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: TCU & Cal Regionals

TCU Regional
Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center - Fort Worth, TX

[4] TCU Horned Frogs (24-3) vs. [49-64] Jackson State Tigers (6-18) - Friday 1pm CT - The only similarity between these two is that they both earned their leagues automatic berth with TCU defeating Texas Tech to win the Big 12 while Jackson State beat Alabama State to win the SWAC. TCU was one of the best teams in the country this year while Jackson State lost three times as many matches as they won. Jackson State won three matches in the SWAC, beat a D2 school, and beat a NAIA school twice while going 0-7 against ranked opponents. To make matters even worse Jackson State's post season roster does not include their usual No. 3 and No. 4 singles players, Miguel Martin Gomez and Stylianos Gkontsaris.  

Doubles Records: TCU 19-8, Jackson State 5-16

UTR Starting 6 Power Rating: TCU 85, Jackson State 65

More Conference Tournaments: South Florida Too Good For Tulsa, Charleston Beats UNCW, UT Arlington Rules The Sunbelt, & More

A good crowd of around 100 gathered in Memphis for the finals of the American Conference Championship where South Florida was looking to win the title for the third consecutive year. South Florida and Tulsa met just nine days prior with USF winning 7-0 though Tulsa sat its top singles player Or Ram-Harel so this one figured to be much closer.

The top seeded Bulls got off to a good start at No. 1 doubles while Tulsa went up an early break at No. 2.  USF's Vadym Kalyuzhnyy and Sasha Gozun broke on the no-ad point when Gozun cleaned it up the net to make it 4-2

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.

Saturday Recap: Lamar Upsets Rice, ODU Over W&M, Drake Beats Wichita State, Ivies, GGC Outduels HPU, & More

There were two bigger stories on Saturday - the rain that wiped out several matches and Lamar upsetting No. 28 Rice 4-1. The bad weather out in California washed out the Oregon/Cal and San Diego/Santa Clara matches while UNC Wilmington and VCU were rained out in Richmond. Both of the matches in California are set to be played on Sunday while UNC Wilmington and VCU won't make their match up.

Earlier this season Lamar upset then No. 47 Iowa 4-2 but today's win over Rice took it to a new level. Lamar took the doubles point by winning the deciding match at No. 2 in a tiebreak and then the Cardinals took four opening sets in singles. Lamar junior Nikita Lis rolled over Tommy Bennett 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 but Rice senior Adam Gustafsson countered with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Sebastian Santibanez at No. 3.

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.

Ride Sally Ride - Mustangs Run Over The Pokes, Boise State Comes Up Big Again, Texas Takes Out Tulsa

The hits keep on coming and on today's playlists we heard the 1966 classic Mustang Sally after No. 36 SMU ran all over No. 5 Oklahoma State 4-0.

SMU jumped out to the early 1-0 lead after taking the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 and then the Mustangs claimed four opening sets in singles. SMU's Nate Lammons made it 2-0 with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Julian Cash at No. 1 and then Hunter Johnson put the Mustangs a point away from clinching with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Arjun Kadhe at No. 2. Redshirt junior Tony Russell would bring it home for SMU with a 7-6, 6-3 upset win over Lukas Finzelberg at No. 5.

UCLA Outduels USC & San Diego Burns the Rice

Last season USC won all three meetings against UCLA, but so far this season it's Bruins 1 and Trojans 0. UCLA claimed this year's first edition of the Battle for LA by taking out #12 USC 5-2.

UCLA took the doubles point for the 10th time in 12 tries but it didn't do it with a win at #1. USC's Nick Crystal and Laurens Verboven surprised the ITA #3 team of Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redlicki 6-4. Crystal/Verboven jumped out to a 4-1 lead before McDonald/Redlick won three straight to even it at 4-4. Crystal/Verboven held for 5-4 and then broke to win it 6-4.

Sunday Recap: Texas A&M Wins At Illinois, Ohio State Outlasts Florida, Memphis Wins in Oxford, & More

Texas A&M had been on the road for the last week and a half, and had lost its last three, but it managed to come from behind today to beat Illinois 4-2 despite playing without one of its top starters. Texas A&M senior Shane Vinsant missed today's match against Illinois due to a blister on his foot but the Aggies managed to stay focused in his absence and the team performed much better in singles than it did in doubles. The weather was right around 50 degrees outside but they played it indoors anyway. I was a little surprised at the lighter turnout of around 175 because I've been to Atkins in the past for some big matches and have seen well over 500 on hand.

Wake Rocks OU, Boilers Stun Tulsa, Rice Claws LSU, Nwstern Too Good For Duke, Dartmouth Out Greens The Wave

While the final day of the Pac-12/SEC Showdown in Los Angeles was a washout, it was warm and dry at the indoor facilities in Norman and Tulsa.

Wake Forest was coming off a tough loss on Friday to #25 Oklahoma State but the Demon Deacons made up for it today by taking out #2 Oklahoma. Wake played a solid doubles point as its #2 team of Petros Chrysochos and Jon Ho ran away with a quick 6-1 win at #2. Wake's #1 team of Christian Seraphim and Skander Mansouri broke the Axel Alvarez serve to go up 2-0 but Alvarez and Spencer Papa broke back to make it 2-1. It stayed on serve until Wake broke Spencer Papa's 5-6 service game on the deciding point to take the match 7-5 and give Wake the usually all-important doubles point. The match at #3 was on serve when Wake got the clincher at #1.

Oklahoma was playing without its #2 singles starter, Andrew Harris, since he's still recovering from knee tendonitis so everyone except Axel Alvarez had to shift up a spot in the lineup. OU had to do the same thing last week so it wasn't a surprise to any of the guys.

Wednesday Recap: Oklahoma Over Tulsa, Texas A&M Tops Rice, San Diego Too Strong For Pepperdine

There were 3 good matches on Wednesday's docket with the higher ranked team winning each of them.

#1 Oklahoma overcame the loss of the doubles point to #20 Tulsa by taking it to the Golden Hurricanes in singles winning all 10 completed sets.  Axel Alvarez, Dane Webb, Alex Ghilea, and Spencer Papa all won in singles.

#8 Texas A&M was pushed by #48 Rice in doubles but pulled out the deciding court in a tiebreak.  The Aggies took 9 of 10 completed sets in singles and got its 3 points from Harrison Adams, AJ Catanzariti, and Max Lunkin.  The win by #51 Harrison Adams was his first dual match win this season after starting out 0-8.

#17 San Diego defeated #41 Pepperdine 4-1 to put the Toreros 2 up on the Waves in the WCC standings.  San Diego took the doubles point and picked up singles wins from Filip Vittek, Jordan Angus, and Geoffrey Fosso. Pepperdine's Pedro Iamachkine picked up the Waves lone point winning at #4 singles.  

Saturday Recap: Step On Back - The Pack Attacked

Going into today's match against #12 Wake Forest, NC State had played in 11 matches that finished with a 4-3 score with the Pack on the losing end in 7 of those 11 matches.  It was just last weekend that NC State had #16 Virginia Tech on the ropes but the Pack couldn't slam the door shut and watched as the Hokies #5 rallied from 5-2 down in the 3rd to win.

Today NC State finally broke through as they upset Wake Forest 4-3.  The Wolfpack took the doubles point with wins at 2 and 3 and then picked up singles wins from Simon Norenius, Austin Powell, and Beck Bond at 2, 3, and 4 to seal the deal.  The match was played indoors at NC State's 4-court indoor facility so the matches at 5 and 6 didn't go on until a court opened up.  Both were played out after the clinch with Wake winning both.

Wednesday Recap: Rice Hoots & Hollers Past Northwestern, Mississippi State Is The King Of The Magnolia State

Wednesday was a rough day to be a top 20 team on the road as both #13 Ole Miss and #19 Northwestern got upset.

In Houston, Rice picked up its 1st win over a top 20 opponent since 2009 when the Owls stunned Northwestern 4-1.  Rice took the doubles and then picked up singles wins from Srikar Alla, Max Andrews and David Warren at 1, 2, and 5.  Northwestern's Logan Staggs won at #4 singles in a losing effort and Konrad Zieba made his season debut at #3 singles for the Cats and led when the match was halted.