Hogs continue roll, move to 4-0
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Razorback men’s tennis team scored its fourth win of the spring season Friday afternoon as they handedly defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, 6-1, in Iowa City, Iowa. Arkansas scored early and scored often as they won two of three doubles matches and five straight singles matches to earn the win. Senior Nikolas Zogaj won the clincher for the Razorbacks after his opponent, Jonas Dierckx, retired in the midst of the second set. Zogaj had won the first set, 7-5.
“We came out on top against a very talented Iowa team,: head coach Robert Cox said. "I'm real pleased with the way the guys matured during the match. It wasn’t the prettiest match, but the longer the match went on they really stepped up their play. We had to prove to ourselves we could get it done on the road. Iowa is a strong team and we reacted well.”
The day started in doubles and it was actually Iowa, who would strike first at court two. Dierckx and Matt Hagan defeated Zogaj and Gregoire Lehmann, 8-4, needing only one more doubles win to take the early lead. However, both Razorback teams at courts one and three were in the midst of very close matches and held the lead in both matches. At the top spot, senior Matt Walters and junior Hall Fess won their tenth match of the year after defeating Michael Swank and Garrett Dunn, 8-6. The Walters and Fess duo are the first Razorback doubles team to reach the 10 win plateau this season.
Now that both schools had one doubles win each, the first team point came down to court three. Luckily, sophomores Manfred Jeske and Mike Nott had the match well in hand as they defeated Will Vasos and Tom Mroziewicz, 8-6. It was the fourth match the two players had together this season and they remained undefeated at 4-0 with the win.
Arkansas was in control from there as they day headed to singles. With the lead in hand, the Hogs didn’t relinquish it as they went on to win at courts three, six and two, in that order, to win the overall match. Walters was the first to finish as he played lights out against Matt Hagan to win in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Walters’ victory moves him to 9-2 on the year and 3-0 in dual play. Following that win was Nott at court six as he dropped Mitch Beckert in just a dominating fashion, 6-1, 6-4 to push Arkansas’ lead to 3-0.
The clinching point came in a very non-dramatic fashion as Zogaj was given the victory at court two after Dierckx retired in the second set. It will still count as a win for the Belgium native as he is the first Razorback this season to ten singles wins.
Since it was a non-conference match, the remaining three singles matches were played out and, again, it was Hog victors in two of those matches. Jeske, who was playing in his first match as the No. 109 player in the nation, didn’t disappoint as he topped Mroziewicz in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Junior Gregoire Lehmann finished off the victories for Arkansas as he scored the final win at court one with yet another straight set win. The victim this time was Vasos, 6-4, 6-3. All Razorbacks that earned singles victories today remained undefeated in dual play.
Arkansas will be back on the courts Saturday afternoon in Iowa City as they will take on 73rd-ranked DePaul. It will be the first ranked opponent for the Razorbacks in the young season. First serve for that match will go up at 2:30 p.m. A full recap and complete results will be posted online following the day’s play.
Hogs battle back for 4-3 win over North Texas
FAYETTEVILLE – The 32nd-ranked Razorback women’s tennis team found themselves in a hole early after dropping the doubles point to North Texas Friday afternoon, but the team came all the way back in singles to win four matches, which turned into a 4-3 win over the Mean Green and Arkansas’ third win of the season. The Hogs had yet to win a match this season in which they lost the doubles point, but after getting a quick win from junior Claudine Paulson at court four, Arkansas rallied to win three straight to earn the victory.
“We’re very happy to get a victory today over a team that’s going to be extremely good this year,” head coach Michael Hegarty said. “I think this will be a pretty strong win for us down the line. We’ve got to get out of the gates quicker in doubles, that’s the biggest thing. We’ll try to address that quickly and come out tomorrow to have a good match with Oklahoma State.”
Much like its match with Nebraska a week ago, the Razorbacks struggled to get things going in doubles. All three matches remained close until North Texas pulled out an 8-5 win at court three and then clinched the first point with an 8-6 win at court two over seniors Emily Carbone and Stephanie Roy. Arkansas didn’t come out of doubles totally empty-handed, however, as Paulson and sophomore Laurie Gingras won their third doubles match of the year and second straight in dual play as they defeated Valentina Starkova and Barbora Vykydalova, 8-6.
The Hogs were in a hole, but knew with strong singles play that the match was not out of reach. Even though North Texas struck first with a win at court six to take a 2-0, the Razorbacks went to work and won first sets in four of the remaining five matches.
Paulson was the first to finish as she easily cruised to her fourth win in four matches over Irina Paraschiv, 6-2, 6-3. From there, Roy made easy work of Valentina Starkova in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. The win for Roy was her sixth of the year and gets her back to the .500 mark as she is now 6-6 this season.
At this point, the Hogs had retaken the lead at 2-1, but the final three matches were much more closely contested. After winning her first set, 6-4, Gingras had a much tougher time closing out her second set with Ilona Serchenko. The second set went back and forth before Gingras finally broke Serchenko’s serve and held on for the 7-5 second set win. The win for Gingras was her eighth of the year and remains good for second on the team behind Paulson.
Now the Hogs only needed one more match to go their way for the win and it looked like they were going to get that right away as Carbone was leading Kseniya Bardabush 5-2 in the second set. Carbone had already won the first set 6-3, but Bardabush won three straight games to make it 6-5. Having to win by two, Carbone needed to win the next game to prevent the tiebreaker. The Kentucky native eventually prevailed in the end, winning 7-5 and giving Arkansas its third victory of the year.
The Razorbacks will return to the courts tomorrow as they will face the Oklahoma State Cowgirls at 2 p.m. in the Billingsley Tennis Center. Live stats and the live blog will be available online during the match. A full recap and complete results will be posted online following the match.
#17 Lady Vol Tennis Crushes #24 Notre Dame, 6-1
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The 17th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol tennis team put on a dominating performance, rolling No. 24 Notre Dame, 6-1, for its third consecutive win after opening the season 0-2.
Tennessee (3-2) swept all three doubles matches to remain undefeated in the doubles point this season, taking a 1-0 lead, including wins over a pair of Notre Dame’s (4-2) top-25 duos.
Following the performance, UT won five singles matches in straight sets before retiring Natalie Pluskota’s match for the final score. Four Lady Vols, Brynn Boren, Joanna Henderson, Kata Szekely and Sarah Toti, all won their third consecutive singles contest.
“We played well, and that’s what you want the team to do, especially at home,” co-head coach Mike Patrick said. “When you are at home, you gain some momentum playing great doubles points and then you get out there and get on top of them (in the singles), it is great.”
For the fifth time in as many matches this season, Tennessee claimed the doubles point and as a team has won 10 consecutive individual contests. Overall, UT is a combined 12-1 in doubles play.
Henderson and Szekely led the charge, defeating Chrissie McGaffigan and Jennifer Kellner, 8-1, to improve to 3-0 in dual-match play. The tandem has been UT’s first to finish three times and hasn’t given up more than two points this season.
After dropping the opening game to 25th-ranked Britney Sanders and Katherine White, No. 18 Boren and Toti reeled off seven straight and eight of nine games to win their eighth consecutive match together dating back to the fall.
The duo is 5-0 together in dual-match play, part of an eight-match winning streak that is a career-long for both. Together, they have won six of seven matches against ranked opponents and are an impressive 16-3 overall.
After Boren and Toti provided doubles-point clincher for the fourth time this season, Natalie Pluskota and Caitlyn Williams sought their fourth consecutive win against fifth-ranked Kristy Frilling and Shannon Mathews.
Tennessee’s top tandem jumped out to a 2-0 lead, before dropping the next three games. The Lady Vol combo closed strong, winning six of the next seven to improve to 4-1 together.
“By winning that doubles point it shows the kind of potential we have,” Patrick said. “That is a good team we played and we showed that we are not 100 percent. Notre Dame has a lot of potential and they can play with anyone in the country on any day.
Leading 1-0 and invigorated after doubles, Tennessee won the first set on all six courts in singles.
Boren, who moved to No. 2 in the singles lineup after a pair of wins last weekend, boosted the Lady Vol lead to 2-0 after a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Frilling. The No. 27-ranked player nationally is 3-0 in her career from the second position in the lineup and 14-2 overall in Knoxville.
“She played super tonight,” Patrick said of Boren. “She faced a quality player and she has done a lot of work the last couple of weeks. I do not think she played her best tennis in New York and she knew that. She has come back and worked hard and is starting to play some really good tennis.”
Moments later, Williams improved her record to 2-1 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sanders, who had started the dual-match season 5-0 and was 11-3 overall.
Needing just a point to clinch the victory, the Lady Vols turned to Toti for the second straight match. The reigning SEC Freshman of the Week delivered, posting a 6-3, 6-2 win over McGaffigan, to put UT ahead, 4-0. Toti remained undefeated from the fifth spot in the lineup.
With the match decided, two more wins came in succession. 59th-ranked Szekely remained undefeated (3-0) in dual-match play, becoming the first to knock off Kellner this season, who maintained a 4-0 record this spring. Szekely is 10-2 overall after defeating Kellner, 6-3, 6-1.
After opening the season with a pair of losses, Henderson has settled in at the No. 6 position, as she won her third consecutive match, defeating Katherine White, 6-4, 6-2.
Leading 6-0 and with Pluskota in her second set, the Lady Vols elected to retire the match.
“Natalie has been battling some injuries so to go out there and play an extra hour-and-a-half with what it would have taken for her to get it done would not have been the smartest thing to do right now,” Patrick said. “We have a lot of matches to play in the next couple weeks against a lot of great schools so we need her. We do not get this done without her, so we need her healthy.”
The Lady Vols will put their winning streak on the line at the Goodfriend Tennis Center on Sunday, hosting10th-ranked Michigan at 10 a.m.
Bulldog Tennis Match With TCU Postponed Until Saturday
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With a full day of inclement weather, Mississippi State’s home men’s tennis match against TCU, scheduled for 2 p.m. CT on Friday, has been postponed until 10 a.m. CT on Saturday. Weather permitting, the 14th-ranked Bulldogs will take court against No. 46 TCU tomorrow morning at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
If inclement weather persists on Saturday, play may be moved indoors to the University of Alabama’s Tennis Complex in Tuscaloosa. If moved to Tuscaloosa, the time will be determined Saturday.