USTA College Tennis
Top 25: Feb. 28, 2018
February 28, 2018
The Illinois women's tennis team likely came away from the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic feeling neither blue nor gray, as the Illini won two matches against ranked teams in the same day to capture the Blue Gray title and catapult from No. 20 to No. 12 in the latest USTA College Tennis Top 25.
Junior Jaclyn Switkes (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) was named MVP of the tournament for the Illini, which defeated Yale on Friday, then on Saturday took down No. 14 Auburn in the morning and No. 16 Wake Forest in the afternoon to move to 10-1 on the year. While Illinois made the biggest jump in the polls, Georgia Tech made a significant move into the Top 5, with wins over then-No. 5 Georgia and No. 19 Florida State, thanks in part to singles and doubles victories in each match from senior Johnnise Renaud (North Miami, Fla.).
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In the men's poll, Oklahoma rose from No. 22 to No. 17, thanks to its 4-3 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday's College MatchDay at the USTA National Campus, a match clinched in dramatic fashion by Sooner freshman Jake Van Emburgh (Belleair Beach, Fla.) over 17th-ranked Valentin Vacherot, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Each team's point total, specified below, is the sum of its ranking points from the USTA's panel of 11 voters (listed below). Each voter ranked 25 teams from Nos. 1 to 25, with the first-place team receiving 25 points and the last-place team receiving one. For control, the highest and lowest outlying ranking for each team on the ballot was removed. Therefore, the maximum number of points a team can receive is 225. First-place votes were not tallied.
The next College MatchDay at the USTA National Campus will be a dual men's and women's event, with the UCF and Michigan men and women playing simultaneously at 12:30 p.m. ET. Each College MatchDay will air live on Tennis Channel this season. Find the full College MatchDay schedule and more at the USTA's College Tennis page.
USTA College Top 25 - Men
Rank (Last Week)
1. (1) Wake Forest – 225
2. (2) UCLA – 214
3. (3) Ohio State – 203
4. (4) Stanford – 201
5. (6) North Carolina – 188
6. (7) USC – 179
7. (5) Texas A&M – 170
8. (8) Georgia – 165
9. (10) Columbia – 153
10. (11) Oklahoma State – 138
11. (9) Illinois – 129
12. (12) Florida State – 124
13. (14) Baylor – 110
14. (15) Texas – 105
15. (13) Florida – 98
16. (16) Michigan – 97
17. (22) Oklahoma – 78
18. (18) Mississippi State – 72
19. (17) TCU – 66
20. (19) Duke – 61
21. (21) Mississippi – 42
22. (23) Tulane – 23
T23. (20) Notre Dame – 21
T23. (T24) Vanderbilt – 21
25. (NR) Kentucky – 9
Receiving Votes: Arizona State 8, Alabama 3, Tennessee 3.
Dropped Out: Dartmouth.
USTA College Top 25 - Women
Rank (Last Week)
1. (1) North Carolina – 222
2. (2) Pepperdine – 217
3. (3) Vanderbilt – 208
4. (4) Duke – 194
5. (6) Georgia Tech – 190
6. (7) Texas Tech – 177
7. (5) Georgia – 175
8. (8) Mississippi – 158
9. (11) UCLA – 144
10. (T9) Oklahoma State – 138
11. (T14) Florida – 122
12. (20) Illinois – 112
13. (12) Texas – 111
14. (13) South Carolina – 108
15. (T9) Stanford – 107
16. (T14) Auburn – 91
17. (16) Wake Forest – 88
18. (18) Ohio State – 81
19. (19) Florida State – 60
20. (17) California – 42
T21. (21) Michigan – 36
T21. (23) Kentucky – 36
23. (NR) Northwestern – 29
24. (25) Princeton – 15
25. (24) LSU – 13
Receiving Votes: Tennessee 9, Virginia Tech 8, Arizona State 3, Oregon 2.
Dropped Out: Arizona State.
Voting Panel: Casey Angle (former Intercollegiate Tennis Association Director of Championships); Jordan Bishop (The News Press; Stillwater, Okla.); Virgil Christian (USTA Collegiate Tennis); Richard Croome (The Eagle; Bryan, Texas); Sonny Dearth (Daily Press; Newport News, Va.); Granger Huntress (Texas College Tennis and University of Texas Director of the Center for Research and Analytics); Randy Jenks (Universal Tennis Ratings); Bobby Knight (College Tennis Today); Dallas Oliver (Tennis Recruiting Network); Michael Patrick (former University of Tennessee women’s head coach) and Lisa Stone (Parenting Aces).
Previous Top 25 polls:
(Photo courtesy of Georgia Tech)