The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma State
No. 5 Men's Tennis overpowers No. 23 Oklahoma State, 6-1
03.28.2008 | Men's Tennis
AUSTIN, Texas -- In a match featuring singles play preceding the doubles session due to the possibility of inclement weather, No. 5 Texas (14-3, 1-0) took five of six singles matches to clinch the match before seizing the doubles point on its way to a 6-1 victory over No. 23 Oklahoma State (9-6, 1-1) Friday at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
"This was a nice win over a tremendous team," UT coach Michael Center said. "I was really pleased to see Miguel (Reyes Varela) play so well. Overall, it was a nice start to the conference season."
Freshman Kellen Damico put Texas on the board with an easy 6-2, 6-0 victory at singles over 34th-ranked Ivan Puchkarov, and the Longhorns tacked on to their lead when junior Miguel Reyes Varela defeated Mark Kepler by a 6-3, 6-2 count at sixth singles. Oklahoma State rebounded with a win at first singles, but the Longhorns swept the remaining three singles matches to clinch the team victory.
Senior Milan Mihailovic knocked off Anton Bobytskyi by a 6-2, 6-4 count at fifth singles, and senior Luis Diaz Barriga clinched the match with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win at fourth singles over Nathan Byrnes. Freshman Ed Corrie ended the singles session at third singles with a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 win over 115th-ranked Dmytro Petrov to stake Texas to a 5-1 lead.
OSU scored a doubles win at the first slot, but Texas took the two remaining doubles matches to take the doubles point and finish off the 6-1 victory.
Texas resumes competition on Sunday, March 30 when it hosts Oklahoma at 1 p.m. Central.
No. 5 Texas 6, No. 23 Oklahoma State 1
Doubles - Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
1. Byrnes/Nedovyesov (OSU) def. No. 12 Corrie/Damico (UT) - 8-2
2. No. 44 Diaz Barriga/Reyes Varela (UT) def. Puchkarov/Petrov (OSU) - 8-5
3. Kutrovsky/Zavala (UT) def. Bobytskyi/Kepler (OSU) - 8-4
Singles - Order of Finish: 2, 6, 1, 5, 4*, 3
1. No. 11 Oleksandr Nedovyesov (OSU) def. No. 33 Dimitar Kutrovsky (UT) - 6-3, 6-4
2. No. 22 Kellen Damico (UT) def. 34 Ivan Puchkarov (OSU) - 6-2, 6-0
3. No. 36 Ed Corrie (UT) def. No. 115 Dmytro Petrov (OSU) - 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3
4. No. 74 Luis Diaz Barriga (UT) def. Nathan Byrnes (OSU) - 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
5. Milan Mihailovic (UT) def. Anton Bobytskyi (OSU) - 6-2, 6- 4
6. Miguel Reyes-Varela (UT) def. Mark Kepler (OSU) - 6-3, 6-2
