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Huskies Take No. 9 Georgia To Brink In 4-3 Loss

by gohuskies.com
Feb 19, 2022

ITA NATIONAL TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Friday, Feb. 18 - Monday, Feb. 21
Nordstrom Tennis Center and Seattle Tennis Club

Tournament Home Page (Bracket, Live Score Links, Live Video Links)

Admission: Tickets are $10 per day at the Nordstrom Tennis Center or $25 for the full tournament. Students and children are free.

Consolation Play
Sunday, Feb. 20
(16) Washington vs. (12) Virginia, 6:30 p.m., Nordstrom
Live Scores | Live Video

SEATTLE – Led by two victories over top-25 opponents from Clement Chidekh and Ewen Lumsden, Washington took No. 9 Georgia the distance tonight at the Nordstrom Tennis Center, but the Bulldogs hung on for the 4-3 win in consolation play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
 
The Huskies (8-2) built on their solid showing last night against the No. 1 team in the country and top seed in the tournament, Ohio State, but came up just one dual point shy of the breakthrough win they are seeking. Washington split the six singles matches against a loaded Georgia team that featured a lineup of five ranked singles players, and three in the top-25.
 
But whenever there's a 4-3 decision and the singles matches were split, one team looks back on doubles play with regret, and Head Coach Matt Anger was feeling that tonight, as the doubles point came down to the last match, and a tiebreaker that Georgia was able to win for the 1-0 lead.
 
"We had a couple of details in the doubles point that I look back on now, that we didn't quite execute, and here we are three hours later and those details are costly," said Anger. "You never know where a turning point is. We played a lot of good doubles again tonight, but a couple things cost us."
 
Last night, UW grabbed the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 over the top-two ranked tandems in the current ITA rankings. Tonight, UW struck first as Ewen Lumsden and Cesar Bouchelaghem quickly earned a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles over Croyder and Grevelius of Georgia. At No. 2 doubles, Georgia evened it with a 6-4 win, as Chidekh and Nedim Suko fell, 6-4, to Bryde/Henning.
 
The No. 1 match went down to the wire, as Jack Davis and Brandon Wong headed into a breaker at 6-6 with Hamish Stewart and Tristan McCormick. Davis and Wong took a 3-2 lead, but the Georgia pair then reeled off five points in a row to win it, 7-3, and clinch the doubles point.
 
Singles play was tight up and down the lineup, but Georgia got the first one on the board at No. 3 as McCormick, ranked 101st, beat Davis, 6-2, 6-2.
 
Second-ranked Chidekh, whose chance at a top-10 win had to be abandoned on Friday, put his foot on the gas tonight when he got a lead against 19th-ranked Stewart of Georgia, and he completed the 6-3, 6-1 win on the No. 1 court to get the Huskies on the board.
 

 
Lumsden then got a top-25 win of his own, as he won a tight first set in a tiebreak and then bageled 25th-ranked Philip Henning in the second set to tie the match up at 2-2.
 
Georgia retook the lead on court four, where 23rd-ranked Trent Bryde edged out Han-Chih Lin, 6-4, 6-3. But the Dawgs answered on court six, where Cesar Bouchelaghem continued his great weekend with a 7-6 (4), 6-1 win over Thomas Paulsell. Bouchelaghem was up 4-2 in the third set against Ohio State when they had to stop the match, so the freshman continues to impress.
 

 
To keep things going, the Dawgs were hoping for freshman Nedim Suko to get a late break of serve and find a way to force a third set against 104th-ranked Blake Croyder at No. 5 singles. Suko had lost a tight first set, 5-7, and trailed 4-5 in set two with Croyder serving. But Croyder, a senior, took care of his serve and clinched the match for Georgia.
 
Said Anger on the match's end, "It's never fair when you can be the last guy on the court, if you lose you feel lousy and Nedim shouldn't, he played so hard and gave his all. He was bleeding purple blood, and I love his fight. And that's something I love about all our guys right now, it's a higher level of grit and fight than we've had."
 
The Huskies have a third top-10 battle on tap tomorrow night, back in the Nordstrom, again at 6:30 p.m., as they take on Virginia. The Cavaliers are ranked seventh nationally but seeded 12th in the tourney.
 
Semifinals of the main draw will pit No. 1 Ohio State against No. 5 TCU at 12 noon tomorrow, and No. 3 Tennessee against No. 2 Baylor at 3:30 p.m., both at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
 
"Every team in this tournament has these opportunities," said Anger. "Each day you have to look at like you would any great match on your schedule. Selfishly in our situation, where we are a team that's kind of coming on, a young team, this experience has been invaluable. There were more positives tonight but I'm hunting for four points on the board."
 
 
Washington Men's Tennis
ITA National Team Indoor Championships – Consolation
February 19, 2022
Nordstrom Tennis Center | Seattle, Wash.
 
Washington – 3
No. 9 Georgia – 4
 
Singles
1. (#2) Clement Chidekh (UW) def. (#19) Hamish Stewart (UGA) – 6-3, 6-1
2. Ewen Lumsden (UW) def. (#25) Philip Henning (UGA) – 7-6 (3), 6-0
3. (#101) Tristan McCormick (UGA) def. Jack Davis (UW) – 6-2, 6-2
4. (#23) Trent Bryde (UGA) def. Han-Chih Lin (UW) – 6-4, 6-3
5. (#104) Blake Croyder (UGA) def. Nedim Suko (UW) – 7-5, 6-4
6. Cesar Bouchelaghem (UW) def. Thomas Paulsell (UGA) – 7-6 (4), 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2, 4, 6, 5
 
Doubles
1. (#54) Stewart/McCormick (UGA) def. Davis/Wong (UW) – 7-6 (3)
2. (#50) Bryde/Henning (UGA) def. Chidekh/Suko (UW) – 6-4
3. Bouchelaghem/Lumsden (UW) def. Croyder/Grevelius (UGA) - 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1

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