University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
#47 Harvard
Vols Blank Harvard; Advance to Second Round of ITA Kickoff Weekend
January 31, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 31, 2009
The eighth-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team got off to a fast start Saturday and never looked back, blanking 48th-ranked Harvard 7-0 at the Goodfriend Indoor Tennis Center. The Vols face 43rd-ranked Louisville Sunday at 3 p.m. for the right to advance to the ITA Indoor National Championships played in Chicago.
"I thought we came out with good energy," head coch Sam Winterbotham said. "Harvard gave us a very good match. Fortunately, we began to pull away by winning the first set in five of the six matches and we were able to sustian the momentum throughout the match and get a good victory."
The Vols won the doubles point behind dominating wins at the No. 1 and 3 positions. Davey Sandgren and John-Patrick Smith defeated Sasha Ermakov and Davis Mangham, 8-1 at the top spot to move to 2-1 this season in dual-match doubles. Christian Hansen and Jeremy Tweedt clinched the point for UT with an 8-2 win over Alistair Felton and Will Guzick.
In singles, UT captured the first set in five of six matches to take firm control of the match.
Matteo Fago put the Vols up 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Mangham at the No. 4 position.
Sandgren defeated Michael Hayes, 6-4, 6-2 to put the Vols on the cusp of victory.
SEC Indoor singles champion, John-Patrick Smith, clinched the match for UT with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Ermakov at the No. 1 position.
Boris Conkic battled back from a one-set deficit to defeate Alexei Chijoff-Evans, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 to push the Vols lead to 5-0.
Tweedt won his match at the No. 5 position, 6-4, 6-3 over Felton and Hansen defeated Michael Kalfayan, 6-2, 7-5 at the No. 6 slot to clinch
The Vols (3-0) face Louisville at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon. The winner advances to the ITA Indoor National Championship held in Chicago, Feb. 13-16.
| No. 8 Tennessee 7, No. 47 Harvard 0 | |
| Singles | |
| 1. No. 50 John-Patrick Smith (UT) def. Sasha Ermakov (HU) | 6-1, 6-2 |
| 2. No. 103 Boris Conkic (UT) def. Alexei Chijoff-Evans (HU) | 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 |
| 3. Davey Sandgren (UT) def. Michael Hayes (HU) | 6-4, 6-2 |
| 4. Matteo Fago (UT) def. Davis Mangham (HU) | 6-1, 6-3 |
| 5. Jeremy Tweedt (UT) def. Alistair Felton (HU) | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 6. Christian Hansen (UT) def. Michael Kalfayan (HU) | 6-2, 7-5 |
| Order of Finish: 4,3,1,2,5,6 | |
| Doubles | |
| 1. Sandgren/Smith (UT) def. Ermakov/Mangham (HU) | 8-1 |
| 2. No. 21 Conkic/Fago (UT) tied Chijoff-Evans/Hayes (HU) | 4-4 |
| 3. Hansen/Tweedt (UT) def. Felton/Guzick (HU) | 8-2 |
| Order of Finish: 1,3 | |
Players Mentioned
