match that went back and forth. On the other remaining court USC's Roberto Quiroz had a 7-6, 4-1 lead before Austin Smith held and then went up 0-30 on the Quiroz serve. Quiroz got the next 2 points to make it 30 all and then got a fortunate break when his volley hit the tape and trickled over to make it 40-30. Smith would force the deciding point and would get a look at a 2nd serve but he couldn't get the return back in play as Quiroz's lefty serve pulled Smith well into the doubles alley. Smith would hold to trim the deficit to 5-3 but Quiroz would promptly hold at love to send USC back to the finals for the 4th year in a row.
In the 2 remaining matches Georgia's Wayne Montgomery had a 4-1 lead in the 3rd at #1 and Nathan Pasha and Jonny Wang were tied at 3-3 at #3.
Doubles:
Singles:
In the late afternoon match it was Georgia who got off to the fast start and surprised USC by taking the doubles point to grab the early 1-0 lead. Just one day earlier the Georgia duo of Montgomery/Oosterbaan looked out of sync and had a tough time keeping the ball in play but today was the exact opposite as they controlled play and finished points much quicker and won easily 6-1. Below is match point at #3 doubles.
USC's #2 doubles team of Max De Vroome and Eric Johnson looked like they were going to cruise after going up an early double break and led 4-0 but Georgia's Eric Diaz and Nathan Pasha chipped away at the lead with a Pasha hold, a break, and a Diaz hold to get within 4-3. USC held for 5-3 and then had a match point on the Pasha serve but he fought it off and then USC was broke serving for the match to even it at 5. While the 5-5 game was in progress Georgia would clinch the point by taking #1 doubles.
The Georgia #1 doubles pairing of Ben Wagland and Austin Smith pulled off a big upset over the ITA #1 ranked doubles team of Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz but it took a little extra effort to close it out. After 5 straight holds to start the match Georgia would break the Hanfmann serve to go up 4-2 and would then consolidate the break with an Austin Smith hold for 5-2. Quiroz held for 3-5 then Ben Wagland served for the match and went up 40-15 but USC battled back to get the break for 4-5. Wagland and Smith refocused and managed to break back to take the court 6-4 which cliched the doubles point and gave Georgia the early 1-0 lead.
In singles play USC jumped out to early break leads on 2, 4, and 6 singles while Georgia would go up early breaks at 3 and 5.
USC's Eric Johnson was in total control at #4 after breaking the Nick Wood serve to start the match and in fact he would break the Wood serve 6 straight times before Wood finally held to make it 1-6 1-5. Every facet of Johnson's game was on while Wood struggled the entire match. Wood couldn't find the range on his forehand with the majority of his shots either going too long or too short with Johnson jumping all over the short ones. The 6-1 6-1 scoreline was definitely odd considering they just played 2 weeks ago with Johnson winning 7-5 in the 3rd.
Down at 6 USC's Nick Crystal would open up an early 3-1 lead before Paul Oosterbaan would break back to put it on serve at 3-2. Crystal would then reel off 8 straight games to not only take the opening set 6-2 but also open up a 5-0 lead in the 2nd set. During that 8 game stretch Oosterbaan struggled with his serve and Crystal kept the big 6'7 Bulldog on the run point after point. With nothing to lose Oosterbaan finally loosened up and started going for broke while Crystal started to tighten up and was hitting shot after shot into the bottom half of the net. Oosterbaan would win 4 straight to put it back on serve and it looked like we might be headed to a 3rd set which would have been a huge momentum boost for Georgia with several of the other guys in trouble. Unfortunately for Georgia the big Oosterbaan serve that got him 2 straight holds would fade away and Crystal would break at love to take the match 6-2, 6-4 to put USC up 2-1.
Exactly 2 minutes later the USC lead would be extended to 3-1 as Max De Vroome would finish off Ben Wagland 7-5 6-1 at #5 singles. Wagland jumped out to an early break lead at 2-1 but De Vroome would break back on the next game and would then break Wagland at love to take the opening set 7-5. The Wagland forehand that was working in the first set disappeared in the 2nd set and De Vroome made quick of him.
With all 3 of the back courts finished off everyone's attention turned to the front 3 courts where USC just needed to win 1 of the final 3 matches while Georgia needed them all. Georgia's Wayne Montgomery was up a break in the 3rd set at 1 while Nathan Pasha and Jonny Wang were on serve at 3 in a match that went back and forth. On the other remaining court USC's Roberto Quiroz had a 7-6, 4-1 lead before Austin Smith held and then went up 0-30 on the Quiroz serve. Quiroz got the next 2 points to make it 30 all and then got a fortunate break when his volley hit the tape and trickled over to make it 40-30. Smith would force the deciding point and would get a look at a 2nd serve but he couldn't get the return back in play as Quiroz's lefty serve pulled Smith well into the doubles alley. Smith would hold to trim the deficit to 5-3 but Quiroz would promptly hold at love to send USC back to the finals for the 4th year in a row.
In the 2 remaining matches Georgia's Wayne Montgomery had a 4-1 lead in the 3rd at #1 and Nathan Pasha and Jonny Wang were tied at 3-3 at #3.
#1 USC 4, #4 Georgia 1
1. Austin Smith/Ben Wagland (UGA) def. #1 Yannick
Hanfmann/Roberto Quiroz (USC), 6-4
2. Eric Diaz/Nathan Pasha (UGA) vs.#38 Max De Vroome/Eric
Johnson (USC), 5-5, unf.
3. Wayne Montgomery/Paul Oosterbaan (UGA) def. Nick
Crystal/Connor Farren (USC), 6-1
1. #17 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) vs. #7 Yannick Hanfmann (USC),
6-4, 3-6, 4-1, unf.
2. #24 Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. #21 Austin Smith (UGA),
7-6(2), 6-3
3. #15 Nathan Pasha (UGA) vs. #20 Jonny Wang (USC), 3-6,
6-2, 3-3, unf.
4. Eric Johnson (USC) def. Nick Wood (UGA), 6-1, 6-1
5. Max De Vroome (USC) def. Ben Wagland (UGA), 7-5, 6-1
6. #49 Nick Crystal (USC) def. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA), 6-2, 6-4
6. #49 Nick Crystal (USC) def. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA), 6-2, 6-4
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,6,5,2)
Men's National Team Indoors Semifinal Preview
We almost got the top 4 seeds into the semifinals but the #11 seeded Baylor Bears decided they wanted to crash the party so instead we have #1 USC, #2 Oklahoma, #4 Georgia, and #11 Baylor each playing for a spot in Monday's Championship.
Probable Singles Lineup
[2] Oklahoma vs. [11] Baylor - 12pm cst - It'll be a Big 12 battle as Oklahoma (8-0) takes on Baylor (6-1) in what will likely be the 1st of 3 meeting this year. Last year they played each other 3 times and each finished with a 4-3 score with Oklahoma winning twice and Baylor once so I'd say we're heading towards another 4-3 final. Baylor has been better at doubles going undefeated this year and I think they grab the point to take the early 1-0 lead. Both Harris and Lenz picked up impressive wins on Saturday with Harris knocking off Ole Miss's Nik Scholtz 7-6, 6-3 while Lenz ripped Virginia's Mitchell Frank 6-2, 6-0. I'm leaning towards Harris in this one but it really could go either way. I like Axel Alvarez at 2 and Spencer Papa at 4 for OU while I like Mate Zsiga and Vince Schneider at 5 and 6 for Baylor. If Tony Lupieri can play as good today as he did against Thai Son Kwiatkowski then Baylor probably wins this one but I think Webb edges him out and Oklahoma moves on to the finals. Prediction: Oklahoma 4-3
Probable Singles Lineup
1. #26 Andrew Harris (OU) vs. #10 Julian Lenz (BU)
2. #11 Axel Alvarez (OU) vs. #67 Max Tchoutakian (BU)
3. #31 Dane Webb (OU) vs. #27 Tony Lupieri (BU)
4. Spencer Papa (OU) vs. Diego Galeano (BU)
5. #63 Alex Ghilea (OU) vs. Mate Zsiga (BU)
6. Jose Salazar (OU) vs. Vince Schneider (BU)
Probable Doubles Lineup
1. #5 Alvarez/Webb (OU) vs. #40 Zsiga/Lupieri (BU)
2. Papa/Harris (OU) vs. Lenz/Galeano (BU)
3. Salazar/Ghilea (OU) vs. Schneider/Felipe Rios (BU)
Probable Doubles Lineup
1. #5 Alvarez/Webb (OU) vs. #40 Zsiga/Lupieri (BU)
2. Papa/Harris (OU) vs. Lenz/Galeano (BU)
3. Salazar/Ghilea (OU) vs. Schneider/Felipe Rios (BU)
[1] USC vs. [4] Georgia - 3:30pm cst - This will be a rematch from just 2 weeks ago when USC (8-0) went into Athens and shutout Georgia (6-1) by a 4-0 score. 2 of the 6 singles matches will be repeats with Hanfmann beating Montgomery in straight sets and Johnson outlasting Wood 7-5 in the 3rd. Last time USC jumped on Georgia in doubles going up a break everywhere and putting it in cruise control and I think the Trojans will do the same on Sunday and pick up wins at 1 and 2. I'd have USC as the favorite on 5 of the 6 singles courts so for Georgia to overcome the doubles points would be a mighty tall task. Georgia's best chance at pulling the upset would be to get wins from Pasha, Wood, and Oosterbaan at 3, 4, and 6 and then hope to pull an upset at 2. Prediction: USC 4-0
Probable Singles Lineup
1. #7 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) vs. #17 Wayne Montgomery (UGA)
2. #24 Roberto Quiroz (USC) vs. #21 Austin Smith (UGA)
3. #20 Jonny Wang (USC) vs. #15 Nathan Pasha (UGA)
4. Eric Johnson (USC) vs. Nick Wood (UGA)
5. Max De Vroome (USC) vs. Ben Wagland (UGA)
6. #49 Nick Crystal (USC) vs. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA)
Probable Doubles Lineup
1. #1 Hanfmann/Quiroz (USC) vs. Wagland/Smith (UGA)
2. #38 De Vroome/Johnson (USC) vs. Pasha/Diaz (UGA)
3. Crystal/Connor Farren (USC) vs. Oosterbaan/Montgomery (UGA)
Probable Doubles Lineup
1. #1 Hanfmann/Quiroz (USC) vs. Wagland/Smith (UGA)
2. #38 De Vroome/Johnson (USC) vs. Pasha/Diaz (UGA)
3. Crystal/Connor Farren (USC) vs. Oosterbaan/Montgomery (UGA)
I'll be onsite on Sunday so I'll do my best to keep everyone updated - you can follow me on twitter at @College10s2day . If you have a question during the day send me a tweet and if I can answer it I will.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
National Indoors - Day 2
It was a great day of tennis on Saturday with the final match of the day just as thrilling as the 1st one. Even though Georgia never trailed it felt like it was a come from behind win due to Georgia being so far down on so many courts early one.
Illinois seemingly had the doubles point in the bag when they were up 5-3 in the deciding match at #1 with Ross Guignon serving for it but Georgia got the break on the deciding point and held on to take it in a tiebreak. In singles action Illinois jumped out to a break lead on all 6 courts and would take 6-1 first sets at 1, 2, and 5 and a 6-2 set at 4. Georgia's Nathan Pasha would come back from a 3-0 opening set deficit to take the set 7-5 and at 6 Georgia's Paul Oosterbaan would come back from 4-2 down to take the set 6-4. While both Pasha and Oosterbaan maintained their 2nd sets leads so would both Jared and Aron Hiltzik at 2 and 4. The biggest turn around came at #5 where Georgia's Ben Wagland trailed 6-1 4-2 and was completely out of the match. Nothing was going Wagland's way, his head and shoulders were down, he was missing shot after shot then he changed up his strategy and chipped/sliced every shot over a 2 to 3 game stretch while also taking all the pace off the ball and Vukic seemed unsure how to respond. Wagland won 4 straight to take the 2nd and then in the final set he starting picking the pace up and moving the ball all over the place off his forehand wing. Wagland had a match point when Vukic served at 5-6 40-40 but a big serve sent it the tiebreak. At the same time over at #1 singles, Wayne Mongomery and Farris Gosea were starting a tiebreak so both of the remaining matches were in 3rd set tiebreaks at the same time. Montgomery would jump out to a 5-2 while Wagland went up 4-2 but as Vukic came back to go up 6-5, Montgomery would finish off Gosea 7-3.
Baylor came to play on Day 2 of the National Indoors and the Bears upset #3 Virginia in a 4-3 thriller. Baylor took the doubles point winning at 2 and 3 and then picked up 4 first sets and actually looked like they were going to run away with it before Virginia started slowly turning the tide. Julian Lenz would put Baylor up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-0 rout over Mitchell Frank at #1 but Collin Altamirano would get Virginia on the board with a rout of his own winning 6-1, 6-2 at #4 singles over Diego Galeano. Virginia would tie it at 2-2 when JC Aragone closed out Vince Schneider in straight sets winning 6-3, 6-4 at 6 and then at #2 Ryan Shane would come back from dropping the 1st set to roll over Max Tchoutakian 6-1, 6-1 in the 2nd and 3rd.
Baylor's Tony Lupieri had what appeared to be a command 6-4, 4-1 double break lead over Thai Son Kwiatkowski at #3 but Kwiatkowski would rally back and go ahead 6-5 in the 2nd. Lupieri would hold to get it to the tiebreak and would then win an epic 12-10 tiebreak to tie the overall match at 3-3. Kwiatkowski would have sets points up 7-6 and 8-7 in the tiebreak with the 8-7 point coming on his serve but Lupieri would hit a forehand winner down the line and not trail again. (For point-by-point details on the tiebreak check out my twitter feed @College10s2day which had a running commentary)
In the remaining match Baylor's Mate Zsiga was up 4-3 in the 3rd and receiving Ritschard's serve at 15-40 before Ritschard would double fault the break. Zsiga would then serve out the match after falling behind 15-30 and Baylor had the monumental upset over perennial powerhouse Virginia.
Below is a clip of match point though I forgot to move the phone toward the net as Zsiga came forward on the final point (Ritschard put it in the net)
Illinois seemingly had the doubles point in the bag when they were up 5-3 in the deciding match at #1 with Ross Guignon serving for it but Georgia got the break on the deciding point and held on to take it in a tiebreak. In singles action Illinois jumped out to a break lead on all 6 courts and would take 6-1 first sets at 1, 2, and 5 and a 6-2 set at 4. Georgia's Nathan Pasha would come back from a 3-0 opening set deficit to take the set 7-5 and at 6 Georgia's Paul Oosterbaan would come back from 4-2 down to take the set 6-4. While both Pasha and Oosterbaan maintained their 2nd sets leads so would both Jared and Aron Hiltzik at 2 and 4. The biggest turn around came at #5 where Georgia's Ben Wagland trailed 6-1 4-2 and was completely out of the match. Nothing was going Wagland's way, his head and shoulders were down, he was missing shot after shot then he changed up his strategy and chipped/sliced every shot over a 2 to 3 game stretch while also taking all the pace off the ball and Vukic seemed unsure how to respond. Wagland won 4 straight to take the 2nd and then in the final set he starting picking the pace up and moving the ball all over the place off his forehand wing. Wagland had a match point when Vukic served at 5-6 40-40 but a big serve sent it the tiebreak. At the same time over at #1 singles, Wayne Mongomery and Farris Gosea were starting a tiebreak so both of the remaining matches were in 3rd set tiebreaks at the same time. Montgomery would jump out to a 5-2 while Wagland went up 4-2 but as Vukic came back to go up 6-5, Montgomery would finish off Gosea 7-3.
#4 Georgia 4, #5 Illinois 2
Doubles competition
1. Ben Wagland/Austin Smith (GA) def. #11 Tim Kopinski/Ross Guignon (ILL) 7-6 (4)
2. Nathan Pasha/Eric Diaz (GA) def. Jared Hiltzik/Farris Gosea (ILL) 6-3
3. Blake Bazarnik/Brian Page (ILL) def. Paul Oosterbaan/Wayne Montgomery (GA) 6-3
Singles competition
1. #17 Wayne Montgomery (GA) def. #41 Farris Gosea (ILL) 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3)
2. #23 Jared Hiltzik (ILL) def. #21 Austin Smith (GA) 6-1, 6-1
3. #15 Nathan Pasha (GA) def. #37 Tim Kopinski (ILL) 7-5, 7-5
4. #69 Aron Hiltzik (ILL) def. Nick Wood (GA) 6-2, 6-4
5. Ben Wagland (GA) vs. #46 Aleks Vukic (ILL) 1-6, 6-4, 6-6 (5-6) DNF
6. Paul Oosterbaan (GA) def. Blake Bazarnik (ILL) 6-4, 6-4
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,6,4,3,1)Baylor came to play on Day 2 of the National Indoors and the Bears upset #3 Virginia in a 4-3 thriller. Baylor took the doubles point winning at 2 and 3 and then picked up 4 first sets and actually looked like they were going to run away with it before Virginia started slowly turning the tide. Julian Lenz would put Baylor up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-0 rout over Mitchell Frank at #1 but Collin Altamirano would get Virginia on the board with a rout of his own winning 6-1, 6-2 at #4 singles over Diego Galeano. Virginia would tie it at 2-2 when JC Aragone closed out Vince Schneider in straight sets winning 6-3, 6-4 at 6 and then at #2 Ryan Shane would come back from dropping the 1st set to roll over Max Tchoutakian 6-1, 6-1 in the 2nd and 3rd.
Baylor's Tony Lupieri had what appeared to be a command 6-4, 4-1 double break lead over Thai Son Kwiatkowski at #3 but Kwiatkowski would rally back and go ahead 6-5 in the 2nd. Lupieri would hold to get it to the tiebreak and would then win an epic 12-10 tiebreak to tie the overall match at 3-3. Kwiatkowski would have sets points up 7-6 and 8-7 in the tiebreak with the 8-7 point coming on his serve but Lupieri would hit a forehand winner down the line and not trail again. (For point-by-point details on the tiebreak check out my twitter feed @College10s2day which had a running commentary)
In the remaining match Baylor's Mate Zsiga was up 4-3 in the 3rd and receiving Ritschard's serve at 15-40 before Ritschard would double fault the break. Zsiga would then serve out the match after falling behind 15-30 and Baylor had the monumental upset over perennial powerhouse Virginia.
Below is a clip of match point though I forgot to move the phone toward the net as Zsiga came forward on the final point (Ritschard put it in the net)
#10 Baylor 4, #3 Virginia 3
Doubles competition
1. #37 Ryan Shane/Luca Corinteli (UVA) vs. #40 Mate Zsiga/Tony Lupieri (BU) 6-6 (5-3) DNF
2. Julian Lenz/Diego Galeano (BU) def. #41 Mac Styslinger/Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVA) 7-6 (7-2)
3. Vince Schneider/Felipe Rios (BU) def. Mitchell Frank/Collin Altamirano (UVA) 6-3
Singles competition
1. #10 Julian Lenz (BU) def. Mitchell Frank (UVA) 6-2, 6-0
2. #4 Ryan Shane (UVA) def. #67 Max Tchoutakian (BU) 4-6,
6-1, 6-1
3. #27 Tony Lupieri (BU) def. #1 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVA)
6-4, 7-6 (10)
4. Collin Altamirano (UVA) def. Diego Galeano (BU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Mate Zsiga (BU) def. Alexander Ritschard (UVA) 6-4, 3-6,
6-3
6. J.C. Aragone (UVA) def. Vince Schneider (BU) 6-3, 6-4
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,4,6,2,3,5)
#2 Oklahoma 4, #7 North Carolina 1
Doubles competition
1. Axel Alvarez/Dane Webb (OKLA) def. Brayden Schnur/Oystein Steiro (UNC) 6-1
2. Brett Clark/Robert Kelly (UNC) def. Spencer Papa/Andrew Harris (OKLA) 6-4
3. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. Jose Salazar/Alex Ghilea (OKLA) 6-3
Singles competition
1. #26 Andrew Harris (OKLA) def. #6 Brayden Schnur (UNC) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
2. #11 Axel Alvarez (OKLA) def. #19 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) 6-1, 6-4
3. #31 Dane Webb (OKLA) vs. Brett Clark (UNC) 6-4, 3-6, 3-0, unfinished
4. Spencer Papa (OKLA) def. Oystein Steiro (UNC) 6-4, 6-2
5. #63 Alex Ghilea (OKLA) def. #104 Jack Murray (UNC) 7-5, 6-1
6. Jose Salazar (OKLA) vs. #75 Robert Kelly (UNC) 0-6, 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,4,5,1)
#1 USC 4, #8 Ohio State 1
Doubles competition
1. #1 Yannick Hanfmann/Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. #7 Ralf Steinbach/Kevin Metka (OSU) 6-4
2. #38 Max De Vroome/Eric Johnson (USC) def. #36 Hunter Callahan/Chris Diaz (OSU) 6-2
3. Nick Crystal/Connor Farren (USC) vs. Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) 5-4 DNF
Singles competition
1. #7 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. #53 Chris Diaz (OSU) 7-6(4), 6-1
2. #24 Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. #30 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) 6-1, 7-5
3. Herkko Pollanen (OSU) def. #20 Jonny Wang (USC) 6-3, 6-2
4. Eric Johnson (USC) def. #68 Ralf Steinbach (OSU) 7-5, 6-4
5. #110 Hunter Callahan (OSU) vs. Max De Vroome (USC) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 DNF
6. Kevin Metka (OSU) vs. #49 Nick Crystal (USC) 7-6(5) 2-3 DNF
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,4,2,1)Men's National Team Indoors Quarterfinal Preview
Day 1 of the National Indoors saw a slew of competitive matches but if you were a fan at home trying to follow the streaming video or the live scoreboard you were probably ready to pull your hair out.
I'm not sure what the problem is with the NTIs but this is the 2nd year in a row that the "Live" scoring has been "Taped Delayed" scoring with it commonly delayed by multiple games. You see guys go from winning the 1st set to 20 minutes later having the score switched to show the other player winning the set, you had the scoreboard operator wipe out the completed set scores early in the day and just put a 1 by whoever won the set like we're at Wimbledon, you had scores stay stuck for 15-20 minutes on certain courts then update to show the set that never started is already over, and the list goes on and on.
I'm not sure what the problem is with the NTIs but this is the 2nd year in a row that the "Live" scoring has been "Taped Delayed" scoring with it commonly delayed by multiple games. You see guys go from winning the 1st set to 20 minutes later having the score switched to show the other player winning the set, you had the scoreboard operator wipe out the completed set scores early in the day and just put a 1 by whoever won the set like we're at Wimbledon, you had scores stay stuck for 15-20 minutes on certain courts then update to show the set that never started is already over, and the list goes on and on.
Friday, February 13, 2015
National Indoors - Day 1
Virginia started things off by taking a tight doubles point over TCU with the decider coming down to a tiebreak at #2 but once singles got underway the top of the Cavs lineup came through with each winning in straight sets. The 3 remaining courts were all still up for grabs at the time of the clinch. Virginia's Collin Altamirano played doubles but did not play at #4 singles as originally slotted which moved everyone else up a spot.
With the win Virginia moves on to Saturday's quarterfinals against #11 Baylor.
Friday Results:
With the win Virginia moves on to Saturday's quarterfinals against #11 Baylor.
Friday Results:
#3 Virginia 4, #17 TCU 0
Doubles:
1. #24 Stein/Chappell (TCU) def. #37 Corinteli/Shane (UVa)
7-5
2. #41 Kwiatkowski/Styslinger (UVa) def. Nunez/Norrie (TCU)
7-6(2)
3. Altamirano/Frank (UVa) def. Blake/Johnson (TCU) 6-4
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
Singles:
1. Mitchell Frank (UVa) def. #18 Cameron Norrie (TCU) 6-3,
6-4
2. #4 Ryan Shane (UVa) def. #48 Nick Chappell (TCU) 7-6(1),
6-3
3. #1 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVa) def. Arnau Dachs (TCU) 6-1,
6-3
4. Alexander Ritschard (UVa) vs. Will Stein (TCU) 6-1, 6-7,
0-1 DNF
5. J.C. Aragone (UVa) vs. #85 Facundo Lugones (TCU) 6-4, 4-6
DNF
6. #112 Guillermo Nunez (TCU) vs. #61 Mac Styslinger (UVa) 6-3, 6-6 DNF
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Men's National Team Indoors Round of 16 Preview
16 of the best teams in the country head to Chicago this weekend for the ITA Men's National Team Indoor Championship and I'm going to help break it down round by round. There has been at least one Round of 16 upset each year since 2005 and I don't see that 10-year trend changing this year. Play gets started on Friday morning so let's go ahead and dive right in.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Men's National Team Indoors
The draw was released just a little while ago and this is what we've got starting on Friday. The master lineups are listed below as well.
[3] Virginia vs. [14] TCU- 9am cst
[6] Duke vs. [11] Baylor - 9am cst
[6] Duke vs. [11] Baylor - 9am cst
[7] North Carolina vs. [10] UCLA - 12pm cst
[2] Oklahoma vs. [15] Ole Miss - 12pm cst
[2] Oklahoma vs. [15] Ole Miss - 12pm cst
[1] USC vs. [16] Penn State - 3:30pm cst
[8] Ohio State vs. [9] Texas - 3:30pm cst
[5] Illinois vs. [12] California - 6:30pm cst
[4] Georgia vs. [13] Columbia - 6:30pm cst
[8] Ohio State vs. [9] Texas - 3:30pm cst
[5] Illinois vs. [12] California - 6:30pm cst
[4] Georgia vs. [13] Columbia - 6:30pm cst
Monday, February 9, 2015
Tar Heels Win It All (Full Women's NTI Recaps), Rebels beat Troy, Possible Men's NTI Pairings
The North Carolina Tar Heels women's team made it 2 titles in the last 3 years as they defeated a tough Georgia team 4-1 in this afternoon's ITA Women's National Team Indoor Championship.
North Carolina jumped up on Georgia early in doubles and really cruised on both courts 2 and 3 taking each 6-2. North Carolina carried the momentum from doubles over to singles and took 1st sets at 1, 2, 3, and 4 while Georgia grabbed the opening set at 5 and 6.
It looked like it was going to be a Tar Heel rout but Georgia started slowly pecking away at the UNC leads on courts 1, 3, and 4 by going up early breaks in the 2nd set. The only court where North Carolina never went down a break was on court 2 with Hayley Carter in control virtually the entire match in a route to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ellen Perez. The only opening for Perez came when she broke Carter to get it back on serve at 5-4 in the 2nd but Carter promptly broke back to give UNC point #2.
Whitney Kay would put UNC up 3-0 by closing out Silvia Garcia 6-4, 6-3 at #4 singles in a match that see-sawed back and forth despite the score looking somewhat lopsided. After Kay went up an early break in the 1st, Garcia got it back on serve and it stayed that way until Kay broke to take the opening set 6-4. Garcia would go up an early break in the 2nd and served up 2-1 but Kay quickly got it back on serve and would then break again to go up 5-3 and then Kay served it out.
North Carolina jumped up on Georgia early in doubles and really cruised on both courts 2 and 3 taking each 6-2. North Carolina carried the momentum from doubles over to singles and took 1st sets at 1, 2, 3, and 4 while Georgia grabbed the opening set at 5 and 6.
It looked like it was going to be a Tar Heel rout but Georgia started slowly pecking away at the UNC leads on courts 1, 3, and 4 by going up early breaks in the 2nd set. The only court where North Carolina never went down a break was on court 2 with Hayley Carter in control virtually the entire match in a route to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ellen Perez. The only opening for Perez came when she broke Carter to get it back on serve at 5-4 in the 2nd but Carter promptly broke back to give UNC point #2.
Whitney Kay would put UNC up 3-0 by closing out Silvia Garcia 6-4, 6-3 at #4 singles in a match that see-sawed back and forth despite the score looking somewhat lopsided. After Kay went up an early break in the 1st, Garcia got it back on serve and it stayed that way until Kay broke to take the opening set 6-4. Garcia would go up an early break in the 2nd and served up 2-1 but Kay quickly got it back on serve and would then break again to go up 5-3 and then Kay served it out.