This weekend we saw the SEC regular-season title taken as well as many pivotal matches that showed which teams are starting to peak as we head down the home stretch of the college tennis season. Let’s recap some of the action from a great weekend of college tennis.

The Texas A&M Aggies (5th ranked) got the weekend party started by capturing their second straight SEC regular season title. They defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs (7th ranked) on Friday night by a score of 5-2.

The Bulldogs were not phased by the always rowdy A&M fans early on, and took a convincing doubles point to grab a 1-0 lead. Niclas Braun and Gio Oradini (44th ranked ) beat Jordi Arconada and Patrick Kypson 6-2 on court-2 while Trevor Foshey and Florian Broska bested AJ Catanzariti and Val Vacherot 6-3 on court-3.

There were also two highly anticipated singles matchups with Mississippi State’s Nuno Borges (3rd ranked) slated against Kypson (6th ranked) on court-1 and Oradini (19th ranked) battling the Aggies’ Arthur Rinderknech (10th ranked) on court-2. Borges prevailed over Kypson 6-3, 6-3 while Rinderknech bested Oradini in a more contested decision by a score of 7-6(0), 6-3.

Unfortunately, Borges’ star power could not be produced by any of his other teammates, and the Aggies took the rest of the singles matches. Arconada (41st ranked) took down Strahinja Rakic (78th ranked) 6-2, 6-2 while Vacherot (52nd ranked) bested Braun 6-4, 6-2. Juan Carlos Aguilar (105th ranked) clinched another victory for Aggie-land by besting Broska 6-3 in the third set.

With the last match being played out, A&M’s Barnaby Smith outlasted Foshey 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-5 to make the score 5-2.

The Big 10 featured the other top 10 battle over the weekend with Illinois (6th ranked) making the trek to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes (3rd ranked).

The Bucks were determined to defend home court. quickly winning the doubles points with 6-2 triumphs on courts 1 and 3. JJ Wolf and Martin Joyce took down Aleks Vukic and Aron Hiltzik on court-1 while Hunter Tubert and Matt Mendez bested Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi on court-3.

Ohio State used that momentum going into singles as they quickly went up 3-0 with Mikael Torpegaard (4th ranked) defeating Vukic (15th ranked) 6-1, 6-2 on court-1 and John McNally (98th ranked) taking down Hiltzik 6-3, 6-2 on court-2. Closing the match out was slightly more challenging for the Bucks but Joyce (90th ranked) got it done on court-6 by beating Chakravarthi 6-3, 6-4.

When you win the clinching point to put your team in sole possession of the Big 10 lead, you get the star treatment #3 Ohio State 4

#6 Illinois 0 pic.twitter.com/00ozewbund — Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioState_MTEN) April 14, 2018

The Big 12 also had some of its best teams battling it out over the weekend. An estimated 1,500 fans showed up in Fort Worth, Texas to watch the TCU Horned Frogs (9th ranked) battle the Oklahoma Sooners (14th ranked). Frog nation powered their home team to a 4-2 victory.

The Frogs hit their stride early in the match with 6-4 wins on courts 1 and 3 to claim the doubles point; Guillermo Nuñez and Alex Rybakov (6th ranked) defeated Alex Bakshi and Jake Van Emburgh (40th ranked) while Bertus Kruger and Reese Stalder took down James Davis and Max Stewart.

Stalder continued his spectacular play as he defeated Stewart 6-2, 6-1 to give the Frogs a 2-0 lead. Bakshi (45th ranked) then earned a nice win with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Rybakov (17th ranked) on court-1 to bring the score to 2-1. Trevor Johnson (70th ranked) continued his quality play and delivered a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Adrian Oetzbach on court-2 to give the Frogs a 3-1 advantage. However, clinching the victory was a bit harder for TCU. Ferran Calvo (75th ranked) bested Alastair Gray (48th ranked) 6-4, 6-1 to bring the score to 3-2. Freshman Bertus Kruger came through for TCU with clutch play in the third set to take down Stefano Tsorotiotis 6-2, 6-4 on court-6.

FROGS WIN!

The freshman Bertus Kruger clinches the 4-2 victory over No. 14 Oklahoma with a 6-2, 6-4 on C6!#GoFrogs 🐸🎾 pic.twitter.com/90pwDZstMy — TCU Men’s Tennis (@TCUMensTennis) April 14, 2018

TCU had an easier time with Oklahoma State (11th ranked) on Sunday as they quickly dispatched the Cowboys 4-0. Courts 1 and 3 delivered doubles victories again for the Frogs; Nuñez and Rybakov (6th ranked) took down Artur Dubinski and Eleftherios Theodorou (64th ranked) 6-2 and Kruger and Stalder (63rd ranked) defeated Brady Draheim and Mathieu Scaglia 6-3.

Stalder improved his record to 4-0 on the weekend with a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Luke Hammond on court-5 to give the Frogs a quick 2-0 lead. Rybakov (17th ranked) bounced back from his loss to Bakshi to defeat Dubinski (71st ranked) 6-1, 6-3 to make the score 3-0. Johnson (70th ranked) clinched the victory soon thereafter with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Tristain Meraut to keep the Frogs perfect in Big 12 play.

FROGS WIN!!

No. 9 #TCUTennis sweeps No. 11 Oklahoma State 4-0 to finish out the weekend with a pair of ranked victories & remain undefeated in @Big12Conference action!#GoFrogs 🐸🎾 pic.twitter.com/1vyznYrS1R — TCU Men’s Tennis (@TCUMensTennis) April 15, 2018

Oklahoma State also got roughed up on Friday when they were defeated by Texas (19th ranked) 4-0. However, the doubles point did not come easy for the Longhorns. Harrison Scott and Christian Sigsgaard beat Draheim and Scaglia 6-1 on court-3 but Jurence Mendoza and Luke Hammond responded for the Cowboys with a 6-3 win over Yuya Ito and Colin Markes on court-2. Texas’ top team of Rodrigo Banzer and Leo Telles (7th ranked) came up big with a 7-5 defeat of Dubinski and Theodorou (64th ranked) to claim the doubles point.

Singles play was more straightforward and Ito (60th ranked) started it off with a 7-6(5), 6-1 win over Dubinski (71st ranked) on court-1. Telles (77th ranked) followed Ito’s lead with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Menodza on court-4. Sigsgarrd (122nd ranked) clinched the match soon thereafter with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Tristan Meraut on court-2 to make the match 4-0.

No. 19 Texas wins doubles and adds 3 singles wins in a big 4-0 victory over No. 11 Oklahoma State! #HookEm https://t.co/O9fPPMLOgI pic.twitter.com/IOzLgx6JCS — Texas Men’s Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 13, 2018

Texas (19th ranked) stayed hot on Sunday and earned another upset victory over Oklahoma (11th ranked). The Longhorns dominated the Sooners in doubles as Ito and Markes defeated Davis and Stewart 6-2 on court-3 while Sigsgaard and Scott upset Oetzbach and Calvo (61st ranked) on court-2.

Texas head coach Michael Center was able to go home to celebrate his birthday early as it only took the Longhorns 1 hour and 56 minutes to dispatch the Sooners 4-0. Banzer (110th ranked) beat Jochen Bertsch 6-3, 6-1 on court-5 while Sigsgaard (122nd ranked) earned another victory but this time over Adrian Oetzbach 6-3, 6-2. Ortiz later clinched the match by a score of 6-4, 6-2 over Stewart on court-6 to make the score 4-0.

Ortiz wins 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6, and No. 19 Texas knocks off No. 14 Oklahoma, 4-0! What a great birthday gift for @CoachMCenter! #HookEm pic.twitter.com/IRW2bCi2aP — Texas Men’s Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 15, 2018

The SEC featured several other ranked matchups over the weekend. Georgia (25th ranked) got back on track with a 4-1 win over Vanderbilt (22nd ranked). The Bulldogs were dominant in doubles play as they posted 6-1 victories on courts 2 and 3; Wayne Montgomery and Nathan Ponwith downed Lachlan McPhee and Panu Virtanen (80th ranked) while Alex Diaz and Emil Reinberg bested George Harwell and Baker Newman to make the score 1-0 in favor of Georgia.

Ponwith continued his stellar play as he quickly defeated Billy Rowe 6-1, 6-3 on court-4 to make it 2-0. Harwell then got his revenge on Diaz with a routine 6-2, 6-2 victory to give the Commodores their only point on the day. Jan Zielinski (38th ranked) earned an upset victory over Cameron Klinger (21st ranked) 7-5, 6-3 and Zielinksi’s doubles partner in Robert Loeb later clinched the 4-1 win by defeating Max Freeman 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Final: Georgia 4, Vanderbilt 1! Robert Loeb clinches the victory for the Bulldogs. Georgia hosts Kentucky at 1 p.m. Sunday. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/SzJrZ96x23 — Georgia Tennis (@UGAtennis) April 13, 2018

Georgia carried this momentum into Sunday when they earned another upset win but this time over the Kentucky Wildcats (18th ranked) by a score of 4-3. Kentucky got off to a hot start by claiming victories on the top 2 doubles courts to earn a 1-0 advantage; Cesar Bourgois and Gus Benson (36th ranked) topped Loeb and Zielinski (15th ranked) 6-4 while Will Bushamuka and Austin Hassey bested Wayne Montgomery and Nathan Ponwith 6-3.

Due to rain, the match was played on Georgia’s 4 indoor courts which produced a bit of a skewed scoscorelinehe top 4 singles lines were given priority and Zielinski (38th ranked) was first off the court with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over Bushamuka to even the score at 1-1. Hussey then earned an upset victory over Ponwith (93rd ranked) by beating him 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Reinberg (59th ranked) evened the match at 2-2 by beating Trey Yates 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Kentucky’s Ryo Matsumura (9th ranked) then made it 3-2 for the ‘Cats with a long 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 win over Montgomery (29th ranked). The match would come done to lines 5 and 6 which were just under way upon the completion of the 4 3 set battles. In the end, Georgia’s depth was too much as Loeb beat Bourgois 6-2, 6-4 at line 5 while Alex Diaz clinched the win by beating Benson 6-4, 7-6(5) to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Dawgs.

#RingTheBell // DAWGS WIN!!! Alex Diaz wins a 7-5 second-set tiebreaker on the sixth court to seal the #Dawgs 4-3 victory against Kentucky! pic.twitter.com/quzzPrqsgJ — Georgia Tennis (@UGAtennis) April 15, 2018

The Wildcats suffered another 4-3 loss earlier in the weekend on Friday at Tennessee (21st ranked). The Volunteers dominated Kentucky in doubles with Preston Touliatos and Luis Valero (24th ranked) taking down Bourgois and Benson (36th ranked) 6-3 while Timo Stodder and Adam Walton handed Bushamuka and Hussey a 6-2 loss to take an early 1-0 advantage.

Stodder (22nd ranked) then earned a great win in singles by besting Matsumura (9th ranked) 6-4, 6-3. Touliatos then beat Hussey 6-1, 7-5 to make the score 3-0. The Wildcats then tallied two wins on courts 6 and 4 with Benson defeating Luca Wiedenmann 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 and Yates taking down Scott Jones 7-6, 7-6. However, Walton (112th ranked) stopped Kentucky’s momentum as he took down Enzo Wallart 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to make the score 4-2.

No. 18 Tennessee defeats No. 21 Kentucky 4-2, as #112 @AdamWalton99 defeats junior Enzo Wallart 46 64 61 at the #3 singles spot to clinch the win! The Vols move to 8-3 in SEC play ahead of the final match of the regular season. The remaining match will be played out. #GoVols 🍊 pic.twitter.com/WaEY1EOFhs — Tennessee Tennis (@Vol_Tennis) April 14, 2018

The last match was played out and Bushamuka earned a hard-fought 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) win to make the score 4-3.

The Volunteers (21st ranked) were not as fortunate on Sunday as they fell to Vanderbilt (22nd ranked) 4-3. Tennessee did win the doubles point which gave them an early 1-0 lead with Nicaise Muamba and Andrew Rogers taking down Harwell and Valent 6-4 on court-3 to clinch the point.

Scott Jones then made the score 2-0 by beating Billy Rowe 6-3, 6-2 on court-4. However, the Commdores then reeled off 4 straight wins to make the score 4-2. Valent (39th ranked) upset Stodder (22nd ranked) 6-4, 6-4 on court-1. Baker Newman then upset Walton (112th ranked) 6-4, 6-4 on court-3. Klinger (21st ranked) then made it 3-2 by beating Luis Valero 7-5, 6-4. The freshman Max Freeman came up clutch to clinch the the win by beating Touliatos 6-2, 7-6(7).

The last match was played out and Muamba bounced back to take down Harwell 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 on court-6 to make the score 4-3.

#FIGHTDORES | #OURSTATE VU caps the regular season with a road win in Knoxville! pic.twitter.com/ZILVajiaCX — Vandy Men’s Tennis (@VandyMensTennis) April 15, 2018

The Pac-12 also featured a few ranked matchups. Stanford (4th ranked) hosted Cal (31st ranked) in the Big Slam and took down the Bears 4-0. The Cardinal duo of Axel Geller and Tom Fawcett defeated Jack Molloy and Ben Draper 6-2 on court-2 while courts 1 and 3 later finished simultaneously in Stanford’s favor with identical 6-4 scores to give the Cardinal the doubles point.

Stanford Senior Eric Fomba took down Draper 6-1, 6-3 on court-4 to make the score 2-0. Fawcett (8th ranked) then took down Billy Griffith (56th ranked) 6-3, 6-4 to make the score 3-0. Geller (57th ranked) then battled from a set down to clinch he match over JT Nishimura by a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

The Arizona State Sun Devils (33rd ranked) hosted the L.A. schools over the weekend and put up great fights in defeat. They welcomed the UCLA Bruins (2nd ranked) on Friday and came out firing in doubles. The Devils earned upset victories on the top 2 courts to go up 1-0; Michael Geerts and Tim Ruehl beat Marty Redlicki and Evan Zhu (59th ranked) 6-4 while Makey Rakotomalala and Andrea Bolla defeated Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith (11th ranked) 6-4 as well.

Geerts (27th ranked) was definitely the MVP for the Devils as he handed Redlicki (1st ranked) one of his few losses on the year by beating him 7-5, 6-4. ASU was not as fortunate on the remaining courts with Smith (55th ranked) taking down Rakotomalala 6-2, 6-3 and Zhu (81st ranked) beating Ben Hannestad (72nd ranked) 6-4, 6-4 to tie the score at 2-2. Connor Hance then bested Will Kirkman 6-4, 6-2 on court-6 and Max Cressy clinched the win via a 6-1, 6-4 decision over Bolla on court-5.

Devils fight hard, but drop matches on courts five and six to lose to No. 2 UCLA, 4-2. Next Up: USC at 1 pm on Sunday!#SunDevilResilience pic.twitter.com/k9nTWXep50 — Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) April 14, 2018

The Devils were not as powerful in doubles against the USC Trojans (16th ranked) with USC’s Brandon Holt and Riley Smith (10th ranked) taking down Geerts and Ruehl 6-2 and the team of Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven (12th ranked) defeated Rakotomalala and Bolla 6-3 to give the Trojans the doubles point.

Hannestad (72nd ranked) evened the score at 1-1 by defeating Daniel Cukierman (84th ranked) 6-4, 6-4. The rest of the day was all USC with Smith defeating Bolla 7-5, 6-3 on court-5 and Verboven taking down Rakotomalala 7-5, 6-4 on court-3 to make the score 3-1. Jake DeVine then clinched the match on court-6 by dispatching Kirkman 7-6, 6-3.

Sun Devils fight but fall to USC 4-1.

Come back next week as we face the team down south and celebrate senior day for our lone senior, Michael Geerts! pic.twitter.com/MUBryMQC9E — Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) April 15, 2018

The Ivy League had a notable matchup with Harvard (29th ranked) traveling to Columbia (15th ranked). The Crimson took a 1-0 lead into singles with Kenny Tao and Logan Weber defeating Jack Lin and Will Matheson (21st ranked) 6-2 on court-1 while Andy Zhou and Robert Wrzesinski beat Jackie Tang and Rian Pandole 6-4 on court-3.

Columbia then responded with 4 singles victories to get the 4-1 win. Austen Huang defeated Andrew Ball 6-1, 6-4 while Tang (51st ranked) defeated Zhou 6-4, 6-1 to make the score 2-1. Matheson then responded after a tough doubles loss to take down Grant Soloman 7-6(1), 6-2 on court-5. Adam Ambrozy then clinched the win by defeating Wrzesinski 7-5, 6-2 on court-4.

@HarvardMTennis falls to No. 15 Columbia 4-1 after a hard-fought match today.

On to Ithaca to continue our Ivy road trip at Cornell tomorrow!

Recap: https://t.co/wAFbdp4M8G#GoCrimson pic.twitter.com/a0pvwykdJr — Harvard Men’s Tennis (@HarvardMTennis) April 14, 2018

The Lions were not as fortunate on Sunday as they were upset by Dartmouth (32nd ranked) 4-3. The Lions won the doubles point with Ambrozy and Rolski defeating Roko Glasnovic and Casey Ross 6-3 while Huang and Tang took down Peter Conklin and Max Fliegner 6-4.

The Lions then quickly went up 3-0 with Huang taking down Conklin 6-3, 6-0 and Matheson besting Ciro Riccardi 6-4, 6-2 on court-5. Dan Martin then gave Dartmouth a straight set win by upsetting Jackie Tang (51st ranked) 7-6(1), 6-2 on court-2 to bring the score to 3-1. Charlie Broom then earned an upset win 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 over Victor Pham (18th ranked) to make the score 3-2. Fleigner then brought the score to 3-3 by defeating Ambrozy 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4 on court-4. David Hornefer was the hero for Dartmouth as he clinched the win by beating Jack Lin 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-0 on court-3.

The SEC is now secured, but who will be crowned champion of the remaining power conferences? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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