BIG TEN TENNIS

Latest Versions of Monthly Guides to College Planning Available

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:10:00 +0000

For players entering their junior or senior year in high school, summer time is time to get cracking on the recruiting process. I’ve been speaking with players and parents for years about college tennis planning and developed the Monthly Guides to College Planning a few years ago to help simplify the process. The guides were made to complement the resources out there, with room to add your own checklist. The books for the classes of 2012 and 2013 are now up to date with the latest NCAA rules and available in print ($15) and Kindle ($4.99) versions from Amazon.

Three Big Ten Men Chosen for 2011 USTA Collegiate Team

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:39:00 +0000

Illinois, Michigan and Ohio State will be represented in the off-season this summer as a player from each has been chosen to train, travel and compete on fellow Americans on the 2011 USTA College Summer Team. Among the 13 men picked for the team are:

Dennis Nevolo, a senior at the University of Illinois. Nevolo finished the year with All American honors after he reached the round of 16 at the NCAA Championships. His final single ranking for the year was 15.

Evan King, a junior at the University of Michigan. King became the first Wolverine man since 2007 (Matko Maravic and Brian Hungin) to receive All American status and finished the season with a national ranking of 17. Evan King received another accolade this week when he was chosen by Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier as a practice partner for the team during their match against Spain July 8^th.

Chase Buchanan, a senior at Ohio State University. Buchanan, who is also a two-time Big Ten Athlete of the Year, earned All American honors for the third straight year. He finished the 2010-11 season ranked No. 12 in singles and No. 15 in doubles (with Blaz Rola).

The USTA College Summer Team is a program funded by the United States Tennis Association to give players exposure to elite training, as well as experience on the USTA Pro Circuit. The men’s team will be coached this year by Notre Dame’s Associate Head Coach Ryan Sachire and Bo Hodge, Assistant Coach at the University of Alabama. Both coaches are returning for a second consecutive year.

Illini Annie McCarthy Receives National Honor

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:58:00 +0000

Illini Annie McCarthy was one of only two players (Carlos Hernandez of Texas is the other) in the country selected as the 2011 Wilson/ITA Promoter Student-Athlete of the year.

According to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, the award recognizes college players “who promote the game of tennis at the collegiate level by devoting consistent time and effort to promotional activities and who support and bring awareness to either their school program or the sport as a whole.” McCarthy did this by working at the local MIX 94.5 radio station as an intern, writing, producing and broadcasting a weekly segment on University of Illinois Athletics. She has also written tennis blogs for Inasectv.com and the Fighting Illini website.

McCarthy, who finished her final year of playing for the Illini, will receive a paid summer internship at Wilson’s headquarters in Chicago with her award. For more information on the award, visit the ITA Website.

NCAA 2011: Tough End for Big Ten Players Brightened by Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:07:00 +0000

There were no trophies coming back to the Big Ten again this year from the NCAAs, as the last remaining players fell before the tournament’s end.

Blaz Rola of Ohio State made it the farthest of any player in the conference, bowing out in the singles to eventual champion Steve Johnson and also making it to the round of 16 in doubles with teammate Chase Buchanan. On the women’s side, the two last players in singles, Maria Mosolova of Northwestern and Leslie Hureau of Indiana, fell in the round of 16, but the Northwestern doubles team of Abu Mushrefova & Nida Hamilton made it into the quarterfinals.

During the NCAAs, Rola was also named the National Player to Watch by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), while teammate Matt Allare was recognized as the Midwest Senior of the Year. Also receiving regional honors were: Illinois’ Abe Souza, Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award; Michigan’s Brooke Bolender, Rookie of the Year, and Ronni Bernstein, Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year, Evan King, Player to Watch, and Jason Jung, ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award; Michigan State’s Gene Orlando, Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year; and Northwestern’s Maria Mosolova, Senior of the Year, and Jackie Holden, Assistant Coach of the Year;

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2011 NCAA Division I College Tennis Championships: Men’s Singles-Steve Johnson, Southern California; Men’s Doubles-Jeff Dadamo & Austin Krajicek, Texas A&M; Women‘s Singles-Jana Juricova, California; and Women’s Doubles-Hilary Barte & Mallory Burdette, Stanford. For full results, visit the official Championship site.

Men
Singles

Quarterfinals

Steve Johnson, Southern California (1) defeated Blaz Rola, Ohio State (5), 6-3,6-3

Round of 16

Blaz Rola, Ohio State (5) defeated Evan King, Michigan, 6-3,6-0
Henrique Cunha, Duke (8) defeated Dennis Nevolo, Illinois (9-16), 4-6,6-3,6-2

Second Round
Blaz Rola, Ohio State (5) defeated Finn Tearney, Pepperdine, 7-5,6-2
Dennis Nevolo, Illinois (9-16) defeated Daniel Nguyen, Southern California, 6-4,5-7,5-2 retired
Evan King, Michigan defeated Gonzalo Escobar, Texas Tech, 3-6,6-1,6-1

First Round

Costin Paval, Oklahoma defeated Matt Allare, Ohio State, 6-3,7-5
Ray Sarmiento, Southern California defeated Chase Buchanan, Ohio State (9-16), 3-6,7-6(2),6-3
Blaz Rola, Ohio State (5) defeated Ryan Thacher, Stanford, 5-7,6-3,6-3
Dennis Nevolo, Illinois (9-16) defeated Ivan Salec, Radford, 6-3,7-6(3)
Evan King, Michigan defeated Tim Puetz, Auburn, 6-3,6-0
Brandley Klahn, Stanford defeated Jason Jung, Michigan, 7-6(5),6-2.
Austin Krajicek, Texas A&M defeated Marek Michalicka, Wisconsin, 6-7(6),7-6(3),6-2.

Doubles

Round of 16

Austen Childs/Viktor Maksimcuk, Louisville defeated Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola, Ohio State, 7-6(5),6-1.

Roberto Maytin/John Peers, Baylor (5-8) defeated Jason Jung/Evan King, Michigan, 7-6(5),6-2

First Round
Boris Conkic/John-Patrick Smith, Tennessee (1) defeated Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt, Ohio State, 7-6(5),6-2.
Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola, Ohio State defeated Steve Johnson/Ray Sarmiento, Southern California, 6-2,7-5
Jason Jung/Evan King, Michigan defeated Jaak Poldma/J.T. Sundling, Southern California, 4-6,6-3,6-1

Women
Singles
Round of 16

Hilary Barte, Stanford (3) defeated Maria Mosolova, Northwestern (9-16), 6-3,6-2
Lauren Embree, Florida defeated Leslie Hureau, Indiana, 6-1,6-0

Second Round
Chelsey Gullickson, Georgia, defeated Denise Muresan, Michigan (8), 3-6,6-3,6-3
Maria Mosolova, Northwestern (9-16) defeated Irene Rehberger, South Florida, 6-4,6-3
Leslie Hureau, Indiana, defeated Anouk Tigu, Arkansas, 2-6,6-3,6-4

First Round

Denise Muresan, Michigan (8) defeated Martina Pavelec, Wake Forest, 4-6,7-5,6-2
Maria Mosolova, Northwestern (9-16) defeated Anna Bartenstein, Miami, 6-3,3-6,6-2
Leslie Hureau, Indiana defeated Brynn Boren, Tennessee, 3-6,6-2,7-6(3)

Doubles
Quarterfinals

Mari Anderson/Jana Juricova, California (1) defeated Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton, Northwestern, 6-2,6-1

Round of 16

Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton, Northwestern defeated Courtney Dolehide/Andrea Remynse, UCLA, 6-4,6-2

First Round
Kate Fuller/Chelsey Gullickson, Georgia defeated Brooke Bolender/Denise Muresan, Michigan (5-8) (pictured above), 6-3,6-2
Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton, Northwestern defeated Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar/Jordaan Sanford, Maryland, 4-6,6-0,6-2
Claudine Paulson/Anouk Tigu, Arkansas defeated Sonja Molnar/Jessica Young, Iowa, 5-7,7-6(5),6-2

NCAA 2011: Big Ten Players Still Alive in Singles and Doubles

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:28:00 +0000

After two rounds of singles and one of doubles, there’s still hope that a trophy from the 2011 NCAA College Tennis Championships will make it back to the Big Ten.

On the men’s side, five players remain in the draws, two of which are alive in singles and doubles – though only one will remain with that distinction. Blaz Rola of Ohio State, who was instrumental in his team’s run to the semifinals, squeezed past Stanford’s Ryan Thacher and then defeated Finn Tearney of Pepperdine. Rola is also heading into the round of 16 of doubles with teammate Chase Buchanan thanks to a win over Steve Johnson and Ray Sarmiento from the NCAA team winning Southern California team.

In singles, Blaz Rola will now face the only other Big Ten player who has the opportunity for a win in singles and doubles. Michigan’s Evan King got past Gonzalo Escobar of Texas Tech and Tim Puetz of Auburn to earn his round of 16 spot. He and Jason Jung, who lost in the first round of singles to 2010 men’s singles champion Bradley Klahn, will be playing their second doubles match today after a win over another Southern California duo, Jaak Poldma and JT Sundling.

The third men’s singles player still in the action from the Big Ten is Dennis Nevolo. The Illinois junior has gotten through two tough matches to earn a chance to again face Henrique Cunha of Duke. The last time Nevolo played the No. 8 seed the match was called before they had a chance to finish their close contest.

Four Big Ten women remain in contention at the NCAA Championships, but the highest seed is not in that group. No. 8 Denise Muresan of Michigan was upset by Chelsey Gullickson twice, though it’s hard to call it an upset in singles as Gullickson is the tournament’s defending champion. Three of the players left are from Northwestern, with Maria Mosolova (9-16) heading into the third round after a three-set win over Anna Bartenstein of Miami and an easier time with Irene Rehberger of South Florida. Fellow Wildcats Linda Abu Mushrefova (pictured, above) and Nida Hamilton defeated Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar and Jordaan Sanford of Maryland in a match that went the distince.

Unseeded Leslie Hureau of Indiana made it through two tough matches already, but it’s not going to get any easier for her in the round of 16. She will face Florida’s Lauren Embree, who clinched the team title for the Gators at the earlier in the week.

For full results and live scoring, visit the official NCAA Division I Championship site.

Men
Singles

Round of 16

Blaz Rola, Ohio State (5) vs. Evan King, Michigan
Dennis Nevolo, Illinois (9-16) vs. Henrique Cunha, Duke (8)

Second Round
Blaz Rola, Ohio State (5) defeated Finn Tearney, Pepperdine, 7-5,6-2
Dennis Nevolo, Illinois (9-16) defeated Daniel Nguyen, Southern California, 6-4,5-7,5-2 retired
Evan King, Michigan defeated Gonzalo Escobar, Texas Tech, 3-6,6-1,6-1

First Round

Doubles

Round of 16

Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola, Ohio State vs. Austen Childs/Viktor Maksimcuk, Louisville
Jason Jung/Evan King, Michigan vs. Roberto Maytin/John Peers, Baylor (5-8)

Women
Singles
Round of 16

Maria Mosolova, Northwestern (9-16) vs. Hilary Barte, Stanford (3)
Leslie Hureau, Indiana vs. Lauren Embree, Florida

First Round

Doubles
Round of 16

Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton, Northwestern vs. Courtney Dolehide/Andrea Remynse, UCLA, 6-2,6-3

First Round
Kate Fuller/Chelsey Gullickson, Georgia defeated Brooke Bolender/Denise Muresan, Michigan (5-8), 6-3,6-2
Linda Abu Mushrefova/Nida Hamilton, Northwestern defeated Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar/Jordaan Sanford, Maryland, 4-6,6-0,6-2
Claudine Paulson/Anouk Tigu, Arkansas defeated Sonja Molnar/Jessica Young, Iowa, 5-7,7-6(5),6-2

NCAA 2011: Ohio State Bows Out In Semis… On to the Individuals

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:30:00 +0000

The Ohio State Buckeyes had a great run to the semifinals of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Team Championship, but it ended there as the top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers took them out of trophy contention (before they fell to three-peat champions University of Southern California. Despite the fact that the Buckeyes took the doubles point, they No. 1 ranked Cavalier were just too good in singles and Sanam Singh sealed the 4-2 win at No.3.

No. 1 Virginia 4, No.4 Ohio State 2
Michael Shabaz (V) defeated Blaz Rola (OSU), 6-4,6-4

Alex Domijan (V) defeated Chase Buchanan (OSU), 6-2,6-2

Sanam Singh (V) defeated Ille Van Engelen (OSU), 4-6,6-3,6-1

Jarmere Jenkins (V) defeated Matt Allare (OSU), 6-3,6-7(3),6-2

Devin McCarthy (OSU) defeated Justin Shane (V), 2-6,6-4,6-3

Order of Finish: 2,1,5,4,3

Julen Uriguen (V) vs. Balazs Novak (OSU), 4-6,6-4,2-1 Did Not Finish

Courtney/Shabaz (V) vs. Allare/Kobelt (OSU), 8-8 (3-3) Did Not Finish

Buchanan/Uzawa (OSU) defeated Jenkins/Uriguen (V), 8-6

3. Rola/Novak (OSU) defeated Domijan/Singh (V), 8-6

Order of Finish: 2, 3

There are plenty more Big Ten players to see at the NCAAs as the conference is represented quite well in the individual events. Stay tuned for results from…

Men
Singles

Matt Allare, Ohio State vs. Costin Paval, Oklahoma
Chase Buchanan, Ohio State (9-16) vs. Ray Sarmiento, Southern California
Blaz Rola, Ohio State (5) vs. Ryan Thacher, Stanford
Dennis Nevolo, Illinois (9-16) vs. Ivan Salec, Radford
Evan King, Michigan (right) vs. Tim Puetz, Auburn
Jason Jung, Michigan vs. Brandley Klahn, Stanford
Marek Michalicka, Wisconsin vs. Austin Krajicek, Texas A&M

Doubles

Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt, Ohio State vs. Boris Conkic/John-Patrick Smith, Tennessee (1)
Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola, Ohio State vs. Steve Johnson/Ray Sarmiento, Southern California
Jason Jung/Evan King, Michigan vs. Jaak Poldma/J.T. Sundling, Southern California

Women
Singles
Denise Muresan, Michigan (8) vs. Martina Pavelec, Wake Forest
Maria Mosolova, Northwestern (9-16) vs. Anna Bartenstein, Miami
Leslie Hureau, Indiana vs. Brynn Boren, Tennessee

Doubles
Brooke Bolender/Denise Muresan, Michigan (5-8) vs. Kate Fuller/Chelsey Gullickson, Georgia
Nida Hamilton/Linda Abu Mushrefova, Northwestern vs. Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar/Jordaan Sanford, Maryland
Sonja Molnar/Jessica Young, Iowa vs. Claudine Paulson/Anouk Tigu, Arkansas

For full results and live scoring, visit the official NCAA Division I Championship site.

NCAA 2011: Buckeyes Take Baylor

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Mon, 23 May 2011 16:32:00 +0000

Ohio State advanced to the semifinals for the second time in the program’s history (2009 was the first) with a tight 4-2 win over Baylor.

The match between the fourth-seeded Buckeyes and No. 5 Bears was close from the doubles as Ohio State took the point with a win at the deciding court two. The first two singles matches would be straight setters split between the teams before the real competition began after one singles win from the Buckeyes and two from the Bears would tie the score at 2-2.

The final two matches would continue for an eternity. Balazs Novak (pictured left) would finally take Julien Bley at No. 6 and soon after freshman Blaz Rola would clinch the victory -- after fighting off multiple match points. It would come just before Kike Grangeiro had a chance to pick up a win for Baylor.

Ohio State team now has a chance to battle their biggest national nemesis – Virginia. The Buckeyes have not gotten past them. “Virginia really has had their way with us lately, in indoors the past few years and then in NCAAs a couple years back,” said Head Coach Ty Tucker. ”I think we are going to enjoy this one (win) for a few hours and then open up the old notes to see what we can do. We are very happy to be going into the Final Four."

The semifinal match between Ohio State and top-seeded Virginia, who eliminated the Fighting Illini in the Round of 16, is scheduled for 2:00 pm CST. For live scoring, visit the official NCAA Division I Championship site.

No. 4 Ohio State 4, No. 5 Baylor 2

Blaz Rola (OSU) defeated John Peers (B), 4-6,7-6(8),6-3

Chase Buchanan (OSU) defeated Sergio Ramirez (B), 6-2,6-2

Jordan Rux (B) defeated Ille Van Engelen (OSU), 7-5,6-1

Roberto Maytin (B) defeated Matt Allare (OSU), 3-6,6-1,6-4

Devin McCarthy (OSU) vs. Kike Grangeiro (B), 6-4,4-6,4-5 Did Not Finish

Balazs Novak (OSU) defeated Julien Bley (B), 7-6(2),6-3

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 4, 6, 1

Maytin/Peers (B) defeated Allare/Kobelt (OSU), 8-3

Buchanan/Uzawa (OSU) defeated Ramirez/Rux (B), 8-6

Novak/Rola (OSU) defeated Bley/Grangeiro (B), 8-3

Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2

NCAAs 2011: Michigan and Northwestern Drop in Round of 16s

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Sun, 22 May 2011 02:49:00 +0000

It was a tough day for the Big Ten at the 2011 NCAA Championships at Stanford as the only women’s teams in the draw suffered tough losses.

The 10^th ranked Michigan faced No. 7 University of Miami for their round of 16 afternoon match. It was a sign of things to come when doubles went to the Hurricanes in the final match, a 9-8(2) win for Anna Bartenstein and Bianca Eichkorn. Miami was also the first to score in singles, but their 2-0 lead didn’t last for long. Michigan’s Mimi Nguyen took No. 6 and Denise Muresan (pictured right) got revenge for the doubles over Eichkorn in the top spot. With the score tied, Miami came through with the next two, sealed by Kayla Rizzolo in a win over Sam Crister.

Michigan Head Coach Ronnie Bernstein felt it all came back to the beginning, “"Miami hit some good shots and we stepped back a little bit, it was a few points here and there toward the end. If we could have pulled out the doubles point, it would have been a whole different match. We let it slip through our hands .That's basically what happened there."

No. 7 MIAMI 4, No. 10 MICHIGAN 2

Denise Muresan (MICH) defeated Bianca Eichkorn (MIA), 7-5,6-2

Anna Bartenstein (MIA) defeated Brooke Bolender (MICH), 6-1,6-1

Gabriela Mejia (MIA) defeated Whitney Taney (MICH), 6-3,7-6 (2)

Kayla Rizzolo (MIA) defeated Sam Crister (MICH), 3-6,6-4,6-4

Danielle Mills (MIA) vs. Rika Tatsuno (MICH), 6-3,4-6, 4-1 Did Not Finish

Mimi Nguyen (MICH) defeated Melissa Bolivar (MIA), 6-1,6-0

Order of Finish: 2,,6, 1, 3, 4

Bartenstein/Eichkorn (MIA) defeated Bolender/Muresan (MICH), 9-8 (2)

Mejia/Bolivar (MIA) defeated Taney/Tatsuno (MICH), 8-0

Nguyen/Sulahian (MICH) defeated Dubins/Mills (MIA), 8-3

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1

It was a late night battle for Northwestern against Stanford. The Wildcats held tough, despite playing the top seeds on their home turf. The Wildcats took the doubles point, but it was tied when Nicole Gibbs quickly gave the Cardinals a win at No. 3. The match continued to a 3-2 Stanford lead, with the last two courts heading into a second set. It would be Carolyn McVeigh who would seal it over Wildcat Stacey Lee, bringing Stanford one step closer to a repeat championship. Northwestern Coach Claire Pollard (pictured left) was obviously disappointed, but proud of her team, “We gave Stanford all we could, and that's really what we set out to do: to be a very tough opponent for Stanford. We wanted to show everybody here what it meant to play for Northwestern, and I think we did that. It was a really tough way to end though."

No. 1 STANFORD 4, No. 16 NORTHWESTERN 2

Hilary Barte (S) defeated Maria Mosolova (N), 6-4,6-1

Mallory Burdette (S) defeated Belinda Niu (N), 6-1,6-4

Nicole Gibbs (S) defeated Brittany Wowchuk (N), 6-1,6-2

Kate Turvy (N) defeated Stacey Tan (S), 6-3,6-3

Veronica Li (S) vs. Linda Abu Mushrefova (N), 6-3,6-7(6), 3-2 Did Not Finish

Carolyn McVeigh (S) defeated Stacey Lee (N), 7-5,3-6 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 2, 1, 6

Barte/Burdette (S) defeated Abu Mushrefova/Hamilton (N), 8-5

Chernyakova/Wowchuk (N) defeated Gibbs/Li (S), 8-5

Mosolova/Niu (N) defeated McVeigh/Tan (S), 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2

The Ohio State Buckeyes are currently battling it out with the Baylor Bears in the quarterfinals. For live scoring and results on this event, as well as the individual championships to come, visit the official NCAA Division I Championship site.

NCAAs 2011: Buckeyes Advance, Illini Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Sat, 21 May 2011 01:52:00 +0000

After day one at the NCAA Championships, only one Big Ten men’s team remains in contention for a national title.

The Ohio State Buckeyes, who are seeded four, had no problem getting past Tulsa. They finished with a 4-0 shutout in straight sets, despite some bumps at the start. "It was a really good doubles point. We thought it would shake out at two doubles and it shook at two and we were fortunate to get through. Shuhei Uzawa, a senior for us, came up with some clutch volleys and Chase Buchanan came up with some big serves and we were able to get that win," said Head Coach Ty Tucker (pictured left).
,
No. 4 Ohio State 4, Tulsa 0
Blaz Rola (OSU) vs. Marcelo Arevalo (T), did not finish
Chase Buchanan (OSU) defeated Japie De Klerk (T), 6-1,6-1
Ille Van Engelen (OSU) vs. Ashley Watling (T ), Did Not Finish
Matt Allare (OSU) defeated Clifford Marsland, (T), 6-3,7-5Devin McCarthy (OSU) vs. Grant Ive (T), Did Not Finish
Balazs Novak (OSU) defeated Tristan Jackson (T), 6-2,6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 6

Marsland/Watling (T) defeated Allare/Kobelt (OSU), 8-6
Buchanan/Uzawa (OSU) defeated Arevalo/De Klerk, (T), 8-5
Novak/Rola (OSU) defeated Ive/Jackson (T), 8-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2

It was a quick trip to California for the Fighting Illini, who waited all day (and most of the night) for their match with top-seeded Virginia. The Cavaliers quickly took the doubles point and continued the momentum into singles. Bruno Abdelnour (pictured right) was the only Illinois player to pick up a set. Virginia Coach Brian Boland was quick to acknowledge that it wasn’t quite as easy as the final score showed, “I give Illinois a lot of credit, they are an excellent team. We played them three times this year and it has never been easy. They fought hard and left it on the court and I was really proud of our guys from one to six.”

No. 1 Virginia 4, Illinois 0
Michael Shabaz (V) vs. Dennis Nevolo (I), 6-4,4-1 Did Not Finish
Alex Domijan (V) defeated KU Singh (I), 6-2,6-2
Sanam Singh (V) defeated Roy Kalmanovich (I), 6-2,6-4
Jarmere Jenkins (V) defeated Abe Souza (I), 6-3,6-2
Justin Shane (V) vs. Johnny Hamui (I), 6-2,4-5 Did Not Finish
Julen Uriguen (V) vs. Bruno Abdelnour (I), 6-3,3-6 Did Not Finish
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3

Courtney/Shabaz (V) defeated Hamui/Souza (I), 8-0
Jenkins/Uriguen (V) defeated Alden/Nevolo (I), 8-2
Domijan/Singh (V) vs. Hoh/Singh (I), 7-2 Did Not Finish
(Order of Finish: 1, 2)

The Michiganand Northwestern women’s teams are scheduled to be on court tonight, with Michigan facing Miami and Northwestern up against Stanford. For live scoring and results on all teams, visit the official NCAA Division I Championship site

NCAAs 2011: Illinois, Ohio State Men Ready for Round of 16

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:10:00 +0000

Thanks to weekend wins on their home turf, the Fighting Illini and the Ohio State Buckeyes are in Palo Alto, California, to play the round of 16 at the NCAA Tennis Championships.

At the start of the weekend, the Big Ten Conference had five men's teams who have qualified for the NCAAs - Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio State.

Indiana fell in the opening round at Texas A&M to LSU, 4-3, in a match that came down to No. 5, where LSU's Mark Bowtell defeated Stephen Vogl (IU), 7-6 (6),2-6, 6-3.

Michigan lost their bid in the first round of play to Maryland their 20th appearance at the NCAAs. The Wolverines lost 4-2 after Barrett Franks beat Sergio Wyss at No. 4, 5-7,6-4,6-4.

Minnesota was gone from the tournament in the first round as Fresno State's David Ayoun squeezed by Gopher Julian Dehn 5-7,6-3,7-5, and gave the Bulldogs the 4-3 win.

Illinois earned a spot at the NCAA Round of 16 after shutting out Drake in the first round and then defeating the University of North Carolina in a 4-1http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1447038639101343561 match that was tighter than the score shows.

Ohio State advances to the round of 16 without the loss of a match in singles or doubles. The Buckeyes shutout Ball State in the first round and then did the same over Notre Dame in the second. They enter the NCAAs as the tournament's fourth seed.

On Thursday, Illinois will face top-seeded Virginia at 6:00 pm PST. Ohio State plays Tulsa at 3:00 pm. Results from both matches to come upon completion. For live scoring and results on all teams, visit the official NCAA Division I Championship site.

NCAAs 2011: Big Ten Teams Earn NCAA Bids

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Fri, 13 May 2011 02:04:00 +0000

The 2011 NCAA Championships begin regionally on May 13^th, followed by the round of 16 and individual events at Stanford University May 19-30. The Big Ten will be well represented at the tournament, especially on the men’s side where five teams will be playing. Here’s the weekend schedule for Big Ten Tennis…

WOMEN
Michigan-The Wolverine women are entering the NCAA Championships as the tournament’s No. 10 seed. They will host Akron in the first round and, with a win, then will face either Nebraska (who join the Big Ten next season) or Tulsa at 1:00 pm on Saturday.

Northwestern-The No. 16 Wildcats welcome IPFW on Friday for a first round match. The winner of that one plays Fresno State or Notre Dame on Saturday at noon.

MEN
Illinois-The Fighting Illini take on Drake on their home turf on Friday at 3:00 pm. Illinois, the last team to sweep the NCAA Championships (2003) is making their 16^th tournament appearance. The winner of that match takes on either No. 16 North Carolina or Eastern Kentucky at 2:00 pm on Saturday.

Indiana-College Station, Texas, will be the location for the Hoosier men this weekend as they get started Friday at 11:00 am against LSU. The winner of that match will play either No. 9 Texas A&M or Alcorn State at 3:00 pm on Saturday.

Michigan-The Wolverine men have been in more NCAA Championships than any other team in the conference. They will be playing No. 20 at Duke in Durham, North Carolina. Their first match is scheduled for 10:00 am Friday. If they win, they will be playing the winner of No. 11 Duke-George Washington on Saturday at 3:00 pm.

Minnesota-It’s a third straight NCAA appearance for the Gophers, who are heading to Berkeley, California. They will face Fresno State in the first round for an 11:00 am match on Friday. If they win that one they will face No. 14 California or Marist at 3:00 pm on Saturday.

Ohio State-The Buckeyes are entering the NCAAs as the No. 4 seed on the men’s side. They are playing host with a match against Ball State at 1:00 pm on Friday. Presuming they advance, Ohio State faces either Notre Dame or East Tennessee State Saturday at 1:00 pm.

Note: All times are local time in the specified location.

Northwestern and Ohio State Continue Big Ten Domination

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Before the Big Ten Championships began, I was really looking for any major surprises or changes from what had become the norm. It turned out there were a few unexpected results along the way, but the ending turned out to be exactly the same as it has for many years.

The Big Ten crown has gone to the Northwestern Wildcats on the women’s side for the last 12 years. It didn’t turn out any differently this year, even though they were not the top-seed. The homecourt advantage didn’t prove to make the difference for No. 1 seeded Michigan, though they certainly put up a fight. The Wolverines were actually ahead 3-0 when Northwestern came back to take the next three matches.

Michigan won the doubles point and went up two more with straight set wins from Whitney Taney and Rika Tatsuno, but the momentum would change with Linda Abu Mushrefova’s (pictured, left) victory over Mimi Nguyen. The rest of the matches would go to the Wildcats, with a clinch from No. 2 player Belinda Niu who beat Brooke Bolender, 1-6,6-4,6-2.

The final at the men’s tournament featured an unfamiliar face. The Illini faced Ohio State in the semifinals instead of the finals as they had for seven years in a row. The Buckeyes prevailed and faced not second-seeded Indiana, but No. 3 Minnesota. It was the first appearance in the finals since 2003 for the Gophers. It was a quick one, finishing with Ohio State taking home their sixth straight Big Ten trophy after capturing the doubles point and straight set wins from Chase Buchanan (pictured right), Ille Van Engelen and Blaz Rola.

I’m expecting to see many of the Big Ten teams in the NCAA tournament draws. Look for the selection announcements on NCAA.com Tuesday, May 3^rd, at 4:00 pm CST.

2011 Big Ten Women’s Conference Championship
FINALS
No. 2 Northwestern 4, No. 1 Michigan 3
Maria Mosolova (N) defeated Denise Muresan (M), 2-6,6-3,6-1
Belinda Niu (N) defeated Brooke Bolender (M), 1-6,6-4, 6-2
Whitney Taney (M) defeated Brittany Wowchuk (N), 6-0,6-0
Kate Turvy (N) defeated Sam Critser (M), 6-3,6-3
Rika Tatsuno (M) defeated Stacey Lee (N), 6-1,6-3
Linda Abu Mushrefova (N) defeated Mimi Nguyen (M), 6-3,6-1
Denise Muresan/Brooke Bolender (M) defeated Belinda Niu/Linda Abu Mushrefova (N), 9-7
Whitney Taney/Rika Tatsuno (M) defeated Maria Mosolova/Belinda Niu (N), 8-5
Brittany Wowchuk/Elena Cherynakova (N) defeated Sam Critser/Mimi Nguyen (M), 8-6
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,5,6,4,1,2)

2011 Big Ten Men’s Conference Championship
FINALS
No. 1 Ohio State 4, No. 6 Minnesota 0
Chase Buchanan (OS) defeated Tobias Wernet (M) , 6-1,6-2
Blaz Rola (OS) defeated Rok Bonin (M) , 6-1,6-4
Ille Van Engelen (OS) defeated Sebastian Gallego (M) , 6-2,6-4
Matt Allare (OS) vs. Phillip Arndt (M) , 5-7,4-1 Did Not Finish
Balazs Novak (OS) vs. Brendan Ruddock (M) , 2-6,6-4 Did Not Finish
Julian Dehn (M) vs. Devin McCarthy (OS) , 7-6 ,3-4 Did Not Finish
Matt Allare/Peter Kobelt (OS) defeated Phillip Arndt/Sebastian Gallego (M) , 8-5
Chase Buchanan/Shuhei Uzawa (OS) vs. Rok Bonin/Julian Dehn (M) , 7-4 Did Not Finish
Blaz Rola/Balazs Novak (OS) defeated Tobias Wernet/Juan Pablo Ramirez (M) , 8-4
Order of Finish: Doubles (3-1) Singles (1,3,2)

2011 Big Ten Championships Begin

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:31:00 +0000

The strength of the Big Ten – especially in tennis – has never been as strong as it is today, but despite that, the Championships have consistently produced the same result. The men’s final has been Illinois vs. Ohio State for seven years in a row, with the Buckeyes taking the last five. On the women’s side, Northwestern has claimed an astonishing 12in a row. Just the last few have been against Michigan, but the fact is the Wildcats have taken a total of 14 titles.

Will this year be any different? It may. There has been a bit of a shake-up among the Big Ten men, with Indiana surprising everyone to go through an undefeated conference season. Minnesota has also had a great season, and a win against the Illini last week help them secure third place and push Illinois to fourth. I’ve never counted out the Orange and Blue, who still made it to the finals last year without the No. 2 seeding, but I’d look for some very tough matches among the Big Ten men. Even top-seeded, undefeated, Ohio State should watch their backs.

As for the women, I’m not anticipating much else than another Northwestern-Michigan battle. This may be Michigan’s year, especially since they have the homecourt advantage, but the Wildcats will not be going down without a cat fight. Colette Lewis of Zoo Tennis will be at this event and I’m sure she’ll be offering plenty of reports and insight.

2011 Big Ten Men’s Conference Championship
Day One
Michigan State 4, Northwestern 2
Wisconsin 4, Penn State 1
Purdue 4, Iowa 2

Day Two-Quarterfinals
10 a.m. Ohio State (1) vs. Michigan State
10 a.m. Illinois (4) vs. Michigan (5)
2 p.m. Minnesota (3) vs. Wisconsin
2 p.m. Indiana (2) vs. Purdue

2011 Big Ten Women’s Conference Championship
Minnesota 4, Iowa 2
Illinois 4, Michigan State 0
Indiana 4, Penn State 0

Day Two-Quarterfinals
10 a.m. Michigan (1) vs. Minnesota
10 a.m. Ohio State vs. Wisconsin (5)
2 p.m. Purdue (3) vs. Illinois
2 p.m. Northwestern (2) vs. Indiana

Illini Split Among Results On Final Big Ten Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:01:00 +0000

It was the final weekend of the season and all the matches seemed to have a lot riding on them. I was home at the University of Illinois to watch the Illini men battle both Minnesota and Wisconsin, while keeping an eye on the rest of the Big Ten.

Minnesota arrived in Champaign-Urbana on Friday night and they were ready to do battle. They immediately swept the doubles in three close 8-6 matches. KU Singh quickly answered back for the Illini with a win and then teammate Johnny Hamui put the Illini in the lead. The matches would continue to stay even as Gophers Brendan Ruddock and Tobias Wernet won their matches and Illini Abe Souza brought in his. It was all even at 3-3, with one very long two setter left on Court 2.

Illinois’ Roy Kalmanovich and Minnesota’s Rick Bonin had been going at it for hours, with long points that had some incredible finishes. It was Bonin who took the first set at 7-5, but Kalmanovich was definitely not going down easily. At 5-4 in the second for the Gopher, the llini saved two match points and tied the score at 5-5. He played through another match point when down 5-6 to bring it into a tiebreaker. The breaker belonged to Rick Bonin, though, and Minnesota took the match from the home team, 4-3.

Heading into the Illinois-Wisconsin match on Sunday there was the possibility that the Big Ten men could be left in a three way tie (with Michigan) if the Badgers won the match. The Illini seemed determined at the start to make sure that wasn’t going to happen. They took the doubles point with only a loss at No. 1 and then -- after a tribute to seniors Johnny Hamui, Abe Souza and Connor Roth, proceeded to sweep the singles, securing fourth place in the conference for the team.

Ohio State would once again take the conference lead outright on the men’s side with a perfect 10-0 and they would be followed by Indiana, whose only Big Ten loss of the season came to the Buckeyes this weekend. In third place was the University of Minnesota. Michigan finishes off the top five on the men’s side and takes the top spot for the women, with Northwestern in second, Purdue and Ohio State tied for third and Wisconsin in fifth.

Look for my previews of the Big Ten Championships over the next few days.

Few Surprises in Busy Conference Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:03:00 +0000

I was back at the University of Illinois on Sunday (see here for the story from Friday) for the women’s match against Michigan State. It was a different story this time.

The Illini women took the doubles point at No. 1, where Rachael White and Allison Falkin defeated Amy Barton and Marina Bohrer to break the 1-1 match tie. Singles started out pretty tight, with four first sets to Illinois, and some closes matches. Annie McCarthy brought the home team up to 2-0 with a 6-2,6-3 win over Dana Guentert at No. 3, and Leigh Finnegan followed at No.5 defeating Nicole Herzog , 6-1,6-1, but it would be awhile before the Illini would score again.

Michigan State picked up a point at the first court from Amy Barton, who defeated Amy Allin (above) in a match that looked much closer than the 6-0,6-4 final score. In fact, the second set had been at 5-1 before Allin won three straight games and put up a fight in the final one. The clinch would come a little while later from Falkin, who took a strange three-setter (2-6,6-1,6-1) over Marina Bohrer. The final two matches, which were close ones throughout, were won by Illinois’ Rachael White and Breanne Smutko.

The Illini men, who had taken out Michigan 5-2 on Saturday, also beat Michigan State on Sunday with the same score. The Wolverines defeated Iowa on Sunday, 5-2, making it a bad weekend all around for the Hawkeyes, who lost to the Spartans the day before. Also dropping two matches were Northwestern, 5-2 to Indiana and 4-3 to Purdue, and Penn State, 6-1 to Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The Northwestern women, ranked No. 15 in the country, were victorious over Indiana on Saturday, and then took Purdue the next day with the same 6-1 finish, despite an upset over Maria Mosolova by Boilmakers’ Jennifer Rabot. The Iowa women split the weekend with a win to Michigan State on Friday (4-3) and a loss to Michigan on Sunday (7-0). The Minnesota women had a rough weekend with a close 4-3 loss to Penn State on Friday followed by a 6-1 defeat by Ohio State on Sunday. The Buckeyes also walked away 5-2 over Wisconsin to start the weekend.

The big news in the Big Ten? The Indiana men. They continued a streak that has them undefeated in the conference, a record held only by Ohio State, who shutout Minnesota and Wisconsin over the weekend. The tie for first place won’t stand for long as the Hoosiers and the Buckeyes will face each other at Ohio State on Friday, April 22^nd.

Big Weekend in the Big Ten

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 19:36:00 +0000

Since I’ve switched to full time freelance, it’s financially impossible to spend all my time on tennis. The sport is still at the forefront of my mind and will always be included in my work, but times come up (like the last two weeks) when I just can’t report all that’s going on.

I was back on the court for the Illini women’s match against Michigan and will be back down at the Atkins Tennis Center for Michigan State this Sunday.

Even though it looked like spring (and had been warm most of the week) it was a bit cool and very windy Friday, forcing the Michigan-Illinois match inside. The Illini were down two players with Marisa Marisa Lambropoulos and Chelcie Abajian nursing injuries, and the Wolverines are ranked 10^th in the country with a solid lineup so it was pretty clear from the start which way this match would go. Michigan’s Whitney Taney & Rika Tatsuno took No. 2 doubles rather quickly, and the point was completed with Brooke Bolender & Denise Muresan (pictured left) win at No. 1. It looked like Illinois would take the No. 3 match, but Breanne Smutko & Annie McCarthy couldn’t capitalize on the match points they had and fell, 8-7 (3).

Singles did not go any better for the home team as the Wolverine’s dominated every court. The first to finish was Taney, who beat Allison Falkin (6-1,6-4) at No. 3. Muresan set a new record for Wolverine women with her 105^th win, despite the fight of Amy Allin to the end. Michelle Suliahian clinched it at No. 6 over Leigh Finnegan. It looked like Breanne Smutko might take a set at No. 4 for the Illini when she broke in the first, but she ended up dropping the match to Sam Crister. The final match on the court was definitely the closest of all, with some long games and a break by Illinois Rachael White for a 5-4 lead in the second, but Brooke Bolender took it in the end, 6-2,7-5.

At the end of the weekend, I will wrap up the rest of the tennis matches. In the meantime, you can also look for regular updates of matches around the conference on http://www.twitter.com/BigTenTennis.

P.S. While I was away, the Big Ten awarded Athlete of the Week honors to Northwestern senior Maria Mosolova April 5 & April 12. On the men’s side, Tobias Wernet of Minnesota, also a senior, and Ohio State junior Chase Buchanan took the awards respectively.

Ohio States Continues Men’s Tennis Domination

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:21:00 +0000

It’s one of the biggest rivalries in college sports -- Ohio State vs. Illinois. This competition is especially strong in tennis where, after years of the Illini leading the Big Ten, the Buckeyes have held the top spot. I have personally seen more of these battles than most and the one Sunday was no exception, despite the final shutout score.

The Atkins Tennis Center at the University of Illinois was packed with fans ready to take on the Buckeyes. Ohio State brought a few of their own to cheer back, but there was no doubt whose court they were on. There was great doubles on all courts with high energy from the start. On Court 2, Stephen Hoh and Abe Souza gave the home team the first win in the match, taking Chase Buchanan and Shuhei Uzawa, 8-3. It would be the last one going to the Illini, though, as Ohio State took the remaining courts and captured the doubles point.

Most of the first sets went to the Buckeyes, but that didn’t tell the full story of the match as it included two three-setters and three tiebreakers. The first singles finish went to Matt Allare, while Abe Souza nursed a shoulder injury at the beginning of the second set (he lost the first 6-2) and could not get past the solid play of the Buckeye at No. 4. Blaz Novak would make it 3-0 Ohio State when he eliminated Stephen Hoh with the same score, but it would be a bit longer before Devin McCarthy would clinch it as a determined Bruno Abdenour fought off three match points at 5-3 before succumbing 6-4,6-4>

The final three matches on the court would see the Illini battling to get on the board. Ohio State was just too tough on every court and they finished the shutout with Ille Van Englen over Johnny Hamui, 6-2,7-6(4); Chase Buchanan defeating Dennis Nevolo, 5-7,6-4,6-2; and then Blaz Rola edging Roy Kalmanovich, 6-7(3),6-2,7-6(4).

It was a good day all around in Buckeye nation as the women’s team also took out Illinois, in a 4-3 that wasn’t decided until the end.

Don't miss a thing in Big Ten Tennis.

Huge Weekend for the Big Ten

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:20:00 +0000

It’s the end of March and the conference teams will be running into their toughest matches – against each other. It comes after a spring break week which was fun for some and disappointing for others.

The Ohio State women were shut out by the 21^st ranked Tennessee Volunteers on the same day the Illinois women found no sunshine on their trip to California, losing 7-0 to San Diego, but both teams picked up wins later in the week. For Iowa and Penn State, it was also one win and one loss in non-conference play, while the Wisconsin women dropped two matches. Michigan only had won match to play, a shutout win over South Florida. Iowa’s Sonja Molnar (left) earned the Big Ten Athlete of the Week honor. The Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan State, Northwestern and Purdue women didn’t play this week.

The Indiana men picked up two wins out of the conference this week, as did Penn State and Purdue. Wisconsin fell to both Pepperdine and UC Irvine, while Iowa beat Florida Atlantic and Minnesota defeated Miami in a close one. Michigan lost one to LSU, but picked up a win from Michigan State. Ohio State took out Pepperdine on their California trip and the Northwestern and Illini men had the week off. Buckeye Blaz Rola was the men’s Big Ten Athlete of the Week.

Coming up this weekend, the women still have some non-conference play left. Today, Illinois is at Fresno State; Iowa goes to Ohio State; and Penn State Welcomes Temple. Northern Iowa will be at Wisconsin tomorrow, while Indiana goes to Michigan, Purdue plays Michigan State and Wisconsin win host Wisconsin-Whitewater. Look for all Big Ten play on Sunday as Illinois is at Ohio State; Michigan State welcomes Indiana; Iowa is at Penn State; Purdue visits Michigan; and Wisconsin plays Northwestern.

On the men’s side, it’s a busy day as Indiana welcomes Michigan State; Ohio State goes to Iowa; Illinois hosts Penn State; Michigan is at Purdue; and Northwestern travels to Minnesota (Minnesota also has a non-conference match against Denver tomorrow). Conference play continues on Sunday with Penn State at Iowa; Michigan State at Purdue; Northwestern at Wisconsin; and Michigan at Indiana before the Hoosiers bring in Vincennes for a rare Sunday night match.

I will be at one of the biggest matches of the weekend which probably constitutes the biggest rivalry in the Big Ten. The Ohio State men will be at Illinois at noon (CST) Sunday. You can follow my tweets during the match and come back here next week for the complete story.

Wins, Losses and Accolades for Big Ten Tennis

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:17:00 +0000

It’s been a busy week in Big Ten country with some unexpected wins, losses and changes for teams.

Both recipients of this week’s Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors are receiving their first accolades of the year. In fact, it is the first time anyone from either of these teams has been recognized this season. Purdue’s Bhavani Tirumurti, a senior from India, took home the award after she helped the Boilmakers earn a 4-3 win over higher ranked Indiana with singles and doubles victories. On the men’s side, Penn State’s Eddie Bourchier (left) led his team to two wins – over Navy and Villanova – going undefeated in both.

It wasn’t a great week for the Illini men, who fell to two higher ranked teams. First, the No. 6 team in the country was shutout by No. 17 Texas A&M in a windy match that didn’t include top player Dennis Nevolo. Three days later, Illinois lost to No. 25 Notre Dame (5-2). Ohio State also experienced a 4-0 loss to Texas A&M, while the Indiana men got revenge for their female counterparts by taking out Purdue, 6-1.

The Big Ten is still holding some prime top 50 spots in the ITA Rankings: Men-Ohio State (4), Illinois (9), Michigan (16), Minnesota (23), Indiana (37), Michigan State (42), ; Women-Michigan (5), Northwestern (14), Purdue (49). No Big Ten matchups will be taking place this coming weekend in women’s tennis and Michigan vs. Michigan State will be the only in conference match for the men.

Texas Squeezes by Illini Women on Busy Big Ten Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:29:00 +0000

It was a tough loss for the Illinois women as they came very close to moving up in the rankings with a win over No. 24 Texas.

The doubles point was hard fought despite the sweep by the Longhorns. They continued to take control with a straight set win at No. 5, but Illini Allison Falkin put her team on the board with a 6-4,6-4 victory over Caroline Larson. With the score was 2-1 Texas and it was going to stay that way for awhile as all the other courts began to split sets.

Chelcie Abajian struggled in the final two sets and Amanda Craddock brought her team to 3-1 just a short while before Amy Allin answered back at No. 2, coming back from a set down to beat Krista Damico. It was down to courts one and three and a tight 4-6,6-3,6-4 win at No. 1 by Aeriel Ellis would seal it for Texas at 4-2. Even though her team had lost the match, Breanne Smutko (right) held tough and won her match after the fact for a 4-3 final score.

While the Illinois women fell, the men managed to pull out a 4-3 victory over Big Ten rival Iowa. In other league play this week, the unranked Wisconsin women took out #59 Minnesota, 6-1, and the Ohio State Men (ranked No. 3 in the country) shutout Penn State.

The Big Ten awarded Athlete of the Week honors to Johnny Hamui, who was 6-0 during the Illini’s three weekend matches, and Northwestern’s Maria Mosolova, whose dual-match singles record increased to 8-0 after she helped her team blank Texas.

Big Ten Teams Highlight First Computer Rankings

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 18:53:00 +0000

The first set of Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings that are computer generated came out this week and Big Ten teams – especially on the men’s side – have made quite a showing.

The Illini men are in the top five for the first time since 2007, after a some great wins this season, including those over Kentucky and Florida. They are not the only Midwesterners high in the rankings. Ohio State, who has been a consistent figure in this position over the last few years, is one spot above Illinois at No. 3. Michigan, whose Evan King picked up his second Big Ten Athlete of the Week Award this season after helping his team defeat No. 6 Duke, climbed up to No. 8. Minnesota is also now a top 20 team, enjoying a high spot at No. 16.

On the women’s side, two Big Ten teams are consistently remaining in the top 10. The Michigan women are in the No. 4 spot and Northwestern isn’t too far behind at No. 9. The next team in the league, however, is all the way down at No. 41, where Indiana is positioned. Northwestern’s jump came after they took out No. 3 North Carolina last week. Stacey Lee received the Big Ten Athlete of the Week Award for clinching that victory in a three set win over a player who she grew up playing in the East, Lauren McHale.

The Conference season has begun so look for more Big Ten matchups. This weekend that includes Ohio State at Penn State and Illinois at Iowa for the men; Illinois at Penn State and Wisconsin at Minnesota for the women.

Big Ten Teams Fall at ITA Indoors

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 05:21:00 +0000

At the start of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, the Big Ten was well represented at both the men’s and women’s events, but only one of those teams made it into the semifinals, and the run for the Buckeyes is also now over.

On the women’s side, Northwestern and Michigan both qualified during the ITA Kickoff event for a spot in the ITA Indoors draw. The 20^th Ranked Northwestern pulled a major upset over fifth seed California, taking out the Bears 4-1, with straight sets wins. The clinched was by Stacey Lee (right) at No. 5 singles. Saturday’s match would be a totally different ballgame as they faced fourth-seeded North Carolina in a tight 4-3 loss that finished with Tar Heel Shinann Featherston over Wildcat Belinda Niu in a long 7-6,7-5, after the two teams had split two three-setters.

The Wolverine women also fell in the semifinals. After Sam Crister beat Jillian O’Neal in three sets, they took out Georgia Tech, 4-1. The eighth seeded Michigan then had that same score put on them by the reigning NCAA champion Stanford team. Even though Michigan had captured the doubles point, the Cardinals were just too good on the singles court, picking up the victory without dropping a set.

It was No. 4 Ohio State and No. 8 Illinois who were representing the Big Ten on the men’s side. The Illini got passed Texas A&M in the first round by a 4-1 score, but the matches were close with four of the six going into third sets before Bruno Abedelnour finished off Aggie Junior Ore, 4-6,7-5,6-2. It was a late night match that started almost at midnight for Illinois vs. Virginia, the top-seeds and three time defending champions. The Cavaliers swept the doubles point and then took three short scored matches for a 4-1 victory over the Illini.

The Buckeyes had made it to the semifinals, first defeating Texas Tech. Despite dropping the doubles point, Ohio State came back swinging in singles and took the 4-1 win with a 7-5,6-4 clinch by Matt Allare over Tech’s Victor Manzini. In the second round, the fourth seeds repeated the feat as they faced No. 5 Texas after losing the doubles point. It was freshman Ille Van Engelen who recorded the final win, 6-4,1-6,6-3, over the higher ranked Kellen Damico.

Ohio State will have to wait until May for another opportunity to win their first national title. Now they will have to wait until May to try again at the NCAAs as the Cavaliers also brought them down, 4-1. The lone win was at No. 5 from Devin McCarthy, over Drew Courtney, 6-4,7-5.

Big Ten Athletes of the Week-February 15, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 05:01:00 +0000

Dennis Nevolo of Illinois earned his second Big Ten Athlete of the Week Award this season, making a total of five for his career. The junior was instrumental in his team’s upset win over No. 7 Florida last Saturday.

Michigan senior Whitney Taney took home the honors on the women’s side. Taney had four wins last week as her team beat Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. The two singles and two doubles victories helped earn Taney’s third career Athlete of the Week Award.

Big Ten Athletes of the Week February 8
Chase Buchanan, Ohio State & Brittany Wowchuk, Northwestern

Big Ten Athletes of the Week February 1
Dennis Nevolo, Illinois & Sam Critser, Michigan

Big Ten Athletes of the Week through January 25
Big Ten Athletes of the Week through January 18

Illini Men Pull Double Upset

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:56:00 +0000

It was a great weekend for the Fighting Illini men as they upset two higher ranked opponents, paving the way for a top ten spot of their own.

Today’s rankings put the Illinois men at No. 8 and they worked hard this weekend to gain eight spots. First up was No. 12 on Friday night. After they captured the doubles point and five of six first sets, it looked like the large crowd at the Atkins Tennis Center would move the Illini into a quick victory, but it wasn’t quite that easy. The first singles point would actually go to the Wildcats as a near perfect Eric Quigley took out Dennis Nevolo (left), 6-3,6-4, on Court 1. Johnny Hamui (below) would put the home team back in the lead with a 6-3,6-4 win over Brad Cox, but it would get a bit more complicated after that.

Matches on courts 4, 5 and 6 would go deep into second sets as Court 2 – Illini Abe Souza and Kentucky’s Alex Musialek – were struggling to finish the first set. The games were endless and didn’t go any quicker after Roy Kalmanovich came up with Illinois’ third point with a 7-6(6),6-4 win over Alberto Gonzalez. It was then Souza stepped up his game over an opponent ranked 80 points above him and took the win at 6-4,6-4. The final two matches would go to Kentucky in the third, for a finishing score of 4-3.

The match Saturday night against No. 7 Florida proved to be even more dramatic than the night before. It was something I hadn’t seen much and reminded me a lot of the 2005 NCAA Championship, when Baylor was up 3-0 and then the UCLA Bruins ended up winning the tournament. It was a similar event as the doubles point went to Florida after two out of three close courts came up in their favor. That was followed by a quick 6-2,6-1 win by Sekou Bangoura Jr. over KU Singh at No. 2. It wasn’t much longer before Florida was a point away from taking the match, as Nassim Slilam took Abe Souza by the same score on Court 4.

It seemed like this scenario was not foreign to the supportive Illinois spectators and no one went anywhere even though the scoreboard looked grim. It proved to be the right move as Hamui put the team on the board with a 6-2,6-4 upset over Bob van Overbeek. A few minutes later there would be a 6-3,6-1 by Kalmonovich at No. 5 and a 6-3,6-3 win by Stephen Hoh at Court 6. All of a sudden, it was a 3-3 match.

It all came down to the top court, where a major battle was taking place. Dennis Nevolo, ranked No. 11 in the country, and Alexandre Lacrois, placed at No. 4, had been battling for hours. The first set would go to the Illini with just one break, but the second was a back and forth until it landed in a breaker. Florida would lead all the way to the end and, even though Nevolo saved three set points, it would go to the Gator. Everyone would have to wait through one more set for the match to be decided. Surprisingly, that wait was very short as Nevolo took charge and shut out his opponent in less than a half hour.

The Atkins Tennis Center didn’t prove to be quite as lucky for the Illini women. On Sunday, they dropped a heartbreaker to South Carolina in a match almost as even as the rankings (No. 29 vs. No. 26). It was filled with exciting points and long games, especially within the contest between Katerina Popova and Chelcie Abajian, which finished with a 7-5,7-5(11-9) win for the former. The clincher would be at No. 2, where Breanne Smutko fell to Dijana Stjojic, 2-6,7-5,6-2.

ITA Kickoff Earns Big Ten Teams Indoors Spots

noreply@blogger.com (Marcia Frost) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:05:00 +0000

The International Tennis Association (ITA) held playoffs this past weekend for spots in their February National Indoor Championships. The strength of the Big Ten came through as 4 teams made the cut.

Women
The No. 8 ranked Michigan Wolverines pulled out a win over 18^th ranked Southern California on their home turf. The berth was clinched by Mimi Nguyen (right), who defeated Kaitlyn Christian, 6-3,5-7,7-5.

It was a tough day for the Illinois women, who came up just shy of winning a spot at the ITA Indoors. The Illini were edged by South Florida, 4-3.

The Iowa Hawkeyes fell to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, 5-2 in the first round of the Kickoff at that school. They then lost by the same score in the consolation match to the Illini.

The Buckeye women were at Tennessee and fell in their match to the 12^th ranked Volunteers, 6-1. It was the first loss of the season for Ohio State.

Men
Ohio State, ranked fourth in the country, shut out UC Irvine 7-0 to capture the ITA Kickoff on their courts. The Buckeyes only dropped one set during the match.

After dropping the doubles point, the 15^th ranked Illini took four straight singles to defeat Notre Dame in the final match of their playoff. It wasn’t quite as easy as it sounds as all of the matches in that contest went to three sets.

Michigan secured their place at the ITA Indoors with a 4-2 win over Virginia Tech. Sophomore Evan King sealed it with a 6-2,7-5 victory over Hokie Lucas Somen.

It wasn’t a great weekend for Wisconsin as the Badgers went to Kentucky. They lost to the home team, 4-1, and were then shut out in the consolation against Wake Forest,

The Hoosiers were kicked out of the Kick Off by Southern California, the No. 2 ranked team in the country. The Trojans shut out Indiana, 7-0.

Minnesota didn’t make it past the first round of the ITA Kickoff as they were up against the No. 6 team in the country. The UCLA Bruins shut out the Gophers, 4-0.