Michigan Upsets Vanderbilt!

      Down 3-0 in the match, the Michigan men’s tennis team had their backs against the wall against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville, Tennessee. The Commodores had won the doubles point and the first two singles matches to take a 3-0 lead over the Wolverines. Michigan would need every remaining singles players to play their hearts out if they wanted to pull an amazing come-from-behind victory. Alex Petrone put Michigan on the board first, after defeating Anton Kovrigin 7-6, 6-4. At No. 3 singles, Petrone was off to a bad start, getting broken in his second service game. However, he broke back late in the set and managed to force it to a tiebreaker. In the second set, it was Petrone’s turn for an early break. He used the break to his advantage and won the set and match. Evan King was the next Wolverine to finish. After cruising to an easy 6-2 first set lead, King had trouble finding his game in the second set. Vanderbilt’s Charlie Jones would not go down easily as he responded with a 6-1 victory in the second set. However, King used his experience to regain confidence as he defeated Jones 6-3 in the third set to score another point for Michigan.                                                                                                                                    It was now up to Michigan’s sophomore duo, Barrett Franks and Alex Buzzi, to keep the Wolverine’s hope for victory alive. At No. 5 singles, Franks jumped ahead 4-2. However, Commodores’ Joe Dorn took control of the set as he came back from the deficit and won the first set 6-4. However, Frank did not let his game falter as he managed to take the second set 6-4. The match had come down to a decisive third set. Franks battled his way to a 7-5 win and allowed the Wolverines to tie the game three matches apiece. The pressure was on Buzzi as he went to work against Vanderbilt’s Alex DiValerio. Buzzi was able to take the first set with minimal effort as he won the first set 6-3. He would not let his game falter in the second set, winning it 6-2 and completed Michigan’s amazing comeback. With this win, the Wolverines are now 5-4 on the season. The win was Buzzi’s second of the season at No. 6 singles, and was Michigan’s fifth, but first on the road. Michigan will continue a stretch of matches away from Ann Arbor when they travel to Hawaii to face the Rainbow Warriors for the second straight season this Thursday.  

Third Match Is The Charm For Army!

       On February 18^th, the Army men’s tennis team had traveled to Dayton, Ohio to play a tripleheader against Ball State, Lipscomb, and Air Force. After suffering back to back losses against Ball State and Lipscomb on Saturday, Army managed to redeem themselves by toughing out a win against their academy rival Air Force, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon. The Black Knights played all 3 matches at a neutral-site location in Dayton, Ohio and highlighted their weekend by winning the “Silver Star” and improving their record to 4-4 on the season. The Army Black Knights lost to their first-time opponent the Ball State Cardinals 4-3 in their first match of the weekend. Black Knights’ Asika Isoh and Henry Jang-Milsten earned singles and doubles wins on the day, first teaming together at No. 1 doubles. The duo defeated Cardinals’ Dalton Albertin and Ray Leonard 8-5. Isoh then battled Albertin in 3 sets at No. 1 singles and eventually defeated him 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. Jang-Milsten struggled with his opponent as well, taking Alexandre Brym to 3 sets. Jang-Milsten won against Brym 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 4 singles. Tied at 3-3, the match was decided by the No. 3 singles match between Army’s Alex Holland and Ball State’s Zane Smith. Smith prevailed in 3 sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and helped the Cardinals beat the Black Knights 4-3. The Cardinals improved to 7-2 on the season.                                                                                                                                            Later on that same Saturday, the Army Black Knights would also play the Lipscomb Bison but only in singles matches. At first, Army was off to a good start after Asika Isoh defeated Bison’s Oliver Strecker at No. 1 singles 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. However, Army would go on to lose 5 straight in singles and lost 5-1 to the first-time opponent Lipscomb. The Bison improved their record to 2-3 on the season with the win. Army went on to play Air Force the next day and managed to start the game with the lead, 1-0, after capturing the doubles point. Black Knights’ Alex Van Velzer and Peter Sienko beat Falcon’s Andy Jackson and Alex Grubbs, 8-5, at No. 2 doubles, while Alex Holland and Rommel Verano knocked off Falcon’s Joey Brandt and Ali Rizvi, 8-5, at No. 3 doubles. In singles play, Van Velzer cruised past Jackson at No. 2 singles 6-2, 6-2, and fellow Black Knight Sienko proved to be on his game as well, defeating Alex Lineberry in 2 quick sets 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5 singles. However, Air Force kept Army on their toes as they took wins at No. 1, 3, and 4 singles. At No. 6 singles, Army’s Rashad Shelton would start the match by losing the first set to Air Force’s Steven Young 6-2. Despite the situation looking grim, Shelton regained his composure and made a miraculous comeback to beat Young in the final two sets, 6-4, 6-2. Army will return to their home courts at Lichtenberg Tennis Center for a final nonconference tune-up against Columbia on February 25th Patriot League play opens the following day with a doubleheader opposite Lafayette and Holy Cross.

Hofstra Redeems Loss With A Comeback Win!

     After suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Bucknell Bison on February 18^th in Quakertown, PA, the Hofstra Pride men’s tennis team appeared to be getting their second straight loss when the Bloomsburg Huskies swept the Pride in doubles, taking the lead 1-0 the next day. However, Hofstra makes an outstanding comeback by winning 5 singles matches and losing one to beat Bloomsburg 5-2. During Saturday’s match with Bucknell, players on Hofstra were anxious to play this game since it was the first match of the spring season. Unfortunately, only the freshman, Ari Richman, got Hofstra’s only victory in the 6-1 loss to Bucknell. From the start, the Bison took control of the match by sweeping the Pride in doubles. Bison’s Josh Katten and Kelly Marque were the first doubles team to finish their match as they downed Pride’s Matthew Gemmell and Pedro Gimenez at No. 2 doubles 8-2. Bucknell’s Kyle Rosen and Scott Bernstein finished next after defeating Hofstra Laurent Octobre and Ryhann Gill 8-4 at No. 3 doubles. No. 1 doubles finished last as Bison’s Evan Zimmer and Gregg Cohenca battled Pride’s Ari Richman and Antonio Pena and managed to squeeze out the win 8-6.                                                                                                                                              In singles play, Gregg Cohenca took the win at No. 1 singles beating Antonio Pena 6-3, 6-1 and Evan Zimmer followed up with a win as well at No. 3 singles against Matthew Gemmell 6-3, 6-2.   Ari Richman managed to temporarily stop Bucknell’s momentum as he won a close match against Octano Canibe at No. 2 singles, 7-6(4), 6-4 and earned Hofstra’s first point causing the score to be 3-1. However, the Bison quickly regained momentum and proceeded to finish the match by taking out the Pride’s No. 4, 5, and 6 singles. Bucknell’s Josh Katten downed Hofstra’s Pedro Gimenez 6-2, 6-2, followed by Kelly Marque beating Jason Sinkoff 7-6(2), 6-0, and Kyle Rosen defeating Laurent Octobre 6-2, 6-0 respectively. The Hofstra Pride would continue to play in Quakertown, Pennsylvania the next day against the Bloomsburg Huskies. The Hofstra Pride would start this match just like the match against the Bucknell Bison by losing 1-0 after being swept in doubles play against the Bloomsburg Huskies. Mark Schroeder and Andres Prince got the first win in doubles play for the Huskies by making quick work of Pride’s Laurent Octobre and Ryhann Gill at No. 3 doubles 8-2. Tyler Pultro and Jeff Nuhfer secured the doubles point for Bloomsburg by beating Hofstra’s Pedro Gimenez and Matthew Gemmell at No. 2 doubles 8-3. Ricky Dove and Mike DiSanto won as well for Bloomsburg defeating Hofstra’s Antonio Pena and Ari Richman at No. 1 doubles 8-4.                                                                                                                                              After the losing the doubles point, Hofstra’s Head Coach Philip Wayne brought his team together for a motivational speech. “We may have lost the doubles point but we all know we are better than these guys,” said the Pride Head Coach. “Let’s try to regain our focus and take them out in all the singles matches.” That’s almost exactly what the Pride did as they proceeded to take the first 3 singles matches. Matthew Gemmell finished first as he tied the game by beating Huskies’ Mike DiSanto 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 singles. Antonio Pena gave Hofstra its first lead in the match defeating Jeff Nuhfer 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 singles causing to go up 2-1. Ari Richman helped Hofstra build the lead to 3-1 by beating Bloomsburg’s Ricky Dove 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. However, Bloomsburg seemed to regain their composure as Huskies’ Tyler Pultro won at No. 4 singles defeating Pride’s Pedro Gimenez 6-4, 6-4. At No. 5 singles, Pride’s Laurent Octobre clinched the win for Hofstra by successfully battling and conquering Evan Carney 7-5, 6-4. Hofstra’s Jason Sinkoff secured a win in the last match of the day as he downed Bloomsburg’s Andres Prince 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 singles. The Hofstra Pride is now 2-2 for the year and will play the St. Francis College Terriers next week on February 26.                                        

Florida Remains Hot With Win Over Illinois

      The No. 5 Florida men's tennis team did not disappoint their home crowd this past Sunday as they cruised past No. 18 Illinois, 6-1, at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville. After struggling to win the doubles' point, the Gators won five of six singles matches, all in straight sets, to finish the Fighting Illini. With wins over Florida State and Illinois this weekend, Florida now has a record of 4-1 on the season before heading to the ITA National Indoor Tournament next weekend. From the beginning of the match, the doubles' point seemed that it could had be given to the Gators or the Fighting Illini as both teams' doubles lineups appeared to match each other point for point. Florida struck the first blow for the doubles' point as Gators' Tripper Carleton and Spencer Newman beat the Fighting Illini's Ross Guignon and Tim Kopinski at No. 2 doubles, 8-5. However, the Fighting Illini came roaring back as Illinois' Dennis Nevolo and Roy Kalmanovich managed to close out Florida's Billy Federhofer and Nassim Slilam at No. 1 doubles, 8-6.                                  
      In the end, the deciding factor for the doubles' point came down to No. 3 doubles as Florida's Andrew Butz and Bob van Overbeek battled with Illinois' Bruno Adelnour and Stephen Hoh. The Illini duo seemed to have control over the game as took advantage of a break to go up 4-2, but the Gators pair flipped the script and came fighting back to eventually win the match, 8-6, and clinch the doubles' point for Florida. The Gators' momentum continued to raise in singles after taking a 1-0 lead. Micheal Alford finished first for Florida, beating Ross Guignon 6-0, 6-4 at sixth singles. In fourth singles, Florent Diep takes care of Bruno Adelnour 6-4, 6-2. Spencer Newman secured the Gators' victory, defeating Tim Kopinski at fifth singles, 6-1, 6-3. Tripper Carleton beat Stephen Hoh 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. At the No. 1 spot, Gator Bob van Overbeek and Dennis Nevolo played a spectacular game which was the highlight of the day between the two teams. Van Overbeek hangs on to the win, earning his first-ever victory over a top 5 opponent, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Nassim Sliliam dropped his match, 7-6 (2), 6-4, against Roy Kalmanovich at No. 2 singles. The Gators leave Thursday for the ITA National Indoor Tournament in Charlottesville, Va.

Georgia Defeats William & Mary!!

     The Georgia men's tennis team destroyed William & Mary 6-1 on February 11th, 2012. The Georgia Men's tennis head coach, Manuel Diaz, had used this matchup as an opportunity to rest some of his starting players and allow others to play in today's lineup. Redshirt freshman Eric Diaz, son of Manuel Diaz, got his first chance to play in the starting lineup and he did not disappoint. The freshman made easy work out of William & Mary's Robert Pietrucha, taking him out 6-2, 6-0. Meanwhile, Wil Spencer had to sit out for the Bulldogs in a second straight match due to still recovering from a groin injury. Playing at the one spot was senior  Sadio Doumbia who also displayed a strong showing, defeating his opponent, 6-0, 6-1. Georgia kept rolling through the lineup, as the Tribe was unable to stop the Bulldogs Hernus Pieters or Ku Singh. Singh won his match against the Tribe’s Anton Andersson in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 and Pieters finished after him, beating  Ben Hoogland 6-2, 6-2. Bulldog senior Ignacio Taboada won the first set of his match 6-2, but barely managed to hang on for the win in the second set. He defeated Tribe's John Blank 6-2, 7-5. Campbell Johnson suffered the only loss for the Bulldogs, losing his match 6-4, 6-4.  The Bulldogs won the doubles point as well, sweeping the Tribe's doubles teams. With this victory, the Georgia Bulldogs are now 5-0 in 2012.