Men’s Tennis Upsets No. 18 Tennessee at ITA Kickoff, 4-2

Saturday, January 26

Tallahassee, Fla.

11 AM

Tulane University

Tennessee

Men’s Tennis Upsets No. 18 Tennessee at ITA Kickoff, 4-2

Jan 26, 2019 | Men's Tennis

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Despite dropping the doubles point, the Tulane men's tennis team rallied back with a dominant effort in singles to upset 18th-ranked Tennessee, 4-2, on the first day of ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center.

The Green Wave (3-0) advance to Sunday's final at 10 a.m. (CST) where they will face host and 19th-ranked Florida State (8-0), which defeated Texas Tech, 4-1, on Saturday. The winner advances to the 2019 ITA National Team Indoor Championships which will take place Feb. 14-17 in Chicago.

Tulane has now won its opening round match in the ITA Kickoff event in four consecutive seasons.

"Our guys showed great resilience today in the face of a lot of adversity," director of tennis and head coach Mark Booras said. "After getting our teeth kicked in, in doubles, we bounced right back and won five of six first sets to regain some momentum. Then, we just fought like crazy and kept investing in the process until the end. Tomorrow's battle will be even tougher, so we'll need to recover well and put it all on the line again."

Tennessee (2-1) took control early with dominant performances on courts one and three in doubles, claiming respective 6-2 wins to take a 1-0 lead in the overall match.

The Green Wave flipped the momentum on its head to start singles however, winning the first set on courts one through five to pin the Volunteers' backs to the wall. Senior and 58th-ranked Tyler Schick was first to finish, scoring a convincing 7-5, 6-2 victory from the No. 5 spot in the lineup over Preston Touliatos to tie the team score, 1-1.

Tulane took its first lead of the day when junior Dane Esses closed out No. 4 singles in three sets, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, against Pat Harper, but Tennessee punched right back with a three-set win of its own on court three.

With all three remaining singles matches in third sets, the Green Wave seized their opportunity to finish it off when junior and 42nd-ranked Luis Erlenbusch wrapped up No. 2 singles with a tough, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over 75th-ranked Scott Jones to put the Olive and Blue in front for good.

Junior Ewan Moore grabbed an early edge at No. 1 singles against 45th-ranked Timo Stodder, but dropped the second frame, 7-6(2), as the match moved to a deciding third column. The entire third set remained on-serve all the way to a tiebreaker, where Moore held on, 8-6, to clinch the match.

Tulane 4, #18 Tennessee 2

Singles competition
1. Ewan Moore (TLN) def. #45 Timo Stodder (UT) 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (8-6)
2. #42 Luis Erlenbusch (TLN) def. #75 Scott Jones (UT) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
3. #106 Adam Walton (UT) def. Hamish Stewart (TLN) 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
4. Dane Esses (TLN) def. Pat Harper (UT) 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
5. #58 Tyler Schick (TLN) def. Preston Touliatos (UT) 7-5, 6-2
6. Luca Wiedenmann (UT) vs. #125 Tim Ruetzel (TLN) 6-1, 5-7, 6-5, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. Pat Harper/Preston Touliatos (UT) def. Hamish Stewart/Ewan Moore (TLN) 6-2
2. Adam Walton/Timo Stodder (UT) vs. Luis Erlenbusch/Tyler Schick (TLN) 4-4, unfinished
3. Martim Prata/Andrew Rogers (UT) def. Akos Kotorman/Tim Ruetzel (TLN) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,4,3,2,1)

FOLLOW THE GREEN WAVE
Follow Tulane men's tennis on Twitter and Facebook (@GreenWaveMTenn), as well as Instagram (@TulaneMTennis) for behind the scenes coverage of the program.

WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.