Alabama
The Alabama men’s tennis team posted wins over Furman and Troy last week at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility to improve to 3-3 on the season. The Crimson Tide first defeated the Paladins in the morning match with a 6-1 decision and followed that up with a 7-0 sweep over the Trojans in the afternoon match. Alabama was able to play all of its freshmen in the matches, including Stuart Kenyon, Filippos Tsangaridis, Rens van der Vis and David Vieyra. Standing strong on the top courts for the Tide was junior Jarryd Botha, who clinched both matches at the No. 1 singles position, and senior Ricky Doverspike. Next up, Alabama will head to Montgomery for the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic, which begins on February 24.
Arkansas
The Razorbacks faced its second straight ranked opponent in No. 67 Purdue and Stetson over the weekend. On Friday, the Hogs went up against the Boilermakers and jumped out to the 1-0 lead after winning an exciting doubles point. Unfortunately, in singles, the Razorbacks could only get one singles win from senior Matt Walters at court three. Walters defeated Aaron Dujovne, 6-3, 6-2, for his fifth dual win of the spring. Arkansas dropped its first match of the year to Purdue to fall to 5-1. On Sunday, the team was able to bounce back in a big way against Stetson. Not only winning the doubles point, the Razorbacks swept all three doubles matches including a huge win at the top spot from junior Hall Fess and Walters. The duo has been unstoppable this year, building up a record of 13-1 overall and winning seven in a row to start the spring. The Hogs went on to nearly sweep the singles winning on courts two through six. Arkansas hits the road for its next matchup as they travel to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane on Friday at 6 p.m.
Auburn
The 16th-ranked Auburn Tigers improved to 6-0 last week with home victories over Southern Miss and No. 56 South Florida, continuing their best start since the 2007 season. The Tigers won both matches by a 6-1 score, sweeping all three doubles matches and winning in singles on courts 1-5 in both contests. Senior Alex Stamchev remains unbeaten at the No. 2 singles spot with a 6-0 record in dual matches, while he and partner Daniel Cochrane are 5-1 on the year at No. 1 doubles. Freshman Lukas Ollert, meanwhile, has yet to drop a match as a Tiger as he is also 6-0 in both singles and doubles. Auburn will play in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship for the first time in program history this week; the 15th-seeded Tigers will face host Virginia in Friday’s first round in Charlottesville, Va.
Florida
Florida improved to 5-1 on the season with quality wins over No. 32 Florida State and No. 18 Illinois over the weekend. The Gators beat in-state rival FSU 6-1 on Saturday, sweeping the doubles matches and winning four singles matches in straight sets. On Sunday, UF beat the Fighting Illini 6-1, a series that has recently been dominated by the home team over the past five meetings. Individually, Tripper Carleton continues his hot play, improving his dual singles record to 5-0 (1-0 at #2, 4-0 at #3) and dual doubles record to 6-0 with partner Spencer Newman. Bob van Overbeek, who has played in the No. 1 singles spot in five of six matches with a 4-1 record, earned his first-career top five win, taking down Illinois's Dennis Nevolo, ranked No. 2 in the nation, 7-6 (5), 6-4. The Gators head to the ITA National Indoors this weekend, facing No. 12 Pepperdine on Friday in the Round of 16.
Georgia
The fourth-ranked University of Georgia men's tennis team improved to 5-0 on the 2012 season with a 6-1 win over William & Mary last Friday afternoon at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts. Georgia won doubles for the fifth straight time while sophomore Hernus Pieters captured the match clincher for the first time this season. Redshirt freshman Eric Diaz saw the first dual match action of his career, winning at No. 6 singles. Georgia will remain at home for one more, hosting in-state foe Georgia Tech on Tues., Feb. 14 at 4 p.m., before the squad heads to the ITA National Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va., Feb. 17-20.
Kentucky
The Kentucky men’s tennis team posted its ninth win of the season Sunday after defeating No. 30 Notre Dame 4-3 in South Bend, Ind. Kentucky was led in the match by sophomore Alejandro Gomez, who clinched the match with a three-set win at No. 6 singles. No. 5 Eric Quigley, No. 36 Anthony Rossi and No. 95 Tom Jomby also earned singles wins in the match. The win marked the sixth for the Wildcats this season over a ranked foe as UK has also defeated No. 12 Pepperdine, No. 22 Tulsa, No. 29 Indiana, No. 53 Michigan State and No. 57 North Carolina State. The Wildcats will play later this week in the ITA National Team Indoor Champions. UK is making its third consecutive appearance in the event.
LSU
LSU did not play this past week. They host Tulane on Wednesday.
Ole Miss
Ole Miss dropped a 4-2 decision to Mississippi State in a marathon match last Thursday in the annual River Hills Mississippi Cup. The Rebels had won 12 straight cups until the loss. The match came down to a three-setter at No. 5 singles between a pair of seniors in Ole Miss’ Chris Thiemann and MSU’s George Coupland. Coupland broke twice to start the set and held to win it 6-1 to clinch the 4-2 victory. When the match was stopped sophomore Johan Backstrom led State’s Antonio Lastre 2-0 in the third set. The victory marked the first time for Mississippi State to win back-to-back matches against the Rebels in more than a decade. The Rebels will travel to Brownsville, Texas this weekend to compete in the USTA Futures event.
Mississippi State
The 14th-ranked Dogs have now won two-straight against No. 21 Ole Miss, dating back to last spring’s 5-2 decision in Starkville. After dropping the doubles point during Thursday’s River Hills Cup in Jackson, Miss., MSU battled back during a tough in-state rivalry. The match would swing back-and-forth until the Bulldogs earned their first lead of the night as senior Artem Ilyushin downed 27th-ranked Marcel Theimann on court 2. The match-clincher came from 32nd-ranked George Coupland who has now clinched three matches in MSU’s six victories this season. No. 45 Louis Cant is now on a 7-0 tear to begin the season while Coupland has won four-straight in his 6-1 slate. Mississippi State has a few weeks off until they return to action on Friday, Feb. 24 when they will compete in the Blue/Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala.
South Carolina
No. 48 South Carolina split a pair of road matches against ACC teams last week. The Gamecocks got topped No. 42 Wake Forest on Thursday with freshman Thiago Pinheiro winning his third-set tiebreaker for the final point of the 4-3 decision. South Carolina dropped its first match of the year at No. 51 NC State on Saturday. At 7-1, the Gamecocks are off to their best start since the 2005 team started with a 9-1 mark, during which it played just one nationally ranked opponent. This year's team is 3-1 against its ranked opponents so far with a trip to No. 46 UNC Wilmington on tap this weekend. The Gamecocks plan to play their first match in the $4.6 million Carolina Tennis Center on Sat., Feb. 25, with a doubleheader.
Tennessee
The Tennessee Volunteers (4-3) are preparing to compete in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the fourth consecutive season. The 20th-ranked Vols face three-time defending national champion Southern California in the first round, the first time the schools have met since the finals of the 2010 NCAA Championships. The Vols dropped their final warm-up match to the tournament, losing to No. 10 Duke 6-1. Freshman Hunter Reese provided Tennessee's only win against the Blue Devils, beating No. 110 Fred Saba 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (2). Reese's last two wins have come against ranked opponents; three of his eight wins this season have come against top 125 players.
Vanderbilt
Freshmen Joe Dorn and Jeff Offerdahl each clinched a match for the No. 43 Commodores this weekend as Vanderbilt stopped a three-game slide and improved to 4-3 this season. They handed Brown the Bears’ first loss, a 6-1 Dore victory, on Friday and finished the weekend with a 4-3 battle against No. 64 Northwestern on Sunday. Charlie Jones and Gonzales Austin continued to be strongholds on the court, while freshman Anton Kovrigin joined them, with all three going 2-0 in singles. The Dores host Memphis and UAB next weekend.