Novikov upsets top seed; Virginia, Cal advance

Dennis Novikov, shown in 2015, ousted top seed
Ernesto Escobedo today in the quarterfinals of the
$75,000 Tempe (Ariz.) Challenger. Photo by
Paul Bauman

   No. 7 seed Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area knocked off No. 1 Ernesto Escobedo of West Covina in the Los Angeles region 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4 today in the quarterfinals of the $75,000 Tempe (Ariz.) Challenger.
   Novikov, 23, saved both break points against him, blasted 10 aces and committed only one double fault. Escobedo, 20, had 13 aces and eight double faults.
   Novikov, ranked No. 179, will meet unseeded countryman Tennys Sandgren, ranked No. 198, for the first time on Saturday. Sandgren, 25, ousted No. 5 seed Marco Trungelliti of Argentina 6-3, 7-5.  
   In the other semifinal, sixth-seeded Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia will play unseeded Nikola Milojevic of Serbia.
   Denys Molchanov of Ukraine and Novikov, seeded first in doubles, lost to unseeded Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Jose Hernandez-Fernandez of the Dominican Republic 2-6, 6-3 [12-10] in the semifinals.
   College -- No. 1 seed and host Virginia, the two-time defending NCAA champion, blitzed No. 16 Utah State 4-0 in the first round of the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va.
   Collin Altamirano, a junior from Sacramento, led Jack Swindells 6-1, 4-3 on Court 1 when the match was abandoned. Altamirano and J.C. Aragone won in doubles on Court 3.
   The Cavaliers will play No. 8 UCLA, which edged No. 9 USC 4-3, in Saturday's quarterfinals. The Bruins' Logan Staggs, a junior from Tracy, lost to 119th-ranked Jack Jaede of the Trojans on Court 5 to tie the score 3-3. Martin Redlicki, ranked 73rd, won the deciding match on Court 1. Staggs did not play doubles.
   No. 4 Cal, with Billy Griffith of Fresno and J.T. Nishimura of San Jose, beat No. 13 Baylor 4-2. Griffth, ranked 40th, routed Jimmy Bendeck 6-1, 6-2 on Court 4. Nishimura lost to Constantin Frantzen 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Court 6. Griffith won on Court 2 in doubles, but Nishimura lost on Court 3.
   The Bears will face No. 4 seed and defending champion North Carolina, which topped No. 12 Georgia 4-2.
   In the ITA National Women's Indoor Championships in New Haven, Conn., No. 1 seed Florida  defeated North Carolina 4-2 on Monday for the title. No. 7 Cal lost to the Tar Heels 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
   Texas Tech's Felicity Maltby, a sophomore from Sunnyvale, was named to the all-tournament team at No. 3 doubles with junior Gabriela Talaba. They went 2-0.