The No. 8 Tennessee men's tennis team upset No. 1 Ohio State 4-3 on Saturday night to advance to the semifinals of the ITA Indoor National Championships in Chicago.
The Vols (7-0) lost the doubles point and the odds favored the Buckeyes (8-1) with singles players ranked nationally at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6.
However, No. 50 John-Patrick Smith knocked off No. 1 Bryan Koniecko 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 singles, Boris Conkic of UT, ranked No. 103, upset No. 6 Justin Kronauge 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 singles and Matt Brewer got by No. 77 Shuhei Uzawa at No. 6 singles, 6-3, 6-4.
With the match tied 3-3, UT’s Matteo Fago came through with a 6-3, 7-5 victory at No. 4 singles against 38th-ranked Balazs Novak for the winner.
“We’re a resilient team and a confident team,” UT coach Sam Winterbotham said. “We believe in ourselves. We didn’t panic when we lost the doubles point. We stayed together and focused on getting four points in singles.
“What was really impressive to (associate head coach) Chris (Woodruff) and me was how we stuck together. The guys that finished their match came right over and started to support the guys that were still playing. The guys who weren’t in the lineup at all today were the loudest guys in the building. This is a team and we’re showing it.”
The Vols will face fifth-ranked Virginia today at 4 p.m. in the semifinals.
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Comments » 10
huntined#565710 writes:
WAY TO GO VOLS!!!
golfballs03 writes:
beat them yankees. them em to stay up north
VOLorado writes:
go choke in a championship game, buckeyes
samjrr writes:
Great job! Beat those Buckeyes
andefromtn#212139 writes:
Congrats to the Tennis team. Well done, that should move you up at least a spot in the rankings, keep up the great team work and play.
john#208876 writes:
Great job by the tennis Vols, especially Matt Brewer for stepping up the last few matches. Good luck vs VA in the semis today!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Great job, Vols.
Know just enuf about tennis to keep me off the courts.
A good player can hurt you.
bnakk#240693 writes:
In football the mighty Suckeyes are 0-9 all time against the SEC. Not always Bear Bryant kicking them around either. South Carolina got 'em twice and Ole Miss one time. Plus all the big dogs have chewed them up a time or two....... You would think that a team that has has more Heisman winners than our entire conference has would do better than that. But then again I guess Troy Smith, Vic Horvath, etc....are better than Bart Starr, Joe Namath, Fran Tarkenton, George Blanda,Ken Stabler, Peyton Manning, Archie Manning,Reggie White, etc.....
ALock4UT writes:
I don't watch Tennis much but I always appreciate a Big Ten victory, especially against Ohio State
VolTennisFan writes:
Congratulations to the tennis team. And way to go Matt Brewer!
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