Wake Forest Athletics
Deacs Hit the Road to Face No. 2 Tennessee
2/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 26, 2011
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-3) will face their toughest test of the non-conference season when they travel to Knoxville, Tenn. to face No. 2 Tennessee on Sunday. The match against the Volunteers is set to begin at 1 p.m.
The players not in the lineup for both teams will face off in two rounds of individual matches on Saturday and Sunday that are ITA sanctioned and will count towards individual rankings.
Last Time Out...
The Demon Deacons took the doubles point and got singles wins from Tripper Carleton, Danny Kreyman and Iain Atkinson to edge No. 35 LSU 4-3 at the Indoor Tennis Center in Winston-Salem.
Kreyman and Jonathan Wolff cruised to an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles, and Zach Leslie and David Hopkins clinched the point with an 8-5 victory at No. 3. The Deacs came points away from a doubles sweep, as Carleton and Atkinson fell in a tiebreak to 14th-ranked Neal Skupski and Sebastian Carlsson.
Wake got quick straight-set wins from Atkinson at No. 4 and Kreyman at No. 3, but the clinching point would not come as easily. LSU's Tom Knights got the Tigers on the board with a victory at No. 6, before Carleton clinched the match for Wake Forest by knocking off No. 88 Skupski at the top position.
Moving On Up
Sunday's win over then-No. 35 LSU pushed the Demon Deacons up a couple spots in the ITA rankings to No. 35. Wake started the season ranked No. 22 but slid into the 30s after dropping a couple matches with an illness-weakened lineup.
Wolff and Carleton Ranked in Singles
Wake Forest has two representatives in the most recent ITA singles rankings, which were released two weeks ago. Senior Jonathan Wolff occupies the No. 67 spot in the rankings and sophomore Tripper Carleton is ranked No. 123.
Wolff has peaked during his senior season, posting a 13-8 record, including seven wins over ranked opponents. His best win of the season came in the fall when he took down then-No. 25 Jason Jung of Michigan at the All-American Championships.
Carleton got the dual season off to a slow start while fighting off a bout of pneumonia, but looked to be back in form this past weekend when he defeated LSU's 88th-ranked Neal Skupski. The Jenkintown, Pa. native has played the last two matches at the No. 1 position for the Demon Deacons. One of Carleton's ranked wins this fall came against Tennessee's Tennys Sandgren at the UVA Ranked Plus One Invitational.
Road Woes
Wake Forest will be looking for its first road win of the season this season against Tennessee. The Deacons are 0-3 on the road this year, though all three of those losses came when they were forced to trot out a depleted lineup due to a virus that swept through the team. Wake hasn't been completely shutout away from home this year as the Deacs recorded a 4-0 neutral site win over Wisconsin in Lexington, Ky.
Scouting the Volunteers
Tennessee (9-1) is one of the hottest teams in the country and enters Sunday's match against Wake Forest ranked No. 2 nationally. Last weekend the Volunteers made a run to the finals of the ITA National Indoor Championship, despite playing all but the championship match without normal No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles player Tennys Sandgren, who was out with an illness. On its way to the finals, Tennessee beat No. 12 Georgia, No. 5 UCLA, and No. 6 Duke. The Vols were shutout by No. 1 Virginia in the title match.
Tennessee's singles lineup boasts the top-ranked singles player in the country in Rhyne Williams, No. 17 John-Patrick Smith, No. 46 Tennys Sandgren, No. 68 Mateo Fago, and No. 119 Boris Conkic. The Vols can also put out a top 10 doubles team in No. 8 Smith/Conkic.
Last Time Against Tennessee - Feb. 28, 2010
Last season the Demon Deacons also took on a No. 2-ranked Tennessee side, although that match took place at Leighton Stadium in Winston-Salem. Over 300 fans braved to cold weather to see the Deacons come up just short of the biggest win in the history of the program, as they fell 4-3 to the Volunteers.
Tennessee took the doubles point, but Wake Forest took the first three singles matches to jump out to a 3-1 lead. Steven Forman cruised past Boris Conkic 6-1, 6-4, at No. 2, Iain Atkinson defeated Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4 and Jonathan Wolff took down Rhyne Williams 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3. Two of the remaining matches went the full three sets, but the Deacs were unable to earn the deciding point, having the best chance at the top position where Tripper Carleton fell 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to then-No. 2 John-Patrick Smith.
Series History vs. the Vols
Tennessee has had the upper hand in its all-time series with Wake Forest, as the Deacons trail 1-9. The Demon Deacons took the first match between the two teams back in 1975, but have been unable to find the win column since.
What's Next...
The Demon Deacons will return to Winston-Salem for a home doubleheader on March 5. Wake will face William & Mary at 1 p.m. before taking on Davidson at 5 p.m.
Twitter
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