The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Alabama
Men's Tennis blanks Alabama, earns 300th win for Center
02.16.2008 | Men's Tennis
SEATTLE -- No. 7 Texas claimed the doubles point and picked up singles victories from freshman Kellen Damico and seniors Milan Mihailovic and Luis Diaz Barriga, as the Longhorns scored a 4-0 victory over No. 10 Alabama in the opening round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. The win marks the 300th career victory for head coach Michael Center, the 2007 USPTA National College Coach of the Year.
Texas advances to Saturday's tournament quarterfinals where it will take on second-seeded Georgia, the defending NCAA Champion. The match gets underway at 7:30 p.m. Central at the University of Washington's Nordstrom Tennis Center.
The Longhorns clinched the doubles point by collecting wins from the first and third doubles slots. Freshmen Ed Corrie and Damico defeated Matt Thibaudeau and Dan Buikema at the first slot by an 8-6 margin, and Texas nailed down the point when sophomores Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala scored an 8-6 win at No. 3 over Sammy Struyf and Javier Bes.
UT pushed its lead to 2-0 when Damico defeated Thibaudeau at the second slot, 6-2, 6-1. Texas assumed a 3-0 cushion when Mihailovic tallied a 6-2, 6-3 win at sixth singles over Bes. The Longhorns clinched the match when Diaz Barriga knocked off Michael Jung at the fourth slot, 6-4, 6-3.
ITA National Team Indoor Championship - Round of 16
No. 7 Texas 4, No. 10 Alabama 0
Doubles - Order of Finish: 1, 3
1. Corrie/Damico (UT) def. Matt Thibaudeau/Buikema (UA) - 8-6
2. Chodkiewicz/Diaz Barriga (UT) vs. Saketh Myneni/Michael Jung (UA) - 6-6, susp.
3. Kutrovsky/Zavala (UT) def. Sammy Struyf/Javier Bes (UA) - 8-6
Singles - Order of Finish: 2, 6, 4
1. Dimitar Kutrovsky (UT) vs. Saketh Myneni (UA) - 6-4, 4-6, susp.
2. Kellen Damico (UT) def. Matt Thibaudeau (UA) - 6-2, 6-1
3. Ed Corrie (UT) vs. Sammy Struyf (UA) - 6-2, 5-3, susp.
4. Luis Diaz Barriga (UT) def. Michael Jung (UA) - 6-4, 6-3
5. Josh Zavala (UT) vs. Dan Buikema (UA) - 6-4, 4-5, susp.
6. Milan Mihailovic (UT) def. Javier Bes (UA) - 6-2, 6-3
