University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
#66 Clemson
Vols Win Decisive Doubles to Beat Clemson
February 25, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 25, 2012
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- There's the college tennis adage that the doubles point decides matches.
In most cases, the doubles point helps. In Tennessee's match against Clemson on Friday at the Blue Gray Classic, it was vital.
With the rain altering the playing schedule, Tennessee and Clemson played the singles matches first instead of doubles to save time. After splitting the six singles matches, the Vols pulled out a pair of doubles tiebreaker victories to get the doubles point to beat Clemson 4-3 at the O'Connor Tennis Courts.
The Vols received strong production from the lower half of the lineup. Junior Edward Jones breezed through his match on court 5, beating Zachary Rigsby 6-3, 6-1. After getting a victory to conclude the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, Taylor Patrick picked up where he left off and defeated Wes Moran 6-2, 6-0 on court 6.
Hunter Reese provided Tennessee's third point in singles. He won six games in a row in the second set to beat Dominique Maden 6-4, 6-3 and snap a three-match losing skid.
Clemson forced the doubles point to be played by getting wins by Yannick Maden on court 1, Gerardo Meza on court 2 and Ayrton Wibowo on court 4.
Both teams were up and down during the deciding doubles point with the Vols playing new teams on courts 2 and 3. Jarryd Chaplin and Brandon Fickey teamed up on court 2, and senior Bryan Swartz return to the lineup to play with Jones on 3.
The two new pairings provided the wins for Tennessee. After Fickey and Chaplin failed to convert serving for the match at 8-7, they stormed back in the tiebreaker to win 8-6 against Meza and Cedric Willems.
On court 3, Jones and Swartz fought off a match point in the tiebreaker, and Tennessee lone senior delivered the match victory at 8-6 with a winner up the middle.
Tennessee plays Texas Tech at 5 p.m. Central.
Tennessee 4, Clemson 3
Singles
1. #75 Yannick Maden (Clemson) def. #81 Mikelis Libietis (UT), 7-6, 6-3
2. Gerardo Meza (Clemson) def. Brandon Fickey (UT), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
3. Hunter Reese (UT) def. Dominique Maden (Clemson), 6-4, 6-3
4. Ayrton Wibowo (Clemson) def. Jarryd Chaplin (UT), 6-1, 6-4
5. Edward Jones (UT) def. Zachary Rigsby (Clemson), 6-3, 6-1
6. Taylor Patrick (UT) def. Wes Moran (Clemson), 6-2, 6-0
Doubles
1. #41 Mikelis Libietis/Hunter Reese (UT) vs. Y. Maden/Rigsby (Clemson), 8-8 DNF
2. Jarryd Chaplin/Brandon Fickey (UT) def. Meza/Willems (Clemson), 9-8 (6)
3. Edward Jones/Bryan Swartz (UT) def. D. Maden/Moran, 9-8 (6)
Order of Finish: Singles (4,5,6,1,3,2): Doubles (2,3)
Players Mentioned
