US Open National Playoff Underway, Sonia Hahn To UTRGV, More Schedules Released, PlaySight adding more schools

The US Open National Playoff got underway today in New Haven with three of the four men's seeds and two of the four women's seeds advancing to the quarterfinals. The men's third seed Eric Quigley (Kentucky '12) was knocked off by UCLA senior Gage Brymer in two tiebreak sets while both the second and fourth seeds, Evan King and Jose Statham, came back from a set down to win in three sets. The top seed Nick Meister (UCLA '12) won the most lopsided match of the day 6-1, 6-1 over Philip Major.

The women's top seed Ayaka Okuno, who spent a semester at Georgia in 2013, was knocked off in straight sets by Sophie Chang while the fourth seed Ashley Weinhold lost in three-sets to North Carolina freshman Sara Daavettila. There was a Universal Tennis Rating upset as Eva Raszkiewicz rolled over Fernanda Contreras 6-3, 6-1 - Raszkiewicz's UTR was 1.52 lower but that didn't seem to bother her at all. All the results are listed in the table down below (two tabs) along with the quarterfinal matchups.

Mackie Turns Pro, Stump Goes From Miss St to Florida, Pro Circuit Update

The 2016 NCAA Singles and Doubles Champion and recently named ITA National Player of the Year Mackenzie McDonald announced today that he was leaving UCLA a year early and turning pro. Many people including myself figured it was a foregone conclusion that McDonald would move on after a tremendous junior year and he made it official after signing an exclusive representation agreement with Octagon.

2016 @NCAATennis singles and doubles champion, Mackie McDonald will forgo his senior year and turn pro immediately. Best of luck Mack!

— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) June 16, 2016

Cal and Oklahoma Win Thrillers While Virginia and Georgia Roll

Sunday was unbelievable day to be in Tulsa with two heart-pounding 4-3 thrillers with the Cal and Ohio State match coming down to a third set tiebreak to decide the winner. The crowds were a little light around noon central but by 1 p.m. the stands were filling up and by the time the Cal/Ohio State match came to a conclusion it was standing room only. The actual paid attendance was just over 1100 but by the time you added in coaches, players, volunteers, and media you probably had close to 1400 people crammed in there which made for a great environment.

NCAA Quarterfinals Preview - Virginia/Florida, Ohio State/Cal, UNC/UGA, Oklahoma/UCLA

[1] Virginia Cavaliers (27-4) vs. [9] Florida Gators (21-6) - Noon CT - Virginia moved into the quarterfinals after pulling out a hard fought 4-2 win over Oklahoma State while Florida's bottom of the lineup help propel them to a 4-0 win over SMU. Virginia won the regular season meeting in Gainesville 5-2 and it looks like the top three spots in the lineup will all be rematches. Virginia is trying to make it back to the NCAA semifinals for the seventh year in a row while Florida last made the semis in 2005. Florida has won its last nine matches while Virginia has won its last three. 

Doubles Records: Virginia 27-4, Florida 22-5

UTR Starting 6 Power Rating: Virginia 86, Florida 84

Georgia Rallies Past USC, Oklahoma Whips Wake, UCLA Tops Stanford, Florida and North Carolina Roll

After a great first half of the day in Tulsa we were treated to a gem in the evening as Georgia and USC went toe-to-toe for the better part of three hours. USC came into the round of 16 with the worst doubles winning percentage (.409) out of the teams still left in the field but that didn't stop them from getting off to a quick start against Georgia.

USC's No. 1 team of Nick Crystal and Laurens Verboven opened the match by holding on the deciding point to take a 1-0 lead and then they'd break Austin Smith to go up 2-0. Crystal held for 3-0 before Ben Wagland finally put Georgia on the board with a hold for 1-3. Verboven held on the deciding point for 4-1 and then USC broke Austin Smith on the deciding point to go up 5-1. Crystal went up 40-15 on his next service game but had to hit a service winner on the deciding point to win it 6-1.

NCAA Round of 16 Previews - Virginia/Oklahoma State, Florida/SMU, Ohio State/Texas, TCU/Cal

[1] Virginia Cavaliers (26-4) vs. [16] Oklahoma State Cowboys (20-7) - 1pm ET - Virginia advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 4-0 win over Monmouth and a 4-1 win over Penn State while Oklahoma State beat Bryant and Arkansas 4-0. Oklahoma State will only be playing 75 miles from its Stillwater campus so it should have a good amount of fan support but it'll take a Herculean effort to get past Virginia. 

Doubles Records: Virginia 26-4, Oklahoma State 18-8

UTR Starting 6 Power Rating: Virginia 86, Oklahoma State 82

Chaotic Sunday - SMU, Texas, and Stanford Pull Off Upsets

What a crazy day it was on Sunday with not one, not two, but three regional hosts going down. The day started off in College Station with the resumption of Saturday's match between Texas A&M and Texas and it finished in Lubbock with SMU kicking the door down and stunning Texas Tech.

When the season started if you told me that Texas would be in Tulsa for the NCAA Round of 16 I would have told you to go see a doctor. Well Texas made a believer of me and many today after going into enemy territory and knocking off Texas A&M in a 4-3 thriller.

The match originally began on Saturday but after Texas A&M took the doubles point the match was stopped early in singles due to rain. Play resumed Sunday morning at 11am central and within a matter of minutes Texas had five first sets in the bag after Rodrigo Banzer, Adrian Ortiz, and George Goldhoff closed out sets on 4, 2, and 1.

NCAA First/Second Round Previews: Florida & Texas Tech Regionals

Florida Regional
Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex (Linder Stadium) - Gainesville, FL

[9] Florida Gators (18-6) vs. [49-64] North Florida Ospreys (11-11) - Saturday Noon ET - The Florida regional is the only regional that had all four teams get in after winning their conference tournament. Florida got the SEC's automatic bid after beating Georgia in the finals of the SEC Tournament while North Florida earned its first-ever NCAA berth after defeating USC-Upstate in the finals of the Atlantic Sun Tournament. Florida has won the doubles point nine straight times (7 of 9 opponents ranked inside top 50) and in fact they've only dropped three individual doubles matches in that nine-match span. UNF has won the doubles point in 12 of its last 13 matches though none of those opponents were ranked inside the top 50. 

Doubles Records: Florida 19-5, North Florida 14-6

UTR Starting 6 Power Rating: Florida 84, North Florida 78

Sensational Sunday Recap: Wake Stops UVA, Gators Walk the Dawg, Texas Tech Soares Over TCU, Buckeyes Wins Another B1G Crown

Sunday was a tremendous day for college tennis fans all across the country. There were over 1700 fans jammed into the Cary Tennis Park for the finals of the ACC Championship and probably at least five times that many watching throughout the country on ESPN3's national telecast. The final of the SEC Championships was also broadcast on ESPN3 while the final of the AAC Championships was broadcast on the American Network.

Wake Forest, Florida, Texas Tech, and South Florida may have been the winners of the day but the biggest winners were the supporters of college tennis. They were treated to a high-quality product that kept them on the edge of their seats and hopefully they'll continue coming back for seasons to come.

Virginia Wins Thriller Over UNC, Wake Holds Off VT, Georgia & Florida Advance at SEC, OU Wins Bedlam, Bruins Win Pac-12

Semifinal Saturday was good as expected in the ACC with an almost three rain delay adding to the suspense.  North Carolina was looking for its third of the season over No. 1 Virginia and for the better part of four plus hours it looked like they'd get it.

In the high-profile doubles matchup at No. 1 it was the ITA No. 3 team of Brett Clark and Robert Kelly rolling over the ITA No. 2 team of Ryan Shane and Luca Corinteli. Clark and Kelly broke UVA to start the match and then broke again to go up 5-2. Robert Kelly would serve it out to give UNC the 6-2.

Friday Recap: UVA Too Strong For Wake, UGA Rolls Arky, UNC Holds Off GT

The two biggest matches of the day didn't end up being as close as I thought with both No. 1 Virginia and No. 6 Georgia rolling to victories over No. 7 Wake Forest and No. 12 Arkansas.

Virginia won its 13h straight regular season ACC Championship with a 5-2 win over Wake Forest in front of over 1100 fans. It looked like Wake Forest might take the early lead but Virginia was able to hang on in doubles. Wake's Romain Bogaerts and Dennis Uspensky won 6-2 at No. 3 but Virginia's Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and Mac Styslinger would break on the deciding point to go up 5-3 at No. 2. Kwiatkowski went up 40-0 on his 5-3 service but would double fault two times in a row to make it 40-30. Kwiatkowski would land a first set and then a Styslinger volley at the net would force a Wake error to clinch the 6-3 win.

What A Night - #55 Notre Dame Stuns #1 UNC, TCU & Kentucky Win 4-3 Thrillers, Georgia Rallies Past Florida, & More

Just when you think you've seen it all you get a day like today with one thrilling finish after another. Before I can even talk about all the 4-3 matches I got to give a shoutout to No. 55 Notre Dame who absolutely stunned top-ranked North Carolina in one of the biggest upsets, in terms of ranking, in college tennis history.

The Fighting Irish entered the night with a 12-12 record, and that was after beating Chicago State twice last Sunday, so most people probably figured at best they'd win a set or maybe a court but surely not the match. It was the final home match of the season for Notre Dame which meant it was the swan song for the five seniors on the roster. Four of the seniors (Monaghan, Lawson, Sabacinski, Montoya) would start and they would each play a role in the upset victory.

Wednesday Recap: Buckeyes Tame The Cats, Cavs Too Strong For Gators, TCU Wins The Skillet

Usually we have to wait until the weekend to see top-25 matchups but we got a mid-week treat on Wednesday with three top-25 teams playing each other along with two other top-75 matchups.

The day started off in Lexington with No. 20 Kentucky and No. 5 Ohio State playing indoors due to high winds and the chance of rain.

Ohio State was able to claim the doubles point for 19th time in 23 tries after picking up wins at No. 1 and No. 3. The Buckeyes duo of Matt Mendez and Hugo Di Feo fell into an early 3-0 hole at No. 3 but rallied to take the next six games to close out Austin Hussey and Ryotaro Matsumura 6-3. Ohio State's Mikael Torpegaard and Martin Joyce led Nils Ellefsen and Enzo Wallart 5-3 at No. 1 but the Kentucky duo won the next two to even it at 5-5. Torpegaard and Joyce would take the next two games to close it out 7-5. The match at No. 2 was abandoned with Kentucky leading 6-5.

Sunday Recap: Owls Shred #9 Texas Tech, Hogs Tops Rebs, USC Survives Oregon, Dawgs Tame the Cats

Rice was looking to win the Rice Invitational for the ninth year in a row but to achieve that feat it'd have to find a way to beat a top 10 team for the first time in 10 years. Both Rice and Texas Tech beat William & Mary and Drake on Saturday so both were playing well coming into today's finale.

Texas Tech's Felipe Soares and Hugo Dojas won 6-4 at No. 1 doubles but Rice's Jake Hansen and Emanuel Llamas came back from *1-4 down to win 7-5 at No. 3.  Rice's Jamie Malik and Adam Gustafsson trailed 6-3 in the tiebreak at No. 3 but would fight off a total of five match points to win a marathon tiebreak 14-12 to give Rice the doubles point and early 1-0 lead.

Friday Recap: Mayhem in Music City, Nuts in the Emerald City, Gators Win In Starkville, Cal Survives, UAB, LMU, & UNLV Beat Ranked Teams

Another Friday brought us another round of stunning upsets as a pair of top 10 teams went down on the road.

Vanderbilt won its third consecutive match by a 4-3 score as it stunned No. 7 Texas A&M 4-3. The Commodores took the doubles point when Tate Allwardt and Baker Newman knocked off Max Lunkin and AJ Catanzariti 7-6(5) at No. 2.

Sunday recap: Georgia Knocks off Ohio State, Virginia Scalps Florida State, Oklahoma Beats Cal, Florida Blasts Ole Miss

There were several close matches on Sunday but there was only one that saw a top-five team go down. Georgia, ranked No. 19, was hosting No. 4 Ohio State on a mild and breezy day in Athens. After a week of sunny skies and temperatures in the high-70s, the conditions in Athens weren't as favorable with cloudy skies, an increasing breeze, and temperature hovering in the mid-50s. Despite the conditions a crowd of just over 1000 filled into the Dan Magill Tennis Complex and they were treated to a stellar performance by the home-standing Bulldogs.

Georgia Wins!! (Photo Courtesy of Bill Kallenberg)

I personally thought Ohio State would roll in doubles, but Georgia seemed determined to not let that happen.

Friday Recap: Noles Rally Past Hokies, Upsets Galore In the SEC, Tulane Outlasts San Diego, UNF Upsets Georgia St

Friday was a wild day of tennis with several teams coming from behind to pull out thrilling wins. The biggest comeback of the day took place in Blacksburg as No. 23 Florida State appeared to be down and out against No. 40 Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 but Florida State turned it around in singles and took first sets at one through four.

FSU's Benjamin Lock cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Joao Monteiro at No. 1 but Virginia Tech answered with a 7-6, 6-3 win from Aaron Gomez at No. 6.

Sunday Recap: Texas A&M Holds Off Florida, NC State Upsets Wake, Ohio State Wins At OU & More

In what had to be the match of the day it was No. 8 Texas A&M outlasting No. 30 Florida 4-3 in 3 hours and 51 minutes. Florida jumped out to the early lead by taking the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 but Texas A&M came out ready to go in singles and took five opening sets.

Jordi Arconada was off the court first with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Chase Perez-Blanco at No. 3 but Florida's Gordon Watson answered with a 6-4, 6-4 win over AJ Catanzariti at No. 5.

Texas A&M senior Jackson Withrow evened the match at 2-2 with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Florida freshman McClain Kessler at No. 6 but Florida retook the lead when freshman Alfredo Perez rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Texas A&M senior Harrison Adams.

Sunday Preview - Florida/Texas A&M & Ohio State/Oklahoma

A couple of good ones on the docket for today. Texas A&M and Florida were voted #2 and #3 in the preseason SEC coaches poll while Oklahoma and Ohio State were in everyone's preseason top 10.

#30 Florida (6-3) at #8 Texas A&M (12-3) - 1pm est/12pm cst - Live Scoring & Video - Florida is coming off a 4-3 road win at LSU in a match where Florida dropped the doubles point but won the first four completed singles matches. Texas A&M is coming off a comfortable 6-1 road win at Auburn. Texas A&M is very, very tough to beat at home so Florida will have to bring its A+ game to come away with a win.

Friday Recap: Drake Raps Past Iowa, SEC & ACC Play Underway, Lobos Top BYU

While conference play got underway in the SEC and ACC there was a non-conference battle brewing in Des Moines between #36 Drake and #33 Iowa. The two schools, separated by just 115 miles, are the only two schools in the state of Iowa that play Division 1 men's tennis so bragging rights were at stake Friday night. A boisterous crowd of close to 200, with a decent amount of black and gold, was on hand to see if Drake could make it five in a row over the Hawkeyes.

Drake got off to a good start at #3 doubles when Ben Stride and Calum MacGeoch jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Iowa's Robin Haden and Nils Hallestrand. Drake would hold on the deciding point to stretch the lead to 4-1 and then break again for 5-1. MacGeoch would serve it out from 40-30 to give Drake the 6-1 win in 24 minutes.