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Texas A&M
No. 7 Men's Tennis edges Texas A&M, 4-3, clinches share of Big 12 title
04.19.2008 | Men's Tennis
AUSTIN, Texas -- No. 7 Texas (19-4, 5-1 Big 12) overcame a loss in the doubles session and an injury in doubles play to freshman Kellen Damico to topple No. 23 Texas A&M (11-10, 2-4) Saturday evening, as senior Luis Diaz Barriga came through on Senior Day to clinch a 4-3 victory for the Longhorns at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
The win clinches a share of the Big 12 Conference regular-season title for the Longhorns and puts Texas in position to earn a first-round bye in next week's Big 12 Championship. A Baylor win over Texas Tech on Saturday evening in Waco would give the first-round bye to Texas; Texas Tech would take the top tournament's top seed and the first-round bye should it defeat Baylor.
Texas earns another point in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown standings, where the Aggies hold a 7.0-6.5 lead. The Texas men's and women's teams have swept the SFLSS tennis points for a second consecutive season.
"It was an incredibly hard-fought match on both sides," UT coach Michael Center said. "We haven't won a match after losing the doubles point. I've got to give the Aggies credit because they played a fantastic match. They refused to go away."
Texas and Texas A&M split doubles matches at the first and third positions, leaving the fate of the doubles point to be decided at the second slot. Wil Spencer and Mike Beatty outlasted UT's Diaz Barriga and Miguel Reyes Varela, 8-6, to nail down the 1-0 lead for the Aggies.
Texas sophomore Josh Zavala evened the tally at one with a win at sixth singles, as he took down Kayvon Karimi by a 6-3, 6-2 count. Texas assumed the lead at 2-1 when 45th-ranked freshman Ed Corrie dealt Austin Krajicek a 6-4, 6-4 defeat at second singles.
UT pushed its lead to 3-1 when senior Milan Mihailovic, playing his final regular-season match at Penick-Allison Tennis Center, topped Texas A&M's Matt Bain, 7-5, 6-1 at fifth singles, but the Aggies would rally to even the match.
Texas A&M's Chris Chirico defeated UT's Reyes Varela by a 6-4, 6-4 count at fourth singles, and Aggie junior Conor Pollock outlasted UT sophomore Dimitar Kutrovsky at first singles, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to even the tally at three, leaving the match to be decided by Texas' Diaz Barriga and Texas A&M's Spencer.
Diaz Barriga held a 7-5, 5-3 lead before Spencer rallied to take the next four games and push the match to a third set. Diaz Barriga broke Spencer's serve immediately in the third set before holding serve to take a 2-0 lead. Spencer held serve in the next game, as did Diaz Barriga, but Spencer yielded his serve in the following game to give Diaz Barriga a 4-1 lead. Serving at 5-2, Diaz Barriga utilized three match points to finish off Spencer and register a 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 win.
"It was an unbelievable feeling to be able to clinch this match for this great team that we have right now," Diaz Barriga said. "For Milan and I to be able to get the third and fourth points for us in this match...it was just an unbelievable thing to do that on Senior Day. I couldn't have asked for anything more than to beat Texas A&M, 4-3, to clinch the Big 12 title. In the end, I was ready to stay out there as long as it took. I'm really proud of this team."
Center was quick to laud the play of his battle-tested seniors in Mihailovic and Diaz Barriga.
"Those two guys have won a lot of matches for us," Center said. "They are great competitors, and they knew their moment had come. They are tenacious, and once again, they came through, as they have their whole careers."
The Big 12 Men's Tennis Championship runs Friday, April 25 through Sunday, April 27 at Texas A&M's Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station. Should Texas earn a first-round bye with a Baylor victory Saturday evening over Texas Tech, the Horns would open play on Saturday, April 26 in the Big 12 semifinals.
No. 7 Texas 4, No. 23 Texas A&M 3
Doubles - Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
1. No. 22 Krajicek/Pollock (TAMU) def. No. 6 Corrie/Damico (UT) - 8-4
2. Spencer/Beatty (TAMU) def. No. 35 Diaz Barriga/Reyes Varela (UT) - 8-6
3. Kutrovsky/Zavala (UT) def. Chirico/Bain (TAMU) - 8-4
Singles - Order of Finish: 6, 2, 5, 4, 1, 3
1. No. 28 Conor Pollock (TAMU) def. No. 17 Dimitar Kutrovsky (UT) - 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4
2. No. 45 Ed Corrie (UT) def. Austin Krajicek (TAMU) - 6-4, 6-4
3. No. 115 Luis Diaz Barriga (UT) def. Wil Spencer (TAMU) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
4. Chris Chirico (TAMU) def. Miguel Reyes Varela (UT) - 6-4, 6-4
5. Milan Mihailovic (UT) def. Matt Bain (TAMU) - 7-5, 6-1
6. Josh Zavala (UT) def. Kayvon Karimi (TAMU) - 6-3, 6-2
