Courtesy of CTO Correspondent Bobby Knight - UCLA and USC delivered yet another thriller Friday night with the Bruins coming out on top 4-3.  UCLA took the doubles point just as they had done a week ago at the NTIs  and then picked up singles victories from Adrien Puget, Dennis Mkrtchian, and Marcos Giron with Marcos providing the clincher at #3 singles after trailing 5-3 in the 3rd set.  These 2 will meet again in April and likely again in the Pac 12 Tournament in Ojai so this rivalry will bring us more 3 set thrillers shortly.   Stay tuned….    

 

#51 Clemson took it to #21 Auburn winning by a 5-2 score.  Auburn won the doubles point but Clemson took 5 1st sets and finished all 5 matches with Yannick Maden, Zachary Rigsby, and Gerardo Meza winning in straight sets and Austin Ansari and Hunter Harrington winning in 3 with Ansari providing the clincher at 6.  Auburn’s lone singles victory came from Dennis Lengsfeld at 4. 

 

The match between #24 LSU and #27 Texas Tech was postponed due to rain.  They did start singles play and LSU claimed 4 1st sets before things were halted.   They will try to make this match up in a month or so.

 

#26 San Diego got past #39 Boise State by a 5-2 margin.  Boise State took the doubles point but San Diego rallied and took 5 of 6 singles courts with Uros Petronijevoc, Ciaran Fitzgerald, Clarke Spinosa, and Thibaut Visy all winning in straight sets along with Victor Pugliese winning in 3 sets.  Boise State’s lone singles victory came from Andrew Bettles at 1. 

 

#14 Texas A&M knocked off #17 Tulsa 5-2 in a match that wasn’t as close as expected.  The Aggies took the doubles point and followed it up with straight set wins from Harrison Adams, Jordan Szabo, and Behzad Minavi while Shane Vinsant won his match in a 3rd set supertiebreak.  Tulsa’s Clifford Marsland and Japie De Klerk picked up straight set wins at 1 and 2.  

 

#19 Washington got pushed by #72 Oregon but managed to pull out a 5-2 win.  Oregon won the doubles point for the 9th consecutive match this year and won 3 1st sets to put the Huskies on their heels but Washington was able to turn 2 of those around with Marton Bots defeating Robin Cambier 0-6 6-3 6-4 at 2 and Max Manthou defeating Daan Maasland 6-7 6-2 10-4 at 3.  Jeff Hawke and Viktor Farkas won in straights with Farkas providing the clincher at 5.  Kyle McMorrow won in 3 sets at 1 for Washington while Oregon’s Alex Rovello won in straights at 4.  

 

#20 Baylor pulled off the slight upset of #16 Florida as the Bears claimed the doubles point to take the early lead but Florida would go in front with Stephane Piro and Luke Johnson winning in straight sets at 3 and 6.  After BU’s Patrick Pradella won in straights at 1, Florida’s Billy Federhofer picked up a 3 set win at 5 to put Florida a point away from clinching.  The 2 remaining matches at 2 and 4 singles would go 3 sets and Baylor would win them both with Mate Zsiga coming from behind to win 6-4 in the 3rd at 4 over Mike Alford and Julian Lenz clinching it with a 6-3 4-6 6-3 over Florent Diep at 2.   

 

#4 Ohio State had little trouble with #25 Notre Dame as the Buckeyes dispatched the Irish 7-0 with Blaz Rola, Peter Kobelt, Devin McCarthy, Chris Diaz, Connor Smith, and Hunter Callahan all winning in singles. 

  

Let’s take a look at what’s on the slate for Sunday:  

 

#24 LSU at #4 Ohio State – Noon est. – Live Scoring & Video @ http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Ohio State will be looking to post a 2nd straight shutout but LSU will do its part to keep that from happening.  LSU’s best chance of picking up a singles win will come from Tam Trinh.  Prediction:  Ohio State 7-0

 

#7 Pepperdine at #29 Florida State (Bradenton, FL) – 1pm est. – Live Scoring @ http://www.seminoles.com/livestats/m-tennis/022413/xlive.htm  and Live Video @ http://live.imgacademies.com/Tennis.aspx - These 2 met just 4 weeks ago in Malibu during the ITA Kickoff Weekend with the Waves pulling out a 5-2 victory.  Florida State hasn’t played since dropping a 5-2 match to Florida 2 weeks ago while Pepperdine dropped its last 2 at the NTIs to Ohio State and Duke.   I think Florida State will keep it close but Pepperdine’s strength at the top will get it done.  Prediction: Pepperdine 4-3 

 

#30 Indiana at #33 Vanderbilt – 1pm est/Noon cst. – Live Scoring @ http://www.vucommodores.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - This should be a close one that may come down to the final match at #6 singles which could be a dual between Vanderbilt’s Kris Yee and Indiana’s Elliott Yee (no relation).  If it comes down to that Vandy will get the win.  If Indiana takes the doubles point I think they’ll take the match with wins at 2, 3, and 4 singles.  Prediction:  Indiana 4-3

#49 Virginia Tech at #38 Louisville – 1pm est. – Live Scoring @ http://www.gocards.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Virginia Tech’s Andreas Bjerrehus and Amerigo Contini are a combined 12-1 at the 1 and 2 spots this year and they’ll lead the Hokies to another victory.  Prediction:  Virginia Tech 5-2 

 

#48 South Carolina at #34 VCU – 1pm est. – South Carolina is improved from a year ago while VCU is always tough at home.  I’ll take the Gamecocks in doubles and think they’ll find a way to get 3 singles wins.  Prediction:  South Carolina 4-2  

 

#66 Georgia Tech at #21 Auburn – 2pm est./1pm cst. – Live Scoring @ http://www.auburntigers.com/livestats/m-tennis/2013/0224_GT/xlive.htm - Auburn will try to rebound from a loss to one ACC team by taking on another.  Georgia Tech isn’t as strong as Clemson so I expect for Auburn to get the W.  Prediction:  Auburn 5-2

 

#8 Oklahoma at #14 Texas A&M – 2pm est./1pm cst. – Live Scoring & Video @ http://www.aggieathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=205386297 – Texas A&M hasn’t won at #1 or #2 singles in 5 straight matches and I think that streak will get pushed to 6 with Oklahoma’s  Costin Paval and Guillermo Alcorta both very talented.   If Axel Llamas doesn’t play for OU this could be a tight one but if he can go and is up to speed I think OU gets by more comfortably.  As always I think the doubles point could loom large.  Texas A&M has to get the doubles point to have a chance.  Prediction:  Oklahoma 5-2  

 

#28 Stanford at #12 Cal – 4pm est./1pm pst. – Live Video @ http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-tennis/live.html - Stanford has been up and down this year and comes into this one on a 3 match losing streak while Cal has lost 4 of its last 5 though those loses were all to top 10 teams.  Cal will likely be without Riki McLachlan which will make this one closer.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Stanford pulled off the upset but I’ll stick with Cal at home getting wins at 2, 3, 4, and 5.  Prediction:  Cal 5-2