It was a long complicated weekend of tennis at the NCAA championship, played in Athens, Georgia. Illinois lost in the round of 16, a fine outcome for a strong team, while Ohio State progressed to the semis by two 4-3 wins in the round of 16 and the quarters, both of which came down to late heroics. You can get all the news on these matches at the NCAA championship web site.
Sadly, Ohio State lost in the semis to that pesky Virginia team, which has won two straight team titles. They don't have a top-10 player, but they have a very deep team and a couple very strong leaders with a lot of top-level experience. They know how to win, it seems. I thought OSU could take them, but they lost to them twice this year.
The championship match on Tuesday will send Virginia up against surprise finalist North Carolina (the 9 seed), which had a huge win in the quarters over the team that had been ranked #1 throughout the season, Wake Forest.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Ohio State and Illinois Move On
Two of the seven Big Ten tennis teams in the NCAA tournament made the Sweet 16 last weekend: Ohio State and Illinois. The tournament will crown a champion early next week. While OSU, the 3 seed, marched on with two relatively easy wins, unseeded ILL had a close 4-3 win in the second round over highly ranked Oklahoma State to advance.
Thursday, May 4, 2017
NCAA Singles
Six Big Ten players made the NCAA singles tournament, which is separate from the team tourney.
Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State earned the 2 seed, Aleks Vukic of Illinois the 3 seed. In the 9-16 seed category is Hugo Di Feo of Ohio State. Unseeded but earning a spot in the draw are Strong Kirchheimer of Northwestern, Aron Hiltzik of Illinois, and freshman JJ Wolf of Ohio State.
Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State earned the 2 seed, Aleks Vukic of Illinois the 3 seed. In the 9-16 seed category is Hugo Di Feo of Ohio State. Unseeded but earning a spot in the draw are Strong Kirchheimer of Northwestern, Aron Hiltzik of Illinois, and freshman JJ Wolf of Ohio State.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Seven Big Ten Teams Make the NCAAs
The NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament begins May 12. Ohio State was awarded the 3 seed. Michigan, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota got in and are unseeded.
The 1 seed is Wake Forest, even after losing to Virginia over the weekend. Virginia is the 2 seed and Southern Cal is 4. The bracket may be studied at:
http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/tennis-men/d1/
I think this is OSU's best chance to take the title since 2009, when they lost in the finals. Why? All the top teams have been defeating each other in very close matches. I was a bit surprised TCU only earned the #6 seed. They have won some huge matches lately.
The 1 seed is Wake Forest, even after losing to Virginia over the weekend. Virginia is the 2 seed and Southern Cal is 4. The bracket may be studied at:
http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/tennis-men/d1/
I think this is OSU's best chance to take the title since 2009, when they lost in the finals. Why? All the top teams have been defeating each other in very close matches. I was a bit surprised TCU only earned the #6 seed. They have won some huge matches lately.
Monday, May 1, 2017
Ohio State Wins Big Ten Tournament
#2 OSU defeated #16 Michigan in the final of the Big Ten Tournament Sunday, 4-1. Saturday, Michigan had taken down Illinois in one semifinal, while OSU beat Wisconsin 4-0 in the other.
On the national scene, in a very close match, #3 Virgina upset long-standing #1 Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament final. Wake had beaten VA during the regular season in another close one. In the Big 12 Tournament, #4 TCU claimed the title 4-0 over #41 Texas Tech. And in the Pac 12, in another very close match, #7 USC got revenge on #5 UCLA 4-3 to take the title. UCLA had beaten USC just last week to take the regular season title.
Judging from all this, the race to the national title is going to be very close right to the finish.
On the national scene, in a very close match, #3 Virgina upset long-standing #1 Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament final. Wake had beaten VA during the regular season in another close one. In the Big 12 Tournament, #4 TCU claimed the title 4-0 over #41 Texas Tech. And in the Pac 12, in another very close match, #7 USC got revenge on #5 UCLA 4-3 to take the title. UCLA had beaten USC just last week to take the regular season title.
Judging from all this, the race to the national title is going to be very close right to the finish.
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