The Pac 12 and Big 10 had their conference tournaments this past weekend. The usual suspects and a few spoilers made some statements before the NCAA tournament gets started next weekend.
Pac 12
#33 California def. #13 UCLA 4-1
The California Golden Bears knocked off top-seeded UCLA on Friday in Ojai.
Cal’s Ben Draper and Jack Molloy clinched a crucial doubles point over UCLA’s Bryce Pereira and Patrick Zahraj 7-6. Bjorn Hoffman added to the lead to make it 2-0 by defeating Eric Hahn 6-1, 6-2 on court 6 but Zahraj bounced back by defeating Draper 6-2, 6-3 on court 4.
Ojai is #BearTerritory! @CalMensTennis shocked UCLA in the semifinals and have advanced to the #Pac12Tennis Championship match.
Be sure to tune in on Saturday at 3 PT/4 MT on Pac-12 Network. pic.twitter.com/sP0aT9NT6M
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) April 26, 2019
Cal’s Paul Barretto then earned a huge 6-4, 6-4 win over Govind Nanda (52nd ranked) on court 3. Moments later, Jacob Brumm clinched the upset win 6-2, 6-3 over Ben Goldberg on court 5.
#8 USC def. #14 Stanford 4-2
The USC Trojans got the best of the Stanford Cardinal in the battle of the #2 and #3 seeds on Friday night.
Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith got the party started by clinching the doubles point over Alex Rotsaert and Sangeet Sridhar 6-4. Brandon Holt (10th ranked) added to the deficit by dismissing Axel Geller (12th ranked) 6-1, 6-2.
Daniel roars to the clincher with a winning tiebreaker on court 2!
Trojans win this #Pac12Tennis semifinal to move on to the title match in Ojai!#FightOn ✌️ pic.twitter.com/fLv44wuH1O— USC Men’s Tennis (@USCMensTennis) April 27, 2019
Jake Sands added another point on court 5 over Timothy Sah 6-3, 6-0 but Will Genesen earned a huge win for the Card over Laurens Verboven (27th ranked) 6-4, 6-3 on court 3.
Sridhar added another win on court 6 over Mor Bullis 6-4, 6-4 but Cukierman clinched the win moments later over Rotsaert 6-3, 7-6(6).
#8 USC def. #33 Cal 4-0
The USC Trojans rode the day before’s momentum to the Pac-12 title and downed the upset-hungry Bears 4-0 on Saturday.
The Trojans got it rolling in the doubles point as Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven clinched the point on court 2 over Can Kaya and Paul Barretto by a score of 6-4.
SANDS SEALS IT!!!
Trojans are 2019 Pac-12 Champs!
USC 4, @CalMensTennis 0#Pac12Tennis | #FightOn ✌️ pic.twitter.com/avGVf3IW5u— USC Men’s Tennis (@USCMensTennis) April 28, 2019
Daniel Cukierman (20th ranked) added a quick win on court 2 over Jack Molloy 6-0, 6-2 and Verboven (27th ranked) followed by defeating Barretto 6-0, 6-3 on court 3.
Freshman Jake Sands secured the title on court 5 over Brumm 7-6(6), 6-1.
Big 10
#1 Ohio State def. #22 Michigan 4-2
The Buckeyes bounced back from a tough doubles point to defeat rival Michigan 4-2 in the Big 10 semifinals.
Connor Johnston Mattias Siimar clinched the doubles point over JJ Wolf and Martin Joyce (30th ranked) 6-3. The Buckeyes then came out firing in singles and Hunter Tubert got the party started by downing Gabe Tishman 6-4, 6-0. Martin Joyce then downed Siimar (67th ranked) 6-3, 6-4 on court 3 and Kyle Seeling (53rd ranked) defeated Johnston 6-1, 7-5 on court 4 to make it 3-1.
A THRILLER IN ANN ARBOR!!#GoBucks #B1GMTennis pic.twitter.com/bKMJXHCWdh
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) April 27, 2019
Andrew Fenty (109th ranked) scored a huge win over JJ Wolf (1st ranked) 6-3, 7-5 on court 1. That was Wolf’s first loss of the dual match season!
However, the Wolverines could not build off that momentum and John McNally (22nd ranked) clinched the win by defeating Myles Schalet 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
#15 Illinois def. #35 Penn State 4-2
The Fighting Illini bounced back after losing the doubles point to bounce Penn State on Saturday.
Christian Lakoslejac and Christos Antonopoulos downed Gui Gomes and Vuk Budic 6-4 to clinch the point. Like the Buckeyes, the Illini came out firing in singles with Zeke Clark defeating Gabe Nemeth 6-2, 6-0 to even the match.
Singles play advances the #Illini to the @bigten championship match against the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes! 🏆
Sophomore @atrainace10 defeats Christian Lakoseljac (PSU), 6-2, 7-6 (5) to clinch the match for the 🔶&🔷‼️ pic.twitter.com/RACWaLUz4W
— Illinois M Tennis (@IlliniMTennis) April 27, 2019
Siphosothando Monti then defeated Antonopoulos 6-3, 6-3 and Aleks Kovacevic (9th ranked) defeated Constant De La Bassetiere (28th ranked) by the same score to make the score 3-1.
Ben Lieb added a win over Budic 6-3, 6-4 on 5 but Alex Brown (51st ranked) downed Lakoseljac (91st ranked) 6-2, 7-6 to clinch the match and advance to the championship.
#1 Ohio State def. #15 Illinois 4-1
The Ohio State Buckeyes downed Illinois on Sunday for their 4th straight Big 10 title.
Martin Joyce and JJ Wolf (30th ranked) clinched the doubles point over Aleks Kovacevic and Alex Brown 6-4 on court 1. Ohio State’s Alex Kobelt then defeated Keenan Mayo 6-4, 6-2 on court 5 but Brown (51st ranked) made the deficit 2-1 by defeating John McNally (22nd ranked) 6-2, 6-4 on court 2.
This never gets old #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/dzBH5NDrMq
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) April 28, 2019
Martin Joyce then got the Buckeyes within one point of the title by defeating Zeke Clark 6-2, 6-4 and Kyle Seelig (53rd ranked) clinched the title 7-6(6), 6-2 over Siphosothando Montsi on court 4.
That wraps it up for this week. Be sure to tune into the NCAA selection show on Monday to see where all your favorite college teams will be headed!
See also: The Mini-Break: NCAA Men’s Draw, Estoril/Munich, and Twitter Tuesday [Podcast]
To read more updates from Cracked Racquets, head over to www.crackedracquets.com.
