No. 2 Seed Ohio State, No. 3 Seed Columbia Fall in Opening Round of ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor; San Diego Tops No. 4 Seed Duke in Thriller; Texas and Virginia Rematch Set for Saturday
©Colette Lewis 2025--
Dallas, Texas--
The first day of the ITA Men's Division I Team Indoor Championships was uneventful at the SMU site, where I'm located for the duration of the tournament, but at the second venue on the Baylor campus, the first round was a St. Valentine's Day massacre for the favored teams. Although Waco's No. 1 seed, TCU, did take out host Baylor 4-1 in the nightcap, the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds were all eliminated, with Central Florida's 4-2 win over second seed and defending champion Ohio State the result that had all the teams in Dallas talking.
Because I wasn't there, I won't be attempting a recap of the match, but the box score is below, along with a link to the Central Florida website's coverage here.
Central Florida[7] 4, Ohio State[2] 2
Doubles:
1. Aidan Kim and Will Jansen(OSU) d. Liam Branger and Paul Colin(UCF) 6-1
2. Preston Stearns and Bryce Nakashima(OSU) v Mehdi Benchakroun and Santiago Giamichelle(UCF) 3-3, unf.
3. Brandon Caprico and Nikita Filin(OSU) d. Yassine Dlimi and Emilio Sanchez(UCF) 6-1
Order of finish 3, 1
Singles:
1. Yassine Dlimi(UCF) d. Aidan Kim(OSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Alexander Bernard(OSU) d. Paul Dolin(UCF) 6-4, 7-5
3. Mehdi Benchakroun(UCF) d. Will Jansen(OSU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
4. Liam Branger(UCF) d. Jack Anthrop(OSU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
5. Bryce Nakashima(OSU) v Santiago Giamichelle(UCF) 6-7(3), 6-4, 3-3 unf.
6. Nicolas Oliveira(UCF) d. Christopher Li(OSU) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
No. 6 seed Stanford defeated No. 3 seed Columbia 4-1, with the Stanford recap here.
Stanford[6] 4, Columbia[3] 1
Doubles:
1. Max Basing and Kyle Kang(STAN) d. Michael Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen(COL) 6-3
2. Samir Banerjee and Alexander Razeghi(STAN) v Max Westphal and Sachin Palta(COL) 5-4, unfinished
3. Nicolas Godsick and Henry Von Der Schulenburg(STAN) d. Hugo Hasimoto and Jayden Templeman(COL) 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles:
1. Samir Banerjee(STAN) d. Michael Zheng(COL) 6-3, 7-6(4)
2. Max Basing(STAN) d. Nicolas Kotzen(COL) 7-6(5), 7-5
3. Max Westphal(COL) d. Henry Von Der Schulenburg(STAN) 6-2, 6-3
4. Hugo Hashimoto(COL) v Hudson Rivera(STAN) 6-4, 3-6, 3-2, unf.
5. Nicholas Godsick(STAN) v Sachin Palta(COL) 2-6, 6-2, 5-3, unf.
6. Alexander Razeghi(STAN) d. Thanapat Boosarawongse(COL) 6-2, 7-5
Order of finish:
3, 1 6, 2
No. 5 seed San Diego's 4-3 win over No. 4 seed Duke came down to No. 5 singles, with Adrien Berrut defeating Gerard Planelles Ripoll 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5 in a three-hour match that featured one huge deciding point after another in the third set, and with both players trying to finish points quickly, all the volleys, overheads and passing shots made for an entertaining battle, which was ultimately decided in a wild final point, with an Electronic Line Call challenge by Berrut overturning Ripoll's call on match point. The Duke recap of the match is here. The San Diego recap of the match is here.
San Diego[5] 4, Duke[4] 3
Doubles:
1. Stian Klaassen and Oliver Tarvet(USD) d. Pedro Rodenas and Theo Winegar(DUKE) 6-1
2. Cooper Williams and Andreja Petrovic(DUKE) d. Savriyan Danilov and Iiro Vasa(USD) 6-3
3. Nikhil Niranjan and Adrien Berrut(USD) d. Connor Krug and Teddy Truwit(DUKE) 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. Oliver Tarvet(USD) d. Cooper Williams(DUKE) 6-2, 6-4
2. Pedro Rodenas(DUKE) d. Savriyan Danilov(USD) 6-2, 6-2
3. Iiro Vasa(USD) d. Andreja Petrovic(DUKE) 6-2, 6-3
4. Connor Krug(DUKE) d. Stian Klaassen(USD) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
5. Adrien Berrut(USD) d. Gerard Planelles Ripoll(DUKE) 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5
6. Remi Dugardin(DUKE) d. Neo Niedner(USD) 6-2, 6-0
Order of finish: 3, 6, 2, 1, 4, 5
Doubles:
1. Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Marko Miladinovic and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen(BAY) 6-3
2. Luc Koenig and Deven Badenhorst(BAY) d. Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 6-3
3. Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Ioan Chirita and Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 6-4
Singles:
1. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) v Devin Badenhorst(BAY) 7-6(3), 3-6, 5-1, unf.
2. Pedro Vives(TCU) d; Oskar Brostrom Poulsen(BAY) 7-6(6), 7-5
3. Lui Maxted(TCU) d. Zsombor Velcz(BAY) 6-2, 7-5
4. Duncan Chan(TCU) d. Luc Koenig(BAY) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
5. Albert Pedrico(TCU) v Ioan Chirita(BAY) 6-3, 6-7(4), 4-3, unf.
6. Marko Miladinovic(BAY) d. Filip Apltauer(TCU) 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 3, 4, 2
Central Florida will play Stanford at noon Central Saturday, with San Diego taking on TCU at 3:30 pm.
The action at the SMU venue was more predictable, with No. 2 seed Virginia starting the day off with a 4-2 win over No. 7 seed Michigan. The Cavaliers dropped the doubles point, and the Wolverines had their No. 1, Gavin Young, back in the lineup, but it wasn't enough, with Virginia getting points from singles lines 1, 2, 5 and 6, with Mans Dahlberg clinching at line 5 after dropping the opening set.
"I'm really happy with Mans Dahlberg fighting back," said Virginia head coach Andres Pedroso, who acknowledged that he wasn't suprised by Michigan's strength in doubles. "I don't think he played that great in the first set, and he just fought back and found ways, as he's done the last two and a half years...I'm happy and grateful for the fight of my guys."
Doubles:
1. Benjamin Kittay and Will Cooksey(MICH) d. Keegan Rice and James Hopper(UVA) 6-2
2. Alex Cairo and Gavin Young(MICH) d. Mans Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich(UVA) 7-6(4)
3. Bjorn Swenson and Mert Oral(MICH) d. Jangjun Kim and Rafael Jodar(UVA) 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. Rafael Jodar(UVA) d. Gavin Young(MICH) 6-3, 6-2
2. Dylan Dietrich(UVA) d. Benjamin Kittay(MICH) 6-1, 6-3
3. James Hopper(UVA) v Will Cooksey(MICH) 7-6(8), 5-2 unf.
4. Bjorn Swenson(MICH) d. Keegan Rice(UVA) 6-2, 6-3
5. Mans Dahlberg(UVA) d. Patorn Hanchaikul(MICH) 2-6 6-1, 6-3
6. Jangjun Kim(UVA) d. Nicholas Steiglehner(MICH) 6-2, 7-6(2)
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 6
Next up was the battle between two Texas schools, with the Aggies and Longhorns drawing an excellent afternoon crowd to the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on the SMU campus. A close doubles point went to Texas, and the Longhorns got points from lines 1 and 3 before Lucas Brown clinched at line 6. The contest at the top spot between two French freshmen, Texas's Timo Legout and A&M's Theo Papamalamis, produced some mind-boggling points, with the most notable one at 4-4 in the first set. The speed, defense, volleys, lobs, and angles had the crowd breaking into premature applause on three of four occasions before Legout finally managed to end the lengthy rally with a winner. Papamalamis was a bit discouraged after that, and wasn't able to maintain that level in the second set, as Legout gave no indication his own level would drop.
The Texas win sets up a rematch of one of the most memorable early season matches of the year, when Texas went to Charlottesville, went up 3-1 and then could not hold on, with Virginia saving three team match points and taking an improbable 4-3 victory.
"No matter who we play in this tournament, the guys are going to be motivated," said Texas head coach Bruce Berque. "But our guys are competitors and last time, Virginia did a great job of stepping up when they had their backs against the wall. I'm sure Virginia's going to come into the match with confidence, our guys will come into the match with hunger. I'm sure these guys will love to have the opportunity to close it out this time."
That match is scheduled for noon Central time.
Doubles:
1. Togan Tokas and Theo Papamalamis(TAMU) d. Lucas Brown and Timo Legout(TEX) 6-3
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly and Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) d. Luke Casper and JC Roddick(TAMU) 6-4
3. Jonah Braswell and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Ritesh Patil and Tiago Pires(TAMU) 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. Timo Legout(TEX) d. Theo Papmalamis(TAMU) 6-4, 6-1
2. JC Roddick(TAMU) Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) 6-4, 7-5
3. Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) d. Luke Casper(TAMU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Tiago Pires(TAMU) v Jonah Braswell(TEX) v 6-3, 5-6, unf.
5. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) v Togan Tokac(TAMU) 7-5, 5-5, unf.
6. Lucas Brown(TEX) d. Ritesh Patil(TAMU) 7-6(4), 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2, 6
The 3:30 p.m. match at SMU Saturday will feature to ACC rivals with North Carolina State, playing in its first Team Indoor quarterfinal against top seed Wake Forest.
Wake Forest took out host SMU 4-0, but the Mustangs had chances to put some pressure on the undefeated Demon Deacons, with the matches at lines 1 and 3 both at 6-6, 6-5 in the tiebreakers before Wake's Stefan Dostanic and Charlie Robertson took those points to give their team five first sets.
"I think we've done a great job playing a really tough schedule," said Wake Forest head coach Tony Bresky. "Baylor on the road, Columbia at Columbia, they had an incredible crowd, Ohio State at home, Georgia at home, Tennessee at home. We've had some tough matches against some really good teams so far. So maybe in those breakers, at the end of those sets, that showed a little bit; our guys were more comfortable in those moments, you figure out what your plays are in those moments and I think that really helped us there."
Doubles:
1. Stefan Dostanic and DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Maks Silagy and Georgi Georgiev(SMU) 6-3
2. Trevor Svajda and Louis Cloud(SMU v Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) 6-6, unf.
3. Franco Capalbo and Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) d. Vikas Deo and Xavier Calvelo(SMU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles:
1. Stefan Dostanic(WAKE) v. Trevor Svajda(SMU) 7-6(5), 3-1, unf.
2. DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Jerry Barton(SMU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) v Ofek Shimanov(SMU) 7-6(5), 4-1, unf.
4. Georgi Georgiev(SMU) v Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) 6-4, 2-3, unf.
5. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) d. Maks Silagy(SMU) 7-5, 6-0
6. Luca Pow(WAKE) d. Noah McDonald(SMU) 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 2, 5
No. 5 seed North Carolina State pulled off the only minor upset of the day at SMU, beating No. 4 Kentucky 4-1. The Wolfpack took the doubles point and got three quick first sets at lines 2, 4, and 6, and although those were the positions that ended up delivering the three singles points necessary, it wasn't straightforward, as Fons Van Sambeek needed a third set to get the clincher at line 4.
"With three seniors and a junior on the team, it's really great to see the culmination of their hard work," said head coach Kyle Spencer. "Not only did we have to go on the road to get here, we were facing a really good Kentucky team, but we did a lot of positive things out there to force the action of the match, and in the end I think it was a little too much for them."
Spencer said there's very little they don't know about Wake Forest.
"We know them well, down the street, so to speak," Spencer said. "It'll be an absolute battle and we're excited to play them. We play them at money tournaments, play them at Futures, in the Regionals, there's no real surprises and vice versa."
Doubles:
1. Braden Shick and Fons Van Sambeek(NC State) d. Jaden Weekes and Martin Breysach(KEN) 7-5
2. Jules Leroux and Luca Stadheli(NC State) d. Eli Stephenson and Jack Loutit(KEN) 6-4
3. Nikolay Nedelchev and William Manning(NC State) v Antoine Ghibaudo and Charlelie Cosnet 5-5, unf.
Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles:
1. Antoine Ghibaudo(KEN) d. Braden Shick(NC State) 7-6(4), 6-3
2. Martin Borisiouk(NC State) d. Jaden Weekes(KEN) 6-3, 7-6(4)
3. Luca Staeheli(NC State) v Jack Loutit(KEN) 7-6(5), 3-3, unf.
4. Fons Van Sambeek(NC State) d. Charlelie Cosnet(KEN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
5. Eli Stephenson(KEN) v Nikolay Nedelchev(NC State) 6-3, 6-7(1), 2-0 unf.
6. Jules Leroux(NC State) d. Matthew Rankin(KEN) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 1, 2, 4
The main draw matches at both sites will be streamed by Cracked Racquets.
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