With plenty of upsets this weekend in college tennis, the ITA rankings will undoubtedly be shuffled around on Tuesday. As we head down the homestretch of the NCAA season, fans can expect fierce battles as teams fight for conference titles and NCAA berths.

The Tulane Green Wave started off the weekend early as they shocked the University of Texas 4-0 on Thursday night in a hostile atmosphere. The Wave won a tight doubles point that was clinched on court-1 by Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz and Ewan Moore over Rodrigo Banzer and Leonardo Telles by a score of 7-6(5).

Telles did not respond well in singles play, being quickly dismissed by Tulane’s Luis Erlenbusch 6-1, 6-3 on court-4. Just like that, Tulane was up 2-0. Moore then picked up a solid win on court-2 over Texas’ Christian Sigsgaard 7-6(4), 6-4 to put the Wave within one point of the upset victory. With the remaining matches all locked in three-set battles, Schmitz came back from a set down to defeat Yuya Ito by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, clinching the massive road win for the Wave.

The Wave earned themselves a pool party to celebrate the victory. You’re never too old for a pool party, right?

Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Pool party! pic.twitter.com/j0G0Wm1gjp — Tulane Men’s Tennis (@GreenWaveMTenn) April 1, 2018

On Friday, the Duke Blue Devils picked up a good ACC win over a resurgent University of Virginia squad. The Blue Devils won a highly-contested doubles point that was clinched by Sean Sculley and Nick Stachowiak on court-1 over Aswin Lizen and Gianni Ross by a score of 7-6(7). The Blue Devil pair fought off three set points before clinching the doubles point.

🔵😈 fight off 3 set points and come back for 7-6 (7) win on court one. Duke leads 1-0 heading to singles pic.twitter.com/lj6q2Awg2g — Duke Men’s Tennis (@DukeMTEN) March 30, 2018

Sculley also proved to be the hero in singles play as he clinched the match with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) marathon win over Virginia’s Kyrylo Tsygura. The overall team match lasted 4 hours and 21 minutes with 4 singles matches going to three sets. (Note Sculley’s drastic improvement in racquet throwing technique compared to clinching the doubles point.)

Virginia appeared to be a bit worn down on Sunday as they traveled to North Carolina and got demolished 6-1. UNC won the doubles point with dominant play on courts 1 and 2. Will Blumberg and Robert Kelly beat Aswin Lizen and Gianni Ross 6-2 while Mac Kiger and Simon Sondergaard beat Jefferson Dockter and Spencer Bozsik 6-3.

Singles play featured more Tar Heel dominance. Kiger defeated Dockter 6-3, 6-3 on court-6, and Robert Kelly defeated Matthew Lord 6-2, 6-2 on court-4 to put the Heels up 3-0. Ben Sigouin defeated Gianni Ross 6-4, 6-3 in a battle of two of the nation’s top freshmen to clinch the win for North Carolina.

UNC 4 UVA 0 Sigouin d. Ross 6-4; 6-3 to clinch match pic.twitter.com/TEkj03mz6V — UNC Men’s Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 1, 2018

The remaining matches were played out with Virginia’s lone win coming on court 3 as Aswin Lizen bested Simon Sondergaard 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.

The top-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons were tripped up for the second straight weekend as they lost to the Florida Gators by a score of 4-3 on Friday. The Gators won a tight doubles point that was clinched by McClain Kessler and Duarte Vale over Bar Botzer and Petros Chrysochos by a score of 7-6. Not to go unnoticed was Wake’s Skander Mansouri and Ian Dempster’s 6-3 defeat of the nation’s top-ranked doubles team in Alfredo Perez and Johannes Ingildsen on court 1.

Although the match score was 4-3, none of the singles matches were three sets. Florida’s McClain Kessler served up a breakfast special with a 6-0, 6-0 double bagel of Wake’s Yuval Soloman on court 6 to give the Gators a 2-0 lead. Borna Gojo then overpowered Ingildsen by a score of 6-2, 6-2 to get the Deacs on the board. Wake’s Bar Botzer continued his dominant singles play as he defeated Chase Perez-Blanco on court 4 6-3, 6-2 to tie the match at 2-2. Vale then stopped Wake’s momentum as he took down Julian Zlobinsky in one of the closer matches of the day by a score of 6-4, 6-4. Moments later, Florida’s Oliver Crawford defeated Skander Mansouri 7-5, 6-1 to clinch the victory for the Gators. Crawford has been extremely reliable as he has won his last 11 dual matches.

The South Carolina Gamecocks spoiled Florida’s weekend as they beat the Gators 4-3 on Sunday afternoon. The Gamecocks came out firing as they won the doubles point with wins on courts 1 and 2. Ingildsen and Perez continue to struggle for Florida as they dropped a 6-3 decision to an unranked pair in Yancy Dennis and Harrison O’Keefe. There will no doubt be a new top-ranked doubles team in the ITA rankings on Tuesday.

Crawford improved his win streak to 12 as he defeated Dennis 6-3, 6-2 on court 3 to tie the match at 1-1. The Gamecocks then scored some upset victories on the top courts as Paul Jubb took down Perez 6-4, 6-1, and Gabe Friedrich bested Ingildsen 6-3, 7-6(2) to put South Carolina within 1 point of the match. However, the Gators would not go away; they clawed back with 3 set victories on courts 4 and 5 by Chase Perez-Blanco and Duarte Vale to even the match at 3-3. All eyes then shifted to court 6 as South Carolina freshman Wood Benton was battling Florida junior McClain Kessler. Benton won the first set and was up in the second but dropped the second set in a tiebreak. The freshman regrouped as he took the deciding set to earn a 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3 victory.

GAMECOCKS WIN!!!!! South Carolina takes down the No. 10 team in the nation #Gamecocks #GamecockGRIT pic.twitter.com/vsRgUgVrrq — Gamecock M. Tennis (@GamecockMTennis) April 1, 2018

The NC State Wolfpack picked up a big ACC win on Friday night as they defeated Notre Dame in dramatic 4-3 fashion. The Wolfpack started the match off hot by winning a quick doubles point with straight-set wins on courts 1 and 2.

Wolfpack 1, Notre Dame 0@mikeogden07 serves up an ace as he and @tennisgalarneau win 6-2 on court two.@SaveljicIgor and Ivan immediately follow suit with a 6-1 win on court one. Dubs point: OURS. Pack Risin’! pic.twitter.com/gaj13wdAiN — NC State Tennis (@PackMensTennis) March 30, 2018

The Fighting Irish responded well as they scored straight-set victories on courts 5 and 6 to go up 2-1. However, the remaining 4 singles matches would all go to three sets with three of them going to NC State. Ivan Saveljic clinched the win for NC State by coming back to defeat Matt Gamble by a score of 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 on court 4.

WOLFPACK WINS! We take down No. 25 Notre Dame 4-3! Ivan comes back from a set down to beat Matt Gamble 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 to give us the W. Pack Risin’! pic.twitter.com/vP5tc2x2MR — NC State Tennis (@PackMensTennis) March 31, 2018

Notre Dame’s weekend only got tougher as they traveled to Wake Forest on Sunday and got steamrolled 7-0. The Deacs cruised in the doubles point which was highlighted by Skander Mansouri’s record-setting 109th career doubles victory.

Once again, congratulations to Skander Mansouri on becoming Wake Forest’s all-time leader in career doubles victories with 109! #GoDeacs pic.twitter.com/7jc3CJo13o — Wake Men’s Tennis (@WakeMTennis) April 1, 2018

Mansouri continued his stellar play as he quickly dismissed Notre Dame’s Richard Ciammara by a score of 6-4, 6-2 to give the Deacs a 2-0 lead. Chrysochos then put the Deacs up 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Guillermo Cabrera on court 2. Chrysochos has been a lock thus far for the Deacs and improved to 14-1 in dual matches this spring with the win. Bar Botzer clinched the match for Wake as he defeated Matt Gamble 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 to improve his dual match record to 14-2. The remaining matches were played out which allowed the Deacs to complete their 7-0 sweet of the Fighting Irish.

In the SEC, the University of Georgia’s woes continued as they got steamrolled by Mississippi State by a score of 4-0 in Athens on Friday. Mississippi State won a straight-forward doubles point with wins on courts 2 and 3. Singles play was more of the same as Nuno Borges beat Wayne Montgomery 6-2, 6-2 and Giovanni Oradini defeated Emil Reinberg 6-1, 6-2. Trevor Foshey then clinched the win for Mississippi State via a 7-5, 6-1 win over Alex Phillips on court 6.

It’s never easy to win in Athens and these young men competed so well today to get a 4-0 win. They handled the adversity and crowd with so much maturity. Proud of these men. #tough #PressureMakesDiamonds #HailState pic.twitter.com/ysh8MzONVp — Matt Roberts (@CoachMatt_MSU) March 31, 2018

Mississippi State then traveled to Knoxville on Sunday to take down Tennessee 4-2. Tennessee won the doubles point with a narrow 7-6(4) win by Luis Valero and Preston Touliatos over Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic .

The Vols take the doubles point! #15 @ptouliatos and Luis Valero take down #58 Borges/Rakic 7-6(4) at the #1 spot to give No. 19 Tennessee a 1-0 lead over No. 12 Mississippi State! Let’s go Vols! #GoVols 🍊🍊🍊 pic.twitter.com/Jeto4kSsLL — Tennessee Tennis (@Vol_Tennis) April 1, 2018

Mississippi State had other plans in singles as they built momentum with wins on courts 3,4, and 1 to go up 3-1. Borges earned a hard-fought victory on court 1 by defeating Timo Stodder 7-6, 5-7, 6-4. Luca Weidenmann earned a point for the ‘Vols in singles as he defeated Foshey 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to bring the match to 3-2. However, Mississippi State’s power on the top courts proved to be the difference as Oradini came back to defeat Valero 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to clinch the win.

FINAL | #RoadDawgs move to 14-1 overall for the first time since 1997 with win on Rocky Top vs. No. 19 Tennessee#HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/oE2454DQ0Y — MSU Men’s Tennis 🎾 (@HailStateMT) April 1, 2018

The Texas A&M Aggies had a great weekend that started out by handing the Vanderbilt Commodores a 4-3 loss on Friday. Vandy got things started by winning the doubles point with a 7-6(8) clinching victory by Panu Virtanen and Lachlan McPhee over Arthur Rinderknech and Patrick Kypson .

The Aggies regrouped quickly in singles as they quickly stole 4 straight set wins to clinch the match. Jordi Arconada clinched the win by defeating Baker Newman 7-6(3), 6-3 on court 3.

The Aggies remained perfect in @SEC play with a 4-3 win at Vanderbilt! #12thMan pic.twitter.com/8VvHUD85je — Texas A&M Men’s Tennis (@AggieMTEN) March 31, 2018

Immediately after the match was decided, Rinderknech retired against Daniel Valent with Valent leading 3-0 in the third set. Vandy’s George Harwell also defeated Barnaby Smith to get the score to 4-3.

The Aggies had a tougher time on Sunday as they beat Kentucky 4-3. Texas A&M won a quick doubles point but Kentucky responded as they picked up 3 wins on courts 2 through 4 to put them within 1 point of the upset. Kentucky Senior Will Bushamuka scored a big win as he topped Rinderknech 6-4, 6-0 on court 2. However, the Texas A&M freshman rose to the occasion. Aggie freshman won on courts 1,5, and 6 to avoid the upset: Kypson upset Ryo Matsumura 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 on court 1, Juan Carlos Aguilar bested Kento Yamada 6-4, 6-2, and Barnaby Smith clinched the win by beating Austin Hussey 7-5, 7-5 on court 6.

Out on the Sunny west coast, the UCLA Bruins gave the Stanford Cardinals a 4-0 beat down in a highly-anticipated Friday showdown in LA. The Bruins dominance doubles play continued as they won the doubles point with solid play on courts 3 and 2.

A. Rapp/Smith clinch the doubles point for the Bruins! pic.twitter.com/TV9AobsSvL — UCLA Men’s Tennis (@uclatennis) March 30, 2018

Singles play was also one-sided as the Bruins earned straight-set wins on courts 3, 2, and 5 to win the match in under 2 hours. Keegan Smith topped Sameer Kumar 6-3, 6-3 and Evan Zhu upset Axel Geller by a score of 6-4, 6-4 to put the Bruins up 3-0. Maxime Cressy then clinched the win on court 5 with a routine 6-3, 6-2 victory over Michael Genender.

Maxime Cressy tops Michael Genender, 6-3, 6-2, to deliver the clincher! Bruins win, 4-0!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/QJTXQuIhbF — UCLA Men’s Tennis (@uclatennis) March 31, 2018

Elsewhere in Friday PAC-12 action, the USC Trojans defeated the Cal Bears in a close 4-2 match. The Trojans won a very quick doubles point with 6-1 wins on courts 1 and 3. However, the Bears did not go down without a fight. After the Trojans’ Jack Jaede dismissed JT Nishimura on court 2, Cal’s Ben Draper and Paul Barretto responded with straight set wins on courts 4 and 5 to even the match at 2-2. USC’s Jake Devine received a code violation for launching a ball out of the stadium after his loss to Barretto. Consequently, USC’s Daniel Cukierman, who was serving for the match on court 1 against Billy Griffith, had to start out his service game own 0-15 because of the code violation and he was broken easily. With that match headed to a third set, USC’s Laurens Verboven battled to defeat Jack Molloy 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 on court 3 to give USC a 3-2 lead. Senior Thibault Forget later clinched the match on court 6 by defeating Jacob Brumm 3-6, 6-0, 7-5.

In a tight @pac12 clash at Marks Stadium, the Trojans came through with some gutsy play in three-setters! #FightOn pic.twitter.com/V5pixZnTQ0 — USC Men’s Tennis (@USCMensTennis) March 31, 2018

Both Cal freshmen in Molloy and Brumm were up breaks in the third sets of their matches but could not hang on as the Trojans came up with some clutch play to break back. Griffith was also tied with Cukierman at 2-2 in his third set upon completion of the match.

The UCLA Bruins carried their momentum into Saturday as they picked up another win 4-0 over Cal . The Bruins won the doubles point with 6-4 wins on courts 1 and 2 with Keegan Smith and Austin Rapp clinching the doubles point on court 2.

Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith clinch the doubles point with a 6-4 win on Court 2!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/4nnvDxlwvE — UCLA Men’s Tennis (@uclatennis) March 31, 2018

The Bruins strength at the top of the lineup was too much for the Bears as the Bruins claimed singles victories on courts 1 through 3 to get the 4-0 win. Senior Marty Redlicki clinched the win over Billy Griffith .

Stanford rebounded on Saturday when they traveled to USC to beat the Trojans 4-2. USC won a very close doubles point as Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith defeated Timothy Sah and David Wilczynski 7-6(8).

Forget continued his stellar singles play as he put the Trojans up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of William Genesen. However, The Trojan’s momentum was halted as Stanford stormed back to win 4 straight singles matches on courts 1 through 4 to clinch the win. Cardinal Senior Tom Fawcett earned a big win on court 1 over Brandon Holt 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Eric Fomba clinched the win with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Laurens Verboven on court 4.

Eric Fomba posts his second clincher in @Pac12 play as No. 3 Stanford gets the huge road win in LA. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/QXEmPMNqKE — Stanford Men’s Tennis (@StanfordTennis) March 31, 2018

It was definitely a crazy weekend of college tennis. What was the biggest upset in your opinion? Let us know in the comments below.

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