Nick Crowell Heading to Norman; Rob Hubbard to Sam Houston State, Wurtzman Adds 2 More at IU

Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione announced the hiring of Nick Crowell as the Sooners new men's head coach. Crowell, who is a 2000 Texas graduate, spent the last 13 years at Florida State with the first five as an assistant coach and the last eight as an associate head coach. Crowell will have some big shoes to fill after John Roddick took the Sooners to three straight NCAA finals and won 153 dual-matches in the last seven years. Crowell's first task will be attempting to replace both Axel Alvarez and Andrew Harris which is going to be awfully tough to do on short notice.

John Roddick Leaves Oklahoma for.........Central Florida!!

In a stunning development it was announced this evening that John Roddick is stepping down as head coach at University Oklahoma to take over as Director of Tennis and head men's coach at the University of Central Florida. Roddick just finished up his seventh year in Norman after guiding OU to its third consecutive national runner-up finish. Prior to Roddick's arrival in Norman, OU had never made it past the NCAA Round of 16 so the job he did in those seven years was nothing short of phenomenal. If Roddick had stayed at OU for an eighth season he would have most likely had to replace his top two players with Axel Alvarez graduating and Andrew Harris possibly turning pro.

Colette Lewis also conducted an interview with Roddick that talked about his decision to make the move so make sure you check that out at this link.

Central Florida started playing tennis in 1972 at the Division II level and moved up to Division I in the early 80s. UCF has only made it to the NCAA Tournament on three occasions though I expect that to change in the near future.

Guess Hoo Won It Again

The Virginia dynasty picked up another passenger today as the Cavaliers repeated as the NCAA Men's Tennis National Champions with a 4-1 win over No. 10 Oklahoma.

NCAA Championship Preview - Virginia/Oklahoma

[1] Virginia Cavaliers (29-4) vs. [11] Oklahoma Sooners (20-10) - Tuesday 6pm CT - Well here we are again with the same matchup as last year though for most of the regular season it didn't look like it would end up that way. Virginia had some ups and downs and had its ACC regular season and postseason winning streaks get snapped while Oklahoma lost 10, yes 10, matches and went out in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Both teams have hit their peak this week with the return of a pair of starters that missed most of the year with regular season injuries. Andrew Harris (knee/groin) is anchoring the OU lineup which has let everyone else slide down a spot while Alex Ritschard (shoulder) has helped strengthen the middle of the UVA lineup. 

These two actually met just a little over two months ago on these same courts in Tulsa with Virginia winning 4-3 though the match wasn't as close as the score. Aragone clinched at 4-1 but they played the remaining matches out with OU winning both. All six singles matches will be different this time due to Harris and Ritschard re-entering the lineup. 

Virginia won last year's final 4-1 in a match where Virginia was in control just about the entire time. There will be one rematch from that one with J.C. Aragone and Florin Bragusi matched up at No. 5 this year after playing at No. 6 last year. 

Rematch Time - Virginia/Oklahoma To Meet Once Again For The National Championship

It was an interesting day at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa with rain forcing one of the two semifinal matches indoors. Virginia had little trouble dispatching Cal in the indoor semifinal while Oklahoma won a 4-3 thriller in the nightcap which was played outdoors.

Sooners Win (Photo By Ty Russell - SoonerSports)

The Oklahoma/Georgia match was originally scheduled to start at 4 p.m. central time but due to periodic showers it was put on hold while Virginia and Cal went indoors with a 5:25 p.m. central start. The reason Virginia and Cal couldn't start until 5:25 was because the second women's semifinal didn't finish until 4:20 and neither Virginia or Cal had been able to hit since the morning so they needed an hour to get warmed up. Since Virginia was the highest remaining seed they were given the earlier start time which meant Oklahoma and Georgia had the chance to go outdoors if it dried up. The official starting time of 7 p.m. wasn't announced until close to 6 p.m. so a lot of the local OU fans probably didn't get the memo because the crowds weren't anywhere near what I thought they would be. Coincidentally the paid attendance of 1197 was actually the best this week but many of those fans came for the Oklahoma State women's match at 10 a.m. and were long gone by the time the men's matches started.

NCAA Semifinal Preview - Virginia/Cal & Georgia/Oklahoma

[1] Virginia Cavaliers (28-4) vs. [13] Cal Bears (21-6) - Monday 4pm CT - Virginia advanced to its seventh straight NCAA semifinals with a 4-0 shellacking of Florida while Cal advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1991 after winning a 4-3 thriller over Ohio State. These teams last met in the quarterfinals of the 2014 National Team Indoors in Houston though only a handful of guys were on those teams. Cal has been the cinderella story on the men's side after taking out the No. 4 and No. 5 while Virginia played its best tennis yesterday in its match against Florida. If Virginia plays like it did in that match there isn't anyone that's going to beat them in these next two days.  

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 - UCLA/Stanford, Wake/Oklahoma, Georgia/USC, UNC/Miss St

[3] UCLA Bruins (24-2) vs. [17-32] Stanford Cardinal (15-10)  - Friday 8pm ET - UCLA booked its spot in the Sweet 16 after shutting out both Weber State and San Diego while Stanford knocked off Notre Dame 4-1 and Northwestern 4-3. UCLA is the only team to make the Sweet 16 every year since the tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1999 while Stanford is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2012. This will be the fourth meeting of the year with UCLA taking the previous three. 

Interesting notes: Stanford won the doubles point in each of those three previous matches yet UCLA came back and won each time. UCLA will have played the exact same singles lineup in all four matches while Tom Fawcett is the only Stanford player to have stayed in the same spot all year. Michael Genender started the year at #6 singles but has worked his way up to #2. 

Saturday Recap: Mississippi State Routs Illinois, Wake Holds Off Michigan, USC Pulls Away From Ga Tech, & More

It's hard to believe that going into the fall Matt Roberts only had two returning players from his 2014-15 squad yet here we sit today with Mississippi State heading to the Round of 16 after routing Illinois 4-0.

State got off to a quick start in doubles and went up early breaks at No. 2 and No. 3. State's No. 3 team of Rishab Agarwal and Niclas Braun would win four straight games to go up 5-2 and they'd end up winning 6-3. State's Trevor Foshey and Luka Sucevic led 4-2 at No. 2 but Illinois's Alex Jesse and Aiden Jiang would end up breaking back and forcing a tiebreak. Before the tiebreak really got going State's No. 1 team of Mate Cutura and Vaughn Hunter would break serve to win 7-5 and clinch the doubles point. It was the first time since mid-February that State had won the doubles point in back-to-back matches.

Friday Men's Recap - LSU and Oregon Pull Off Seeding Upsets

The opening day of the NCAA Tournament is in the books and as you can see from the scores below there were a few surprises. All the top seeds cruised with only Illinois yielding a point while a pair of 33-48 seeds pulled off mild upsets.

Friday Finals:
[3] UCLA def. Weber State 4-0
[4] TCU def. Jackson State 4-0
[6] Wake Forest def. Coastal Carolina 4-0
[10] USC def. UNLV 4-0
[11] Oklahoma def. UT Arlington 4-0
[12] Texas A&M def. George Washington 4-0
[15] Illinois def. Western Michigan 4-1
[17-32] Texas def. Lamar 4-0
[17-32] San Diego def. Vanderbilt 4-0
[17-32] Michigan def. East Tennessee State 4-3
[17-32] Georgia Tech def. UC Santa Barbara 4-1
[17-32] Mississippi State def. Memphis 4-1
[33-48] LSU def. Rice 4-3
[33-48] Oregon def. Tulsa 4-1

NCAA First/Second Round Previews: Wake Forest & Oklahoma Regionals

Wake Forest Regional
Wake Forest Tennis Complex - Winston-Salem, NC

[6] Wake Forest Demon Deacons (29-5) vs. [49-64] Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (21-3) - Friday 3pm ET - Wake Forest earned the ACC's automatic berth after defeating No. 1 Virginia in the finals of the conference tournament while Coastal Carolina won the Big South's automatic berth after defeating Presbyterian 4-3. CCU only faced one ranked team this season with Duke shutting them out 4-0. 

Doubles Records: Wake Forest 27-6, Coastal Carolina 15-9

UTR Starting 6 Power Rating: Wake Forest 84, Coastal Carolina 75

Saturday Recap: TCU/Texas Tech Win in the Big 12, Ohio State/Illinois Come Through in the Big Ten, Tickets Punched in the WCC, MAC, Summit, & Big West

Semifinal Saturday was a busy one with two of the closest matches taking place at the same time in Stillwater at the Big 12 Championships.

TCU edged Oklahoma in the regular season 4-3 and even though Andrew Harris wasn't playing today you figured it would be still be a close one. TCU's usual No. 4 Eduardo Nava was out as well so each team had to shuffle its lineup a bit.

TCU took the doubles point but it was anything but easy - well it was easy at No. 3 but not on the other two courts. Cameron Norrie and Alex Rybakov won 6-1 at No. 3 but OU's Spencer Papa and Alex Ghilea picked up a 7-5 win at No. 1. OU's Axel Alvarez and Austin Siegel broke to go up 6-5 but TCU's Guillermo Nunez and Trevor Johnson would break Siegel to send it to a tiebreak. OU was serving up 5-4 in the tiebreak but TCU would win three of the next four points to close it out 7-5.

Friday Recap: Baylor Stuns Okie State, Oklahoma Hold Off Texas, Chalk at the B1G, San Diego/Pepperdine To Meet in WCC Finals, Farewell to UMBC & Hartford

Every year there are a handful of teams that play their way into the NCAA Tournament and after Baylor's performance today we can add another team to that list. Baylor came in to today's match against Oklahoma State firmly on the bubble and most likely needed a win to earn its spot in the NCAAs.

Due to the inclement weather the match was moved indoors and since there was a log-jam of matches to be played they played singles first. Oklahoma State won the regular season meeting less than two weeks ago in a match that was played indoors in Stillwater so you figured they had to feel pretty confident about their chances.

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.

Sunday Recap: UCLA Over USC, Texas Tech Takes Out OU, Columbia/George Washington/Jackson State NCAA Bound

Sunday was a tremendous day for college tennis with five matches broadcast on National TV. The day started off with Fox College Sports Pacific/Fox Sport Oklahoma showing the Oklahoma/Kansas women's match. Then you had Fox Sports 2 showing a doubleheader in Stillwater with the Oklahoma State women hosting TCU while the Oklahoma State men hosted Baylor. Lastly you had the Pac-12 Network showing a UCLA/USC doubleheader with the men playing first and then the women second.

Despite these matches being on television the stands were packed and the crowds were loud which made for a great environment for those of us that watched from home. I hope today was a glimpse into the future and not just a once a year thing. I'd love to be able to watch multiple matches every weekend and I want to applaud both Fox Sports, the Pac-12 Network, and ESPN for getting matches on its different platforms. The Tennis Channel broadcasted the finals of the Oracle/ITA Masters back in September but I don't believe they've had any college tennis on since so maybe that's something that will change in the future.

Sunday: TCU and OU Win Big, South Florida Trumps Tulane, LSU KO's Kentucky, Lobos Tear-Up Tulsa, UMKC Wins 6 Hour Thriller

Sunday may not have been the most scintillating day of tennis, compared to say Friday, but there were still plenty of storylines to keep us all entertained.

Two of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference tangled on Sunday in New Orleans as No. 27 Tulane hosted No. 22 South Florida. South Florida picked up a 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles while Tulane won 6-3 at No. 2. South Florida served for the match at No. 3 doubles up 5-4 but Tulane's Alex and Ian Van Cott broke and then held for 6-5. South Florida's Robert Cid and Ignacio Gonzales-Muniz held for 6-6 and then the Bulls duo broke a 4-4 tie in the breaker by winning the final 3 points to take it 7-4.

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.

Wake Forest Rally Stuns #1 UNC, Miss State Upsets Arky, Tulsa Wins At Tulane, Columbia Outlasts Harvard, & more

The weekend definitely went out with a bang with several 4-3 thrillers including Wake Forest's 4-3 upset win over top-ranked North Carolina.

North Carolina won the doubles point for the 12th time in its last 13 matches with a 6-4 win at No. 1 and a 6-3 win at No. 2. The Tar Heels rode the momentum from the doubles point and took five opening sets in singles.

Wake Forest freshman Dennis Uspensky earned the only first set for the Demon Deacons and he was also the first to finish with a 6-0, 6-3 rout over UNC freshman Anu Kodali. It was Uspensky's 10th win in his last 11 matches.