Courtesy of Cracked Racquets.


#24 USC def. #14 UCLA 4-1

The USC Trojans won the first round of the battle of LA on Friday afternoon with a 4-1 win over their cross-town rival. Keegan Smith is still out with an ankle injury for the Bruins and that is definitely hurting UCLA.

The Trojans won the doubles point with wins on courts 2 and 3 and then Jake Sands quickly made it 2-0 by defeating UCLA’s Eric Hahn 6-0, 6-3 on court 2.

UCLA super freshman Govind Nanda (53rd ranked) earned a solid win over Laurens Verboven (23rd ranked) 6-2, 6-3 to get the Bruins on the board. SC’s Logan Smith (45th ranked) made his spring debut in a big way on court 3 by defeating Patrick Zahraj 6-3, 6-4. Riley Smith then clinched the win 4-1 by defeating Ben Goldberg 6-1, 7-6(3) on court 4.

#26 Tennessee def. #29 NC State 4-1

The Tennessee Volunteers picked up a solid win over another top 30 team on Friday.

The Vols won the doubles point but NC State evened it up after Alexis Galarneau (43rd ranked) beat Timo Stodder (113th ranked) 6-3, 6-3 on court 1.

Preston Touliatos made it 2-1 Tennessee with a straight set win on court 4 and then Scotty Jones followed that with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Tadas Babelis on court 3. Adam Walton then clinched the match 6-4 in the third set on court 2.

Texas A&M def. Arizona State 5-2

One would think that both of these teams would be ranked by now, but that was not the case when the first computer rankings were released last Wednesday.

The Aggies won a close doubles point clinched by Juan Carlos Aguilar and Barnaby Smith on court 1. ASU quickly evened things up as Makey Rakotomalala earned a punishing 6-1, 6-0 victory on court 5 over Austin Abbrat (105th ranked).

Noah Schachter then earned a convincing 6-1, 6-1 win on court 6 over William Kirkman to put the Aggies in front again. Hady Habib made it 3-1 after besting Andrea Bolla 6-0, 7-6(5) and Aguilar later clinched the match 6-0, 1-6, 6-2 over Dominik Kellovsky on court 1.

The remaining matches were played out and Nathan Ponwith earned a solid win over A&M’s Val Vacherot (47th ranked) 10-8 in the third set breaker.

#9 Mississippi State def. #21 Oklahoma 4-2

The Mississippi State Bulldogs earned a 4-2 victory over Oklahoma at the USTA National Campus on Saturday.

MSU won the doubles point once again but Ferran Calvo evened it up by beating the Bulldogs Strahinja Rakic 6-1, 6-3 on court 3. Hail State’s Gio Oradini (80th ranked) then put the Bulldogs back in front via a 6-4, 6-1 win over Alex Bakshi on court 2.

The Sooners later evened it up once again after Jochen Bertsch bested Florian Broska 6-4, 6-4 on court 5 but Gregor Ramskogler made it 3-2 MSU after defeating Rafa Izquierdo 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 on court 6.

MSU’s anchor Nuno Borges (3rd ranked) then clinched the match over Spencer Papa (61st ranked) 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(2).

#18 Michigan def. #12 Notre Dame 4-3

The Michigan Wolverines rebounded after losing the doubles point to upset Notre Dame on in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

The Irish went up 2-0 after Tristan McCormick defeated Connor Johnston on court 4 but Gabe Tishman got the Wolverines going by besting Guillermo Cabrera on court 6. Myles Schalet and Andrew Fenty follwed that up with straight set wins on courts 2 and 3 to make it 3-1 Michigan.

Mattias Siimar (56th ranked) continued his stellar season with an upset win 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-1 over Alex Lebedev (15th ranked) to clinch the match for the Maize and Blue.

The remaining match was played out and Notre Dame’s Matt Gamble bested Patrick Maloney 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 on court 5.

#1 Ohio State def #12 Notre Dame 6-1

The Ohio State Buckeyes had somewhat of a close match on Sunday as they downed the Irish 6-1.

The Buckeyes won the doubles point with victories on courts 1 and 3. The Buckeyes then overpowered the Irish on the top courts to seal the win; John McNally (30th ranked) bested Richard Ciamarra (93rd ranked), JJ Wolf (1st ranked) topped Alex Lebedev (15th ranked), while Kyle Seelig clinched the win on court 3 over Tristan McCormick.

With the remaining matches being played out, William Howells (60th ranked) grabbed a win on court 6 for the Irish 6-3, 7-6(4) over Hunter Tubert.

#48 Ole Miss def. #16 Alabama 4-2

The Ole Miss Rebels rebounded after losing a close-as-nails doubles point 7-6(11) on court 1 to defeat Alabama 4-2 on Saturday.

The Rebels’ Simon Junk wasted no time and delivered a 6-0 6-0 double bagel on court 5. Hotty Toddy’s Tim Sandkaulen then upset Mazen Osama (32nd ranked) 6-4, 6-1 to make it 2-1.

Karlo Kranic added another straight-set victory on court 4 but Alabama made it 3-2 after Jeremy Gschenwendtner came through on court 6.

The Rebels’ Fabian Fallert closed the door after defeating Patrick Kaukovalta (108th ranked) 6-4, 6-3 on court 3.


That wraps it up for this week. To read more updates from Cracked Racquets, head over to www.crackedracquets.com.

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