University of Washington
Texas A&M
Huskies Upend 10th-Ranked Aggies In National Team Indoors
February 20, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 19, 2011
Tournament Central:
Extended recap to come
SEATTLE - An all-out team effort was required and was delivered from the 29th-ranked Husky men's tennis team, as they pulled together to upset 10th-ranked Texas A&M tonight at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Senior Tobi Obenaus got the clinching win in the 4-2 victory.
Hosting the event for the sixth time, the Huskies continued their streak with at least one victory every time they have hosted. After hanging tough against No. 1-ranked Virginia last night, UW was able to build on that performance to upset the Aggies.
"This is what we've been working towards," said head coach Matt Anger. "We've been trying to beat the Top-10 teams the past couple years and find the consistency to get that done and we were able to do that tonight. We hope we can come out the same way if not better tomorrow against Kentucky."
Washington came out focused and captured the doubles point with a major upset in the No. 1 match. The 24th-ranked Husky tandem of Kyle McMorrow and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan took a quick 4-0 lead over Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo, the No. 1-ranked doubles duo in the country. Meantime, Obenaus and senior Martin Kildahl completed an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles over Ore and Grigorov. A&M then took the No. 3 match, bringing it down to No. 1 for the point.
The Aggie pair won the most recent national tourney, taking the 2010 National Indoor Championships this past November. "It was easy to see why they're ranked No. 1," said Anger. They got one service break back and closed to 7-6, but McMorrow stepped up and served out the match at love to put UW up 1-0 overall.
McMorrow's strong play continued in to singles, where he was the first player off the court with a very impressive 6-3, 6-2 win over 49th-ranked Dadamo. Washington then opened up a 3-0 lead as freshman Daniel Schmidt posted the biggest win of his young career, defeating Alexey Grigorov at the No. 4 spot, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Texas A&M rallied back with close wins at first and third singles. Kildahl served for his first set against 121st-ranked Alexis Klegou, but Klegou rallied back to win the first set in a tiebreak, and pulled away for a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win. At the No. 1 match, Nedunchezhiyan faced 29th-ranked Krajicek. The UW senior came through with a 6-3 second set win after Krajicek took the first, 6-4, but Krajicek turned things again for a 6-2 third set win for A&M's second point.
That left Obenaus and sophomore Marton Bots trying to close it out for UW. Bots split his first two sets with Alberto Bautista at No. 6, each one going to a tiebreaker, with Bots winning the second. Obenaus pulled out a marathon tiebreak first set against Colin Hoover at the No. 5 spot. He then broke and held for a 4-1 lead in the second. Hoover hung in to make it 5-3, but Obenaus served it out on his second match point. Bots had to abandon his match at 3-3 in the third set.
It was UW's first win over a Top-10 team since the 2008 season, the last time they hosted ITA National Team Indoors, when they had a victory over 10th-ranked Alabama.
Washington will wrap up its ITA National Team Indoor run tomorrow night against Kentucky, the No. 12 seeds, in a 6 p.m. match at the Nordstrom.
Washington Men's Tennis
Seattle, Wash. - Nordstrom Tennis Center
February 19, 2011
ITA National Team Indoor Championships - Consolation
No. 29 Washington 4, No. 10 Texas A&M 2
Doubles
1) (24) McMorrow/Nedunchezhiyan (UW) def. (1) Krajicek/Dadamo (TAMU), 8-6
2) (67) Kildahl/Obenaus (UW) def. Ore/Grigorov (TAMU), 8-5
3) (57) Hoover/Bautista (TAMU) def. Bots/Schmidt (UW), 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1) (29) Austin Krajicek (TAMU) def. (66) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (UW), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
2) (42) Kyle McMorrow (UW) def. (49) Jeff Dadamo (TAMU), 6-3, 6-2
3) (121) Alexis Klegou (TAMU) def. (125) Martin Kildahl (UW), 7-6 (4), 6-2
4) Daniel Schmidt (UW) def. Alexey Grigorov (TAMU), 7-6 (4), 6-3
5) Tobi Obenaus (UW) def. Colin Hoover (TAMU), 7-6 (5), 6-3
6) Marton Bots (UW) vs. Alberto Bautista (TAMU), 6-7, 7-6, 3-3 DNF
Order of finish: 2, 4, 3, 1, 5
ITA National Team Indoor Championships
Saturday, Feb. 19th - Second Round
Nordstrom Tennis Center
(3) Tennessee def. (6) UCLA), 4-1
(15) Duke def. (10) Florida, 4-1
(4) Ohio State def. (5) Texas, 4-1
(1) Virginia def. (8) Illinois, 4-1
Consolation Draw
Nordstrom Tennis Center
6:00 PM (16) Washington def. (9) Texas A&M, 4-2
Seattle Tennis Club
(14) Georgia def. (11) Louisville, 4-1
(7) Stanford def. (2) USC, 4-3
(12) Kentucky def. (13) Texas Tech, 4-1
Players Mentioned
