Pepperdine Ends North Carolina's Perfect Season, Faces Texas for Women's D-I Team Title; Top Seeds Florida and Baylor Meet in Men's Final; Men's Singles Draw Released; Barry Wins Division II Women's Title
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| Pepperdine's Taisiya Pachkaleva awaits the congratulations of her teammates photo credit: USTA/Manuela Davies |
North Carolina was undefeated, on a 48-match win streak and in the conversation as one of the best women's teams of all time, but No. 5 seed Pepperdine did not get that message Friday night, defeating the Tar Heels 4-3 to advance to the NCAA Women's Team Championships final for the first time in program history.
Pepperdine had struggled with injuries throughout the season, and their doubles play had not been outstanding during the year, but something clicked in Lake Nona, and they dealt North Carolina their first loss in doubles since February 7th, when Texas took the doubles point from the Tar Heels in the final of the Team Indoor.
North Carolina served for the doubles point at line 2, after Pepperdine had taken line 3 and North Carolina line 1, but Waves Shiori Fukuda and Taisiya Pachkaleva won the last three games to take the match from Elizabeth Scotty and Makenna Jones 7-5.
The teams split first sets in singles when Pachkaleva took a tiebreaker from Cameron Morra at line 3, so North Carolina needed to force a third set somewhere. It looked as if Elizabeth Scotty might provide that necessity when she went up 3-0 in the second set at line 4, but Fukuda quickly eliminated that option by winning six straight games to take a 6-2, 6-3 win. Alexa Graham had tied the score at 1 with an emphatic 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jessica Failla at line 2 moments earlier, and North Carolina pulled even again with a 6-3, 6-1 win by Fiona Crawley over Nikki Redelijk at line 6. Sara Daavettila closed out Ashley Lahey at line 1 6-4, 6-4 to put North Carolina in the lead, but there wasn't much optimism for Tar Heels fans in the stands, including recently retired UNC basketball coach Roy Williams. Pachkaleva led 4-0 in the second set, and Lisa Zaar was up a break in the second against Makenna Jones. Zaar saved two break points serving at 4-3 and closed out Jones to tie the score, leaving it up to Pachkaleva, who had led Morra 5-0, to finish it. Morra won three straight games to provide a glimmer of hope, but Pachkaleva, who is now on a 24-match winning streak, closed out the 7-6(3), 6-3 win.
Pepperdine head coach Per Nilsson said he began to believe that his team could get the win when Zaar stayed competitive throughout her match with Jones.
"When I saw Lisa, at No. 5 singles, was digging in against Makenna, I started feeling like hey, wait a minute, we can do this," Nilsson said. "That's a big point for them, and Makenna played Lisa in February and beat us pretty well, so when I saw that, I thought, ok we can do this, especially being up 1-0 after doubles."
Although the Tennis Channel broadcasting crew voiced their opinion that it was a great upset that his team had pulled off, Nilsson didn't see it that way.
"No, I don't agree with that," Nilsson said. "If anyone's paid attention the last couple of years, they know that the Waves is one of the premier teams. I think the other teams know that. It looks odd sometimes, in an NCAA sport, to see Pepperdine's name up there maybe, but I don't think it was that big of an upset."
Although they may not have gotten the rematch of the National Indoor final that they wanted with North Carolina's loss, the second-seeded Texas women made a statement in their semifinal Friday, taking out No. 6 seed North Carolina State 4-0 in just over two hours at the USTA's Lake Nona campus.
For the second match in a row, the Longhorns won the doubles point and the first set in all six singles matches, and unlike their quarterfinal win against No. 7 seed Florida State on Wednesday, Texas didn't take its foot off the gas this time.
"I didn't see that malaise that I talked about in the last two rounds, once we got up," said head coach Howard Joffe, who reached the 2013 NCAA team final as head coach of the Texas A&M. "We won the first set in all six [singles] matches, and we really put our foot on the gas. The level of poise that these young people are bringing knocks my block off, because I'm an old guy, and I don't have as much poise as what they do.”
The doubles point was close, with Texas taking it based on 6-4 wins at lines 1 and 3. But in the next 45 minutes, the Longhorns eliminated any doubt about the outcome, and it was Peyton Stearns at line 1 again getting off the court quickly, beating Anna Rogers 6-1, 6-2. Stearns had lost 6-2, 6-0 to Irina Cantos Siemers of Ohio State in the round of 16, but the freshman from Ohio switched gears after that loss, beating Giulia Pairone of Florida State 6-0, 6-1 on Wednesday and continuing in that mode today.
Stearns said she changed her attitude after responding negatively to adversity in the Ohio State match, and a more positive outlook translated to a higher level of tennis from her.
“I just went out there trusting my game," Stearns said. "I'm a big offensive player. I stayed on her. I think it was really tough for her to get into points, and I tried to stay on that the whole time and just not let her in. There was a little window in the second set, I think I had a little trip-up, was missing a couple, let her back in. But I bounced back pretty fast.”
Charlotte Chavatipon at line 4 was nearly as impressive, beating Jaeda Daniel 6-3, 6-2 and Malaika Rapolu, who didn't play against Florida State but was one of five freshman in the Texas lineup today, closed out the Longhorns first trip to the team final since 2005.
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| Baylor's Matias Soto after clinching 4-2 win over Tennessee photo credit: USTA/Manuela Davies |
A second Texas team will play for a National Team Championship for the first time since 2005, with No. 2 seed Baylor outlasting No. 3 seed Tennessee 4-2 in a nearly four-hour marathon Friday afternoon.
The theme of deciding points was established early, with Tennessee taking the doubles point by winning simultaneous deuce points at lines 1 and 2 after Baylor had taken the match at line 3.
Baylor was facing an uphill climb when they managed just three first sets in singles, but they began to chip away and ended up forcing third sets at both line 1 and line 4.
Tennessee took a 2-0 lead with Giles Hussey's 6-4, 6-2 win over Charlie Broom at line 2, with Baylor's Sven Lah countering with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Martim Prata at line 3. Spencer Furman made it 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Andrew Rogers at line 6, and that was the end of the straight-set decisions, although Johannus Monday had not yet earned a third set against Matias Soto at line 2. At line 4, Baylor's Nick Stachowiak won a deciding point to keep his lead over Luca Wiedenmann in the third set, which had been 4-0, but serving for the match at 5-4, Stachowiak fell behind 30-40. An forehand error by Wiedenmann brought up a deciding point/match point, and when he got a short ball Stachowiak went for it, pounding a forehand winner to give Baylor a 3-2 lead.
Monday, who had earned a split at line 2, fell behind 4-2 in the third set against Soto, while Boitan had taken a 3-1 lead over Adam Walton in the third.
Side by side, the two matches were back and forth, with Monday pulling even at 4, while Boitan prepared to serve for the match at 5-3. Walton saved a match point on the deciding point to break, while Monday saved two match points to hold for 5-5. Walton saved another match point on a deciding point serving at 5-4, with Boitan just missing a running crosscourt forehand, but Monday faced another match point, Baylor's fifth, serving at 5-6, and this time Soto ended the tension, crushing a forehand winner to put Baylor in the final.
Baylor head coach Michael Woodson seemed calm throughout all the chaos of simultaneous deciding points and match points.
"I think it was a bit of a wild match, but we just trusted that we were going to be able to get the job done, frankly," Woodson said. "I felt a lot of confidence in those guys in those situations with the match on their racquet and they’re going to be able to come through, and as long as they trusted themselves we’d be willing to live with the result. I definitely think it was one of the more wild matches, and I feel like the best part about it was that we really didn’t show many nerves through most of it. Sometimes you get into those situations and it’s an error-fest from both teams and nobody can hold serve. It really didn’t feel that way at the end, which kind of makes it feel a little bit more normal, to be honest, not like a national semifinal."
Baylor will face top seed Florida, who got their revenge from the 2019 semifinal loss to Texas by defeating the No. 4 seeds 4-0.
For the second night in a row, a brief rain shower disrupted the Gators, but it didn't slow them down. After taking the doubles point with wins at lines 2 and 3, Florida took four first sets in singles, although Ben Shelton had given the Gators a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Chih Chi Huang at line 5 before all the first sets could finish.
It was 2-0 when a shower interrupted play for about 30 minutes, but that didn't faze Blaise Bicknell, who couldn't serve out his win over Cleeve Harper at line 4 immediately, but got it done a few games later by a 6-1, 7-5 score. At 3-0, Florida had two immediate opportunities for a fourth point, with both Duarte Vale serving for his match against Eliot Spizzirri at line 1 and Andy Andrade having match points with Siem Woldeab serving at 4-5 at line 3. Spizzirri broke, and Woldeab held, but Andrade went up 6-5 and broke Woldeab to put the Gators in the final for the first of the four times that they have reached the Final Four.
Women's semifinals:
Texas 4, NC State Wolfpack 0
Doubles
1. #19 Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun (UT) def. #12 Anna Rogers/Alana Smith (ST) 6-4
2. Fernanda Labrana/Anna Turati (UT) vs. #5 Jaeda Daniel/Adriana Reami (ST) 4-5, unfinished
3. #47 Charlotte Chavatipon/Peyton Stearns (UT) def. #42 Amelia Rajecki/Abigail Rencheli (ST) 6-4
Singles
1. #37 Peyton Stearns (UT) def. #6 Anna Rogers (ST) 6-1, 6-2
2. #35 Anna Turati (UT) vs. #23 Alana Smith (ST) 6-2, 4-3, unfinished
3. #62 Lulu Sun (UT) vs. Adriana Reami (ST) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
4. #76 Charlotte Chavatipon (UT) def. Jaeda Daniel (ST) 6-3, 6-2
5. #72 Kylie Collins (UT) vs. #82 Abigail Rencheli (ST) 6-3, 5-5, unfinished
6. Malaika Rapolu (UT) def. Lexi Keberle (ST) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,4,6)
Match Notes:
NC State Wolfpack 20-6; National ranking #6
Texas 30-1; National ranking #2
Texas - #2 National Seed, NC State - #6 National Seed
T-2:12
PEPP 4, North Carolina 3
Doubles
1. #2 Sara Daavettila/Cameron Morra (NC) def.Lisa Zaar/Ashley Lahey (PEPP) 6-4
2. Shiori Fukuda/Taisiya Pachkaleva (PEPP) def. #4 Elizabeth Scotty/Makenna Jones (NC) 7-5
3. Anastasia Iamachkine,/Jessica Failla (PEPP) def. #34 Alle Sanford/Reilly Tran (NC) 6-4
Singles
1. #2 Sara Daavettila (NC) def. #77 , Ashley Lahey (PEPP) 6-4, 6-4
2. #41 Alexa Graham (NC) def. #21 Jessica Failla (PEPP) 6-2, 6-3
3. #89 Taisiya Pachkaleva (PEPP) def. #27 Cameron Morra (NC) 7-6(3), 6-3
4. #118 Shiori Fukuda( PEPP) def. #97 Elizabeth Scotty (NC) 6-2, 6-3
5. Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. #32 Makenna Jones (NC) 6-4, 6-3
6. #36 Fiona Crawley (NC) def. Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,4,6,1,5,3)
Match Notes:
PEPP 25-3; National ranking #5
North Carolina 30-1; National ranking #1
UNC - #1 National Seed, Pepperdine - #5 National Seed
Men's semifinals:
Baylor 4, Tennessee 2
Singles
1. #21 Adrian Boitan (BU) vs. #10 Adam Walton (TENN) 3-6, 7-5, 5-5, unfinished
2. #11 Matias Soto (BU) def. #8 Johannus Monday (TENN) 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-5
3. Sven Lah (BU) def. #41 Martim Prata (TENN) 6-0, 6-3
4. Nick Stachowiak (BU) def. Luca Wiedenmann (TENN) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
5. #92 Giles Hussey (TENN) def. Charlie Broom (BU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Spencer Furman (BU) def. Andrew Rogers (TENN) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,3,6,4,2)
Doubles
1. #4 Pat Harper/Adam Walton (TENN) def. #9 Sven Lah/Constantin Frantzen (BU) 7-5
2. Martim Prata/Johannus Monday (TENN) def. #75 Matias Soto/Nick Stachowiak (BU) 6-4
3. Finn Bass/Charlie Broom (BU) def. Giles Hussey/Mark Wallner (TENN) 6-3
Match Notes:
Tennessee 28-4; National ranking #3
Baylor 34-4; National ranking #1
Baylor - #2 National Seed, Tennessee - #3 National Seed
T-3:41
#2 Florida Gators 4, #4 Texas 0
Doubles
1. #16 Duarte Vale/Johannes Ingildsen (UF) vs. #11 Siem Woldeab/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 5-5, unfinished
2. Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. #78 Cleeve Harper/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-4
3. Brian Berdusco/Will Grant (UF) def. Micah Braswell/Payton Holden (UT) 6-2
Singles
1. #4 Duarte Vale (UF) vs. #23 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4, 5-6, unfinished
2. #6 Sam Riffice (UF) vs. #38 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-7(3), 2-3, unfinished
3. #18 Andy Andrade (UF) def. #75 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-3, 7-5
4. #51 Blaise Bicknell (UF) def. #108 Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-1, 7-5
5. Ben Shelton (UF) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-3, 6-0
6. #79 Josh Goodger (UF) vs. Evin McDonald (UT) 2-6, 6-4, 3-4, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (5,4,3)
Match Notes:
Texas 24-6; National ranking #4
Florida Gators 25-2; National ranking #2
Florida - #1 National Seed, Texas - #4 National Seed
T-2:24
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