No. 21 Tide Takes Down Rice, 6-1
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The 21st-ranked Alabama women’s tennis team earned a 6-1 victory over Rice on Saturday at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Indoor Tennis Facility. The Crimson Tide is now 2-1 on the season, while the Owls dropped to 6-2 with the loss.
“I thought we did a good job today,” said Alabama head coach Jenny Mainz. “Rice is a good team. I felt like they played a good match and competed well. They are a much better team than their ranking of No. 69 indicates. We knew we had to come in and get a good start. I like a lot of things that we did. I felt like after not competing for three weeks, we had to knock a little rust off in certain spots, but we did a good job of getting into the matches early.”
Alabama continued its dominating play in doubles, sweeping all three courts to remain a perfect 3-0 in doubles points this season. Courts one and two finished within moments of each other, but it would be the No. 1 duo of senior Courtney McLane and junior Alexa Guarachi clinching the point. The Tide’s top team, ranked 39th in the nation, wrapped up their match in 8-3 fashion over Rice’s 47th-ranked team of sophomore Dominique Harmath and freshman Natalie Beazant. On court two, Alabama junior Antonia Foehse and sophomore Mary Anne Macfarlane took the first four games before giving one up en route to an 8-2 victory over Owl senior Ana Guzman and junior Katie Gater. The matchup on court three started out close before the Tide tandem of senior Taylor Lindsey and freshman Yasmine Ebada took their first lead with a break to pull ahead 4-3. They would go on to claim four of the last five games over Rice sophomore Kimberly Anicete and freshman Stephanie Nguyen, eventually serving for the match and taking the 8-4 win.
McLane would be the first to finish in singles for Alabama, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Guzman. The Tide senior won 11 straight games before giving up just a single game in the entire match. Foehse was next to win for Alabama, posting a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Anicete on court five. With an identical score, Lindsey clinched the team victory minutes later at No. 6 with a win over Nguyen.
The Tide went on to win two of the final three singles matches as 40th-ranked Guarachi battled back after being down in the second to beat Harmath, 6-1, 7-5 on court two, while sophomore Alex Clay came back after dropping her first set to beat Gater, 1-6, 6-4, 1-0(3). The Owls’ lone point came on court one, as Beazant and No. 15 Macfarlane went neck-and-neck in the first set, which eventually went in favor of Beazant, 7-5. The Rice freshman went on to take the second set 6-0 for the point.
“We’ve got some things we need to work on,” added Mainz. “I think in a couple situations we got a little bit sloppy, and we need to tighten that up. That’s the difference in taking it to the next level.”
Georgia Outlasts Gators, Moves Into Semis
ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia men’s tennis team won its second match in two days, earning a thrilling 4-2 victory over fifth-ranked Florida Saturday to punch its ticket to the ITA National Indoor semifinals at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
The No. 4 Bulldogs (8-0) surrendered the doubles point for the first time in eight tries this season to give Florida the early 1-0 lead, but bounced back with four singles victories to secure the win and earn the semifinal berth against either three-time defending NCAA champion Southern Cal or Duke. The Gators fall to 5-2 on the year with today’s loss.
For the second time in as many outings, freshman Nathan Pasha provided the clinching win at No. 6 singles.
“We had a slow start in doubles,” said head coach Manuel Diaz. “I was disappointed with the way we came out. Florida played phenomenal, especially at the top two spots, but the thing I am most proud of is the way we answered after losing the doubles point. We just came back with a phenomenal effort in singles. It was really the first match that came down to the latter stages, and to see a freshman [Pasha] come through under pressure, and to win a tiebreaker for the whole match – it’s tremendous experience for him and it will only get better,”
The Bulldogs started off slow in doubles as the Gators mounted 4-0 leads on each of the first two courts. Georgia ultimately would rally on both, but the ninth-ranked team of Nassim Slilam and Billy Federhofer came up with the 8-5 win over No. 7 Wil Spencer and Garrett Brasseaux at No. 1, before Florida claimed the doubles point with an 8-6 win by 14th-ranked Tripper Carleton and Spencer Newman over Hernus Pieters and Sadio Doumbia at No. 2. The match on No. 3 doubles between Ignacio Taboada and Nathan Pasha and No. 29 Bob van Overbeek and Andrew Butz was suspended in a tiebreaker at 8-8.
Headed to singles down 1-0 and in need of four singles victories, things started off on the right foot as Taboada continued his winning ways with a quick 6-1, 6-3 win over Newman at No. 4 to even the score at 1-1. No. 55 KU Singh then won his second match of the tournament, going 6-4, 6-4 over Florent Diep at No. 3 to give the Bulldogs the 2-1 lead.
But Florida continued to battle, and it went tied again at 2-2 when Mike Alford handed Pieters a 6-1, 6-3 loss at the five-spot. Georgia would then surge ahead again at 3-2, when third-ranked Spencer defeated Slilam 7-6(6), 6-2, good for his 94th career singles victory.
That left just courts one and six still on, and it was the freshman Pasha who provided the late heroics for the second day in a row as he prevailed in a tiebreaker, going 6-3, 7-6(4) over Federhofer at No. 6 to clinch and give Georgia the 4-2 win.
The Bulldogs are aiming for their third Indoor championship, while tomorrow gives UGA the chance to reach the finals for the eighth time. The 8-0 start to the season comes for the first time since 2009 and just the fifth time in Diaz’s 24 seasons.
The time for Georgia’s Sunday match vs. either the Trojans or Blue Devils has yet to be announced. The live chat will be running on Georgiadogs.com before first serve.
“It will be a big undertaking regardless of who we play,” Diaz said. “USC comes in as the top seed and the No. 1 team in the country. Our guys are excited to measure themselves against the very best. We feel like we can win a national championship this spring, and this is a prelude to that. This is where we are now, and it will be a tremendous challenge whether we play Duke or USC. It’s an honor to be in the semifinals, and a great accomplishment. The guys talked after the match about not wanting to settle for this. We want to win a national championship.”
No. 6 Kentucky Drops 4-3 Heartbreaker to No. 3 Ohio State
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Seniors No. 6 Eric Quigley and No. 20 Alex Musialek each took down a top-16 ranked singles player in straights sets, but No. 3 Ohio State claimed the doubles point and three singles matches, including a three-set thriller at No. 4 singles, to post a closely contested 4-3 win over No. 6 Kentucky on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the International Tennis Association National Men’s Indoor Championships.
Kentucky (10-1) will fall into the consolation side of the bracket and will face the loser between No. 2 Virginia and No. 9 Stanford on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The tournament is being played at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
“A lot of your momentum for the season comes from what you do in your third match at the ITA Indoors,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “We have to shake this loss off and get back after it tomorrow against either Virginia or Stanford. We fought hard today, but you have to give credit to Ohio State for making shots and finishing the match.”
With the team score tied 3-3, Ohio State’s No. 99 Ille Van Engelen and Kentucky’s No. 79 Tom Jomby were battling in a third set at No. 4 singles to see who could earn the decisive fourth point of the match. Van Engelen would start the set with a 3-0 lead, before Jomby won four of the next five games to tie the set 4-4. Both players then held serve to tie the set 5-5 before Van Engelen fought off break point to go up 6-5 and then broke Jomby to clinch the set and OSU’s 4-3 win.
“Tom kept his composure today and played a good match, you just have to give credit to their guy for finishing off the match and performing well,” Emery said. “Once again, this was a great collegiate tennis match where both teams did good thing, they just did a little more to earn the win.”
The Wildcats performed well in singles action overall, getting wins at Nos. 1, 2, and 3 singles. Quigley and Musialek, who are ranked sixth and 20th in singles respectively, led the UK charge in singles. Quigley, who is the school’s all-time winningest singles player in school history, posted an impressive 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 16 Chase Buchanan at No. 1 singles. The win is Quigley’s 17th over a ranked foe this season and his third in the last four matches that ended in a decision.
Musialek was also strong for the Wildcats, defeating No. 12 Blaz Rola at No. 2 singles in straight sets. The native of Dax, France, is now 18-6 for the year, having taken down five ranked foes this season. Musialek dominated the first set over Rola 6-2 before earning a break and holding serve for most of the second set to post the 6-2, 6-4 win.
Junior No. 13 Anthony Rossi continued his strong season by earning a 6-2, 7-5 win over Peter Kobelt. Rossi is a dominating 8-0 in dual matches this season and 25-2 overall. The native of Marseille, France, is currently ranked 13th in the nation in singles, which is a career-high ranking.
“Overall, I am happy with how we performed in singles,” Emery said. “Really proud of how Eric fought off a 4-1 deficit in the second set to beat a quality opponent, that showed great character. Also pleased with the way Musialek jumped out and played a great match against Rola and then Rossi held on in the third set to grab a win. Coach (Cedric) Kauffmann came up with some good plans of attack today and that showed at our top three courts.”
Ohio State won its singles matches on courts four, five and six. OSU earned its second and third points of the match when No. 65 Devin McCarthy defeated No. 87 Alejandro Gomez 6-2, 6-4 before No. 107 Connor Smith took down No. 119 Panav Jha 6-4, 6-4. The decisive point of the match was Van Engelen’s win over Jomby at No. 4 singles.
In doubles, OSU used wins from its top-two doubles tandems to earn the point. No. 1 Buchanan and Rola defeated No. 48 Quigley and Jha 8-5 before the match was clinched when No. 27 McCarthy and Van Engelen took down Rossi and Jomby 8-6 at No. 2 doubles.
“I thought that we did some good things in doubles and put pressure on them to make some shots and for the most part they did that,” Emery said. “They have the top-ranked doubles team in the nation in Buchanan and Rola and then another great duo at two doubles. It was a tough doubles point, but we played well.”
The loss to Ohio State (10-0) gives the Buckeyes a 12-11 lead in the all-time series between the two schools. The two teams have met annually since 2009 with the Buckeyes earning 5-2 wins in both 2009 and 2010. Last year, then-No. 12 Kentucky fell in a dual match to third-ranked Ohio State 4-3 in Lexington. The first-ever meeting was in 1933.
Kentucky earned its berth into the event with a victory over No. 22 Tulsa in the ITA Kickoff Weekend. This is the third straight year UK has played in the National Indoor Championships. Last year, UK lost to No. 5 Texas in the opening round before defeating top-15 ranked Texas Tech and top-30 ranked Washington in the consolation bracket. In 2010, Kentucky lost to No. 3 UCLA in the first round before taking down No. 13 Illinois in the second round. UK would finish the event with a loss to top-10 ranked Stanford.
On Tuesday, the ITA announced the latest edition of singles and doubles rankings with UK represented well. Kentucky is one of only two schools in the nation to have six singles players ranked with the other Southern California, who is ranked first in the nation. Three UK players are ranked in the top 20 in the nation in singles, marking the first time in school history the Wildcats have accomplished that feat.
The 2012 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship, the signature indoor team tournament of the college tennis season, features 16 of the top men's programs in the nation. Joining UK at the event are each of the top-14 teams in No. 1 USC, No. 2 Virginia, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Florida, No. 7 Baylor, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Stanford, No. 10 Duke, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 12 Pepperdine, No. 13 California and No. 14 Texas. No. 16 Auburn has the 15th seed in the event, while No. 20 Tennessee is the 16th seed.
Freshmen Shine in Win Over UNC Wilmington
WILMINGTON, N.C. – No. 48 South Carolina stormed through the first four singles matches to score a 4-3 win at No. 46 UNC Wilmington Saturday afternoon at the UNCW Tennis Complex. The Gamecocks (8-1) shook off a slow start singles play after the Seahawks (5-2) swept the doubles matches. Freshman Kyle Koch sealed the win in the No. 5 spot with a straight-set victory.
“Our team showed great character today against a very good UNC Wilmington team, especially after the NC State loss last week,” said South Carolina head coach Josh Goffi. “We lost the doubles point today and were down early on five of the six singles matches. It was an absolute battle, but the players refused to lose. We started four freshmen in singles, and three of them came through with big points today. I am so proud of the way those young guys, especially, have been stepping up this year.”
The Gamecocks shuffled their doubles lineup for the first time in several weeks, but the Seahawks were unfazed by the changes and swept all three matches to take an early lead. In singles play, four of the six first sets were decided by late service breaks with each team winning two. Only Gamecock sophomore Chip Cox and freshman Thiago Pinheiro secured their first sets more easily in the Nos. 3 and 6 spots, respectively. Pinheiro went on to level the team score with his 6-4, 6-3 win over Kaue Pereira.
Freshman Andrew Adams was one of the Gamecocks to win his first set 7-5, drawing a service break in his final opportunity against Chris Cooprider in the No. 2 match. He carried that momentum into the second set, in which he dominated Cooprider 6-0 for a 2-1 South Carolina lead. Cox closed out his win over Pedro Mol in the No. 3 contest, but had to gut out a tiebreaker, winning it 8-6, to get the Gamecocks within a point of their eighth win of the season.
Like Adams, Koch won his first set 7-5, breaking Sam Williams’ serve late in the set. The Gamecock freshman rode the emotion of the win to a 6-3 second set, clinching the win for South Carolina.
UNC Wilmington went on to win the final two matches on court. Kosta Blank turned his 7-5 first set win into a 6-4 second set over Carl Eguez in the No. 4 matchup. Senior Ivan Machado dropped his first set to No. 68 Rafael Aita 7-5 at the top of the lineup, but the Gamecocks’ leader battled for a second-set tiebreaker 7-6 (2), eyeing his first win over a ranked opponent this season. The Seahawks’ sophomore was fighting to maintain his undefeated record this season, and collected a 6-3 third set victory.
No. 24 Rebels Down SMU 6-1 In Home Opener
OXFORD, Miss. – The No. 24 ranked Ole Miss women’s tennis team downed SMU 6-1 in their home opener here Saturday at the Gillom Sports Center. With the win, the Rebels improved to 5-4 on the season.
“We’re excited about getting our first home win. We had a lot of positives. I was really happy with the doubles. It was a good start to the match,” head coach Mark Beyers said. “Their top three players are obviously good players. It’s different when you only have three players out there. If we’re playing on six courts, we probably win four, five and six a little quicker and it would be tough for them (SMU) to be as pumped up as they were.”
As Beyers noted, he was pleased with the doubles, and with good reason. The Rebels dominated all three spots dropping only five games total to improve to 5-1 on the year when they win the point.
SMU made some noise at the top three spots in singles, and the Rebels had to earn the two points they did get at two and three.
First off the court, SMU’s Edyta Cieplucha defeated 20th-ranked Kristi Boxx 6-4, 6-1 at No. 1. Sophomore Caroline Rohde-Moe continued her great play, defeating Mustang senior Heather Steinbauer 6-3, 7-5 at No. 2 to make it 2-1. Rohde-Moe found herself down 5-3 in the second, but won four straight games to move to 7-1 at No. 2.
Freshman Erin Stephens came up with a huge win at No. 3, rallying to defeat Elena Fayner in three sets. After dropping the first set 6-4, Stephens won the second set 6-3. She served for the match at 5-3 in the final set, but Fayner broke and held serve. Stephens won the final two games to put the Rebels up 3-1 in her home debut.
“They did a good job and pushed us, but I am proud of Erin for coming back from a set down and Caroline from 5-3 in the second set to win. Any time you win close matches or close sets it’s awesome,” Beyers said.
The lower half of the lineup was dominate. First off the court was senior Abby Guthrie, who clinched the victory by shutting out SMU’s Perri Anderson 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles. Freshman Julia Jones also won her home debut, downing Kris Roberts 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4, and then sophomore Vivian Vlaar finished it off cruising 6-0, 6-2 against Erika Marschall.
“We’re proud of the girls in the lower half of the lineup. Even though the matches were one-sided, we got to work on a lot of things and they didn’t get complacent. They did a great job of staying focused,” Beyers said. “With Julia and Vivian, we’ve been working hard on their serves, and that showed today. With Abby she got to work on her approach shots and come in a lot. All-in-all it was a very good day, and now we’re looking forward to playing Southern Miss and Tulsa next weekend, hopefully in our new facility.”
South Carolina Earns 7-0 Win Over Loyola Marymount
SAN DIEGO (Feb. 18, 2012) — The No. 26 South Carolina women’s tennis team (4-1) earned a 7-0 win over Loyola Marymount (0-6) at the Hogan Tennis Center in San Diego on Saturday.
South Carolina swept all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead heading to singles play. Despite playing the most games of all three contests, Jaklin Alawi and Dijana Stojic finished first with an 8-6 triumph over Elisaveta Pironkova and Reka Rohonyi. Alawi and Stojic had a 5-2 lead before Pironkova and Rohonyi rallied to win three straight games to make it 5-all. With the score tied 6-all, Alawi and Stojic broke serve and Stojic held to move the duo’s record to 4-0 this spring at No. 1 doubles.
Less than a minute after Alawi and Stojic’s win, the Gamecocks’ No. 3 tandem of Adriana Pereira and Katerina Popova scored an 8-4 victory over Ashley Anderson and Tory Parravi. South Carolina actually trailed 2-1 in the match after three games before winning seven of the next nine games to snag the win.
The final match on court two saw Anya Morgina and Dominika Kanakova pick up an 8-3 win against Claudia Razzeto and Miya Jin. Like Pereira and Popova, the Gamecock duo trailed 2-1 after the first three games. Once Carolina took a 3-2 advantage, LMU managed to tie the score again at 3-all, but Morgina and Kanakova seized control of the match and recorded the next five games in their favor.
“In doubles, we got down on almost all the courts in the first few games,” associate head coach Katarina Petrovic said. “Once they figured out the players and how they play, we were good to go. They played much different than San Diego did yesterday. San Diego played a little bit more defensive and Loyola was a little more aggressive.”
The Gamecocks’ next three points in singles all came within a minute of each other. Alawi finished first with a 6-0, 6-4 victory against Razzeto on court two, followed by Stojic’s 6-3, 6-3 victory against Jin at the No. 3 position, and Popova clinched the match at No. 5 singles 6-2, 6-0 versus Anderson.
Two of the final three matches on court went three sets. At one, Morgina recorded a 6-1, 3-6, (10-3) win over April Bisharat on court one to stay undefeated this spring at 4-0. Kanakova provided the sixth point for South Carolina with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Parravi at the fourth spot, and Pereira got a three set win at six against Pironkova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
South Carolina will return home for the first of three straight homes matches Wednesday when it hosts instate rival No. 17 Clemson at 2 p.m. at Carolina Tennis Center.
“Tennis is like any other sport; the more matches or more games you play, you get better,” Petrovic said. “With this trip, even though it was tough to play two matches back-to-back, the girls got more experience. They feel much more comfortable when they play matches. This trip is going to help us out, especially for the next three matches.”
Kentucky Women’s Tennis Sweeps Eastern Kentucky, Evansville
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team ended its nine-game homestretch on a high note, taking both matches to improve to 8-1 on the season. The team took on Eastern Kentucky at 10 a.m. ET and Evansville at 6 p.m. ET for the doubleheader at the Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Complex.
The Wildcats started off the day against Eastern Kentucky with a dominating doubles performance. At the No. 2 position, sophomore Caitlin McGraw and freshman Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff grabbed a win in an impressive 22 minutes. The duo faced Amandine Faouzi and Melissa Gerritsen, defeating them, 8-0.
The 36th-ranked doubles pair of Khristina Blajkevitch and Jessica Stiles finally reunited after Blajkevitch suffered a wrist injury, and the two didn't miss a beat. They took on Kristina Labeja and Melina Poffo, ultimately winning, 8-1. Sophomores Marni Venter and CeCe Witten followed suit as they won, 8-5, allowing the Cats to take the doubles point.
In singles play, freshmen Stephanie Fox and Morin-Kougoucheff played well beyond their years. The two played with poise, sweeping both of their opponents in straight sets as they posted, 6-0, 6-0, results. Such performances have made the two freshmen an integral part of the young Wildcats team.
Perhaps the most remarkable performance of the match came from junior Jessica Stiles. She found herself about to lose in singles play as Faouzi took the first set and was leading, 5-3, in the second, but she mounted an impressive comeback. She powered through the next four games to take the second set and then dominated from there. She won the third set, 6-1, to ultimately take the victory with a final score, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Sophomore CeCe Witten played a close match with Melina Poffo, requiring a tiebreaker and almost even a third set. With her final result of 7-6, 7-5, she finished out the match for the Cats, as they took the victory over the Colonels, 5-2.
Just a few hours later on Saturday evening, UK took on the Purple Aces of Evansville. The Wildcats once again proved their worth in doubles as they gained all three wins. Stiles and Blajkevitch faced strong opponents in Dora Kotsiou and Natasha James, as the duo battled for every point. Ultimately, the Wildcats pulled through, taking the, 8-6, victory.
Morin-Kougoucheff and McGraw provided another commanding performance, defeating Emily Richardson and Kelsey Costales, 8-1. Witten and Venter once again came through with a solid win as they posted a, 8-2, result over Aleksandra Dsakula and Jess Raatz.
The Cats ended the day enthusiastically, grabbing every singles point to obtain the 7-0 decision. Fox set her usual lightening pace, finishing first against Richardson with a, 6-1, 6-0, result.
Next, the Wildcats will travel for the first time in the regular season. The team will face Akron in Akron, Ohio at 1:00 p.m. ET on Feb. 21.