University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Sweep Tulsa 7-0 in Night Match
February 10, 2017 | Men's Tennis
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Behind a strong effort across the courts, the Tennessee men's tennis team shut out Tulsa 7-0 on Friday night at Goodfriend Tennis Center.
In their only indoor night match of the season, the Vols (7-2) won the doubles point and collected straight-set victories from freshman Scott Jones, senior Jack Schipanski and sophomore Srdjan Jakovljevic to clinch the match at 4-0.
Sophomore Timo Stodder delivered a pair of top-25 wins for the Vols. After the team match was clinched, he earned the biggest win of his career with a 7-6(6), 7-6 victory over No. 23 Or Ram-Harel and also picked up a ranked win with Scott Jones to clinch the doubles point on court 2.
It was the Vols' second shutout of the season. Tulsa (4-5) had lost its other four matches this season to top-25 opponents and defeated then-No. 4 Texas earlier this year.
Tennessee finishes the weekend with a Sunday match at Duke, beginning at 1 p.m.
The Vols started the evening quickly in doubles. Schipanski and junior Luis Valero collected a 6-1 win on court 1. Minutes later, Stodder and Jones defeated 23rd-ranked Ram-Harel and Majed Kilani 6-2, the Vol duo's fourth top-25 win this season.
In singles, Tennessee won four of six first sets and started putting points on the scoreboard. Jones defeated Dominic Bechard 6-2, 6-1 on court 3, Schipanski beat Okkie Kellerman 6-1, 6-3 on court 5 and Jakovljevic clinched on court 4 with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Mitchell Pritchard.
TENNESSEE 7, TULSA 0
Singles
1. #118 Timo Stodder, UT, def. #23 Or Ram-Harel, Tulsa, 7-6(6), 7-5
2. Luis Valero, UT, def. #115 Majed Kilani, Tulsa, 5-7, 7-6(1), [10-5]
3. Scott Jones, UT, def. Dominic Bechard, Tulsa, 6-2, 6-1
4. Srdjan Jakovljevic, UT, def. Mitchell Pritchard, Tulsa, 6-1, 6-4
5. Jack Schipanski, UT, def. Okkie Kellerman, Tulsa, 6-1, 6-3
6. Luca Wiedenmann, UT, def. Jarod Hing, Tulsa, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
1. #24 Valero/Schipanski, UT, def. Bechard/Kellerman, Tulsa, 6-1
2. #29 Jones/Stodder, UT, def. #23 Kilani/Ram-Harel, Tulsa, 6-2
3. Jakovljevic/Wiedenmann, UT, vs. Hing/Santos, Tulsa, 3-5 unf.
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,5,4).
QUOTES
Head Coach Sam Winterbotham: "It was great to see the guys really enjoying tonight's match. They were definitely up for it as a team. It was exciting to watch how hard everyone competed on every court. It's something we pride ourselves in as a program. Special things happen when we do that. You can see the confidence is growing."
Sophomore Srdjan Jakovljevic "My serve hasn't been great lately, but my forehand is like it usually is and my backhand is improving. I feel like I'm back to playing good tennis. Honestly I didn't know I clinched the match until it was done and I looked at the scoreboard. It felt great though."
Senior Jack Schipanski: "It was a great night for us to come out like we did in doubles. We got on top of them early and carried it into singles. Three guys were able to roll with it, and the three guys at the end fought hard to close it out. For me, it's been a solid start. Compared to last year, it's a big improvement. Senior year, last go around, you know? You want to play well. I'm trying to enjoy every match. It's been fun playing tennis with these guys.
"I don't think I faced break points on my serve, but I had chances to break early in deciding points in the third set and missed two of them on a backhand just barely. Deuce points can be momentum swingers, but I settled back down. When the big points came around, I was feeling confident in my plan."