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No. 12 Men's Tennis edges No. 5 Tennessee, 4-3, advances to NCAA quarterfinals
05.14.2009 | Men's Tennis
May 14, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- No. 12 Texas (22-6) turned in a strong doubles performances and collected singles wins from senior Miguel Reyes Varela, junior Josh Zavala and the clincher from sophomore Kellen Damico, as the Longhorns toppled fifth-seeded Tennessee (23-7) by a 4-3 count Thursday in the round of 16 at the 2009 NCAA Championships.
Texas advances to the NCAA quarterfinals for the third time in the last four seasons and will take on fourth-seeded Georgia on Saturday, May 16 at noon Central at Texas A&M's George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Texas and Georgia battled for the 2008 NCAA Championship in Tulsa, Okla., where the Bulldogs claimed the national title with a 4-2 win over the Longhorns, who registered their best finish in school history as the NCAA runner-up.
Texas opened the match with a furious effort in the doubles session to take a 1-0 lead. Reyes Varela and junior Olivier Sajous raced out to a 7-0 lead over the Vols' Matt Brewer and Bryan Swartz on their way to an 8-1 win at the third position. At first doubles, Texas' Damico and Ed Corrie broke Tennessee's third-ranked duo of John-Patrick Smith and Davey Sandgren early on to take a 3-0 lead.
The Vols pulled within 7-5, but Texas, on Damico's serve, took the deciding game to win the match, 8-5 and nail down the doubles point for the Longhorns. Texas' Zavala and Dimitar Kutrovsky held a 7-5 lead over Tennessee's 42nd-ranked duo of Matteo Fago and Boris Conkic at second doubles when the match was called after the doubles session had been decided.
Tennessee got on the board and evened the match at one apiece at first singles, where the fifth-ranked Smith dealt Kutrovsky a 6-4, 6-1 defeat. Zavala answered for Texas with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Sandgren at fourth singles to give the Longhorns a 2-1 lead before the Vols answered again. Tennessee's 37th-ranked Conkic knocked off Texas' Corrie at second singles, 6-2, 6-2.
Texas' Reyes Varela broke Tennessee's Christian Hansen early on at fifth singles and broke once more to assume a 4-1 lead. Reyes Varela would take the first set, 6-2 before finding himself in a battle for the second set. Reyes Varela broke Hansen again to open the second set, but Hansen broke Reyes Varela soon after to even the set at two games apiece before holding serve for a 3-2 lead. But, tied at four apiece in the second set, Reyes Varela broke Hansen once more to assume a 5-4 lead. Reyes Varela held serve in the deciding game to take the set, 6-4 and stake Texas to a 3-2 lead.
Tennessee's Brewer took the first set off of Texas senior Jonah Kane-West at sixth singles, 6-4 before Kane-West took a 4-1 lead in the second set. Brewer rallied to even the set at four games apiece before it later progressed to a tiebreaker. Brewer led the tiebreaker from the outset and went on to a 7-3 tiebreak win to even the match at three points apiece.
Texas' Damico used a big serve and numerous well-placed forehands to take a 4-0 lead in his first set against Tennessee's Fago at third singles. Fago pulled within 5-3 before Damico claimed the set, 6-3. Fago took a 3-0 lead in the second set only to see Damico hold serve and register a service break to draw within 3-2. Damico and Fago exchanged service breaks again before Damico held serve to even the set at four games all. The set progressed to a tiebreaker where Fago prevailed by a 7-2 count to force a third set.
Damico held at love to open the third set before promptly breaking Fago's serve to assume a 2-0 lead. Fago broke Damico to slice the deficit to 2-1, but, with Fago serving 30-40 in the next game, Damico smacked a passing cross-court backhand to break Fago again and take a 3-1 lead. Damico held serve to go up 4-1, and at break point in the ensuing game, Damico whipped a passing forehand winner just inside the near sideline to assume a 5-1 lead.
Fago broke and held serve to pull within 5-3, but at match point, a Fago crosscourt backhand clipped the net cord and bounced harmlessly out of bounds to give Damico the win and Texas a 4-3 win over the Volunteers.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
Texas head coach Michael Center
On the victory: When you get to this point, you know each match will be difficult. All the teams here are terrific teams. Tennessee has been a great team all year. We knew it would be battle. But, I liked the way we had been playing lately, and our guys did a great job again today. I knew Tennessee would be a great opponent. They have been one of the best teams in the Southeastern Conference this year. We played a great doubles point, and I thought we controlled the point. In singles, Tennessee really fought back, and then Kellen Damico did a great job to finish it for us.
On Kellen Damico's clinching match: He has been in that situation before. Kellen has matured, and he is fitter and stronger and playing with a lot of confidence right now. I felt really good about him going into that third set with the match on the line, and he played terrific.
On the team's continued success in the doubles sessions: We started to play really well at our conference tournament, and we played well last weekend in the NCAA first and second rounds. These guys have worked hard. We have worked hard on our doubles and feel like we have a strength at each spot. Kellen and Ed Corrie were all Americans at No. 1 last season, and we've been strong at two and three doubles. We knew Nos. 1 and 2 would be difficult.
On the advantages of his teams' NCAA postseason experience: Last year's success was great, but it didn't guarantee success this year. I think it does give the guys confidence to know how to do it and what it takes to get it done. Miguel Reyes Varela almost won a national title in 2006 and helped us get to the Final Four, and he helped us get to the NCAA title match last year. It has been three years of getting this far with a guy like Miguel, so yes, we have some guys who are accustomed to playing this deep into the NCAA Championship.
Texas sophomore Kellen Damico
On clinching the victory: Every now and then, it's fun to clinch it for the guys, Tennessee is a great team, the No. 5 seed in the tournament. So, taking their spot in the tournament will be huge for us. We'll have another difficult match coming up Saturday, but we're excited to get to the next round."
On his third set in the clinching match: I was hoping to stay in with my return game, and I was fortunate to go up 5-1. He (Matteo Fago) played a good return game at 5-1, and there was not much I could have done. He had a good service game to close to 5-3, and then we had another close game. It was 15-all, 30-all, and then on the last point, I kind of held breath when the ball clipped the net.
2009 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships - Round of 16
#12 Texas 4, #5 Tennessee 3
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
at College Station, Texas
Doubles - Order of Finish: 3, 1
1 #27 Corrie/Damico (Texas) def. (3)Smith/Sandgren (Tennessee) - 8-5
2 #60 Kutrovsky/Zavala (Texas) vs. #42 Fago/Conkic (Tennessee) - 7-5, susp.
3 Reyes Varela/Sajous (Texas) def. Matt Brewer/Bryan Swartz (Tennessee) - 8-1
Singles - Order of Finish: 1, 4, 2, 5, 6, 3
1 #5 John-Patrick Smith (Tennessee) def. #19 Dimitar Kutrovsky (Texas) - 6-4, 6-1
2 #37 Boris Conkic (Tennessee) def. #69 Ed Corrie (Texas) - 6-2, 6-2
3 #80 Kellen Damico (Texas) def. Matteo Fago (Tennessee) - 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3
4 Josh Zavala (Texas) def. Davey Sandgren (Tennessee) - 6-3, 6-3
5 Miguel Reyes Varela (Texas) def. Christian Hansen (Tennessee) - 6-2, 6-4
6 Matt Brewer (Tennessee) def. Jonah Kane-West (Texas) - 6-4, 7-6 (3)
