NC State Tops South Carolina 4-3

29th ranked North Carolina State visited Columbia, SC on February 8 and beat the South Carolina Gamecocks 4-3 in a very competitive SEC - ACC matchup.

Robbie Mudge, positioned at the net, and Ian Dempster of North Carolina State played well in doubles at court one.

Thomas Mayronne hits a nice backhand winner here on court one. He and his partner Harrison O'Keefe were able to hold on and clinch the doubles point for the Gamecocks with a 6-4 win.

Mudge kept up his consistent play on court one singles against Andrew Adams and got the first point for NC State with a 6-2, 6-4 win.

Adams got off to a really slow start and was not able to turn it around in the second set, although he did play better.

Court four was the next match to finish. Harrison O'Keefe of South Carolina dropped the first set to Thomas Weigel 3-6. He started to turn it around in the second set.

At one point during O'Keefe's turnaround, Weigel was distracted by my photographing his shots. He complained to the USC coach and the official but was told to play on. He was clearly distracted and even stared me down on a changeover. Weigel lost the second set 3-6. He refocused in the third set, but O'Keefe kept up his consistent play and took the third set 6-2. Gamecocks led 2-1 at this point.

On court two, Austin Powell of NC State defeated Andrew Schafer 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 and the match was tied at 2-2. On court three, Kyle Koch of Carolina beat Beck Bond 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 and the Gamecocks were up 3-2. NC State tied the match again on court five when Simon Norenius topped Sam Swank in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. The match would come down to court six where Nick Horton of NC State was matched against Thomas Mayronne, warming up here.

Horton took control early after Mayronne made a number of unforced errors, including several double faults. Horton went on to win 6-1, 6-2. South Carolina fell to 5-3 on the season.

Oklahoma State Defeats Georgia Tech to Advance in ITA Indoor

On Sunday, January 25 at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex, #19 ranked Oklahoma State beat #18 Georgia Tech 4-3 and advanced to the ITA Indoor Championships round of 16. It was a tight match, and when Paige Hourigan of GT won her match on court two and tied the match at 3-3, the winner was decided at court six. Oklahoma State moved on to a matchup against North Carolina, and the Tar Heels ended up winning the championship over Georgia.

Natasha Prokhnevska and Johnnise Renaud of Georgia Tech got the Yellow Jackets off to a good start with a win on court three over Carla Tur Mari and Karyn Guttorsmsen, 6-2. GT won the doubles point when Kendal Woodard and Paige Hourigan beat the Cowgirls duo of Katarina Adamovic and Vladica Babic 6-4.

The first singles match to finish was on court three, where #53 ranked Katarina Adamovic of Oklahoma State beat Rasheeda McAdoo 6-1, 6-1.

McAdoo has a very consistent game, but on this day should could not keep her forehand under control and made too many unforced errors.

On court four, Yellow Jacket Kendall Woodard played a tough opening set against Vladica Babic but lost in a tiebreak. Babic took control in the second set and won it 6-0. That win tied the match at 2-2.

Oklahoma State took a 3-2 lead when #10 ranked Viktoriya Lushkova defeated #63 Johnnise Renaud 6-3, 6-4 on court one. On court two, Kelsey Laurente of Oklahoma State, pictured above, won the second set 6-3, and sent her match against Paige Hourigan into a third set.

Hourigan regrouped and played a consistent third set, hitting winners on the forehand and backhand sides. Here she lines up a backhand return. She won the third set 6-3. Oklahoma State pulled out the match when Maria Alvarez came back after losing the first set 2-6 and won the next two over Megan Kurey 6-4, 6-3.

Georgia Tech Defeats Furman 6-1

After the ITA Kickoff matches were completed during the day at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex, the Georgia Tech men's team was ready to go against the Furman Paladins.

Surprisingly, Furman won the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. On court three, the Tech duo of Cole Fiegel and Nathan Rakitt defeated Jacob Behal and Stefan Rhodes 6-0.

During doubles play, the Georgia Tech Golden Retrievers are positioned on all three courts to get the balls back to the players. This is a great touch for a college tennis match and the players do a great job of communicating with the kids during the match. Thank GT Head Coach Kenny Thorne for this great idea.

On court three, Eduardo Segura of GT defeated Ben Horst in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. His victory clinched the match win for the Jackets.

On court four, Tech's Michael Kay battled throughout the first set and won it in a tiebreak, 7-6 versus Cameron Green. He had an easier time in the second set, winning it 6-1.

On court two, Christopher Eubanks from GT played steady and beat Matt Browne 6-3, 6-4. The Jackets were up 2-1 at this point.

Cameron Green serving against Michael Kay.

GT Head Coach Kenny Thorne is always keeping his eyes on the action. He was happy with the overall result, as the Yellow Jackets' won all their singles matches and won the contest 6-1. That pushed their record to 3-0 in 2015.

Georgia Tech Hosts ITA Kickoff Weekend; Defeats Columbia 4-1

Georgia Tech hosted the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Atlanta on January 24. The #18 Yellow Jackets were matched up against the #38 Columbia Lions of the Ivy League. In the second match of the day, Big 12 members Oklahoma State and Texas Tech faced off. It was a beautiful day outside in Atlanta, but the matches were played indoors at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.

After the Jackets won the doubles point and went up 1-0, Johnnise Renaud of GT defeated Tina Jiang, 6-2, 6-2 on court one.

On court four, Natasha Prokhnevska of Georgia Tech struggled the entire match and lost to Alexandra Solovyev 2-6, 3-6. At that point GT led the match 2-1.

Rasheeda McAdoo of Tech defeated Crystal Leung 7-5, 6-3 on court three to close out the win for the Jackets.

In the second match of the day, 19th ranked Oklahoma State defeated #29 Texas Tech 4-2. The doubles match was decided on court two, where Katarina Adamovic and Vladica Babic of Oklahoma State defeated Sabrina Frederici and Lynn Kiro of Texas Tech 7-6. Here, Frederici hits the overhead.

In singles play on court three, Sarah Dvorak from Texas Tech won in straight sets over Katarina Adamovic, 6-1, 6-4. Adamovic reaches for the forehand return here. Oklahoma State led 2-1 at this point.

On court four, Vladica Babic of Oklahoma State was leading Gabnela Talaba 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 in the third set when the Cowgirls won the match. Babic also used a solid one-handed backhand.

Lynn Kiro of Texas Tech, preparing for a backhand here, struggled throughout her match against Kelsey Laurente and lost in straight sets 3-6, 2-6. This win at court two gave Ok. State a 3-2 lead in the match. The match was decided on court one when Viktoritya Lushkova of Ok. State defeated Kenna Kilgo 6-4, 6-3.

#24 Clemson Visits Davidson to Open 2015 Season

The #24 ranked Clemson Tigers visited Davidson College on January 17 to open their season with matches against Winthrop and Davidson. As you would expect with a ranked ACC team, Clemson had no trouble in picking up two wins, taking each match 7-0.

The Davidson Wildcat statue is located outside the indoor tennis center.

Clemson defeated Davidson 6-1 at #3 doubles, while Davidson won at #2, 6-3. The Davidson duo of Evan Watkins and Jack Riazzi stayed with the #1 Clemson team the entire match.

Alejandro Augusto returns a Davidson serve here. Augusto and Hunter Harrington won the doubles point for Clemson in a dramatic 7-6 tiebreak win at #1.

Plenty of Clemson fans turned out for the match.

Shamael Chaudhry played at #1 singles for Davidson. He performed with a lot of emotion and intensity, especially in the second set when he looked over to his teammates after every point for motivation. It may have also turned out to be a distraction for him at times, as he wasn't able to convert any big points when he needed them.

Clemson #1, Hunter Harrington played a great match. He won the first set 6-4.

Chaudhry has an outstanding one-handed backhand. He used it with success throughout the match.

Harrington, ranked #69, played the big points well throughout the match and used his slice backhand effectively. He won the second set 7-5, after Chaudhry made his only double fault of the match on his final service attempt.

Rock Hill Rocks Challenger 2014

The City of Rock Hill, SC hosted the Rock Hill Rocks $25K USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in early October 2014 at the Rock Hill Tennis Center. The featured player at the tournament this year was CiCi Bellis. Bellis, the 15 year-old from the U.S., made headlines all over the world when she upset #12 Dominika Cibulkova in the first round of the US Open. She ended up winning the tournament when she defeated Lauren Embree, a former Florida Gator who was part of two University of Florida national championships, 6-4, 6-0. This is a great location for a challenger tournament and the tennis center personnel do a great job at hosting the event.

A great day for tennis on semi-final Saturday.

Bellis defeated Despina Papamichail of Greece 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the finals.

Papamichail played well in the second set, but in the end did not have enough to beat the US Open first round winner.

In the second match of the day, Lauren Embree played Nina Zander from Germany. Embree, hitting a backhand here, beat the four seed and the seven seed (Zander) on the way to the final.

Zander had a good tournament, but was no match for Embree, who won it in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.

In the doubles final on Sunday, the second seeded team of Cindy Burger and Sharon Fichman defeated the team of Janina Toljan and Despina Papamichail 4-6, 6-1 (10-6).

In the singles final, Embree was very consistent in the first set and forced Bellis into numerous long rallies.

Bellis hustled all over the court and wore Embree out. That was really the difference in the second set.

Overall, a nice win for the number one ranked junior in the world (18-and-under).