The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Stanford
No. 11 Stanford edges No. 2 Men's Tennis, 4-3
02.14.2009 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 14, 2009
CHICAGO -- No. 2 Texas (6-1) collected the doubles point and singles victories from junior Josh Zavala and sophomore Ed Corrie, but No. 11 Stanford (6-0) edged the Longhorns by a 4-3 count Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Texas will complete tournament play on Sunday at 9 a.m. against the loser of Saturday's match between third-seeded Georgia and sixth-seeded USC.
Texas fought off a vigorous Stanford effort to capture the doubles point. For a second consecutive match, UT's third doubles duo of senior Miguel Reyes Varela and junior Olivier Sajous outmatched their opponent and delivered the first doubles win for Texas. The Texas tandem knocked off Stanford's Alex Clayton and Bradley Klahn by an 8-3 count.
At second doubles, Texas juniors Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala exchanged service holds with Stanford's Matt Bruch and Ryan Thacher until the Longhorns broke the Cardinal in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead. Stanford broke Texas in the ensuing game before holding in the next to take a 7-6 lead. Zavala held serve for Texas to even the match at seven games apiece, and UT broke once more in the following game to assume an 8-7 lead.
Kutrovsky's service kept Stanford at bay in the decisive game, as he served it out to win the match 9-7 and give the doubles point to Texas. UT sophomores Kellen Damico and Ed Corrie were tied at seven with Stanford's Richard Wire and Blake Muller when their match was suspended upon the clinching of the doubles point.
Stanford evened the match at one when Wire posted a 6-1, 6-2 win at fifth singles over UT's Sajous. The Cardinal took a 2-1 lead when Clayton defeated Kutrovsky by a 7-5, 6-2 count at first singles. Texas evened the tally at two when Zavala dealt Stanford's Muller a 6-4, 6-2 defeat at the sixth slot.
At fourth singles, Stanford's Thacher held a one-set and 5-2 second-set lead over Texas' Reyes Varela before the UT senior rallied to even the set at five games apiece. Thacher, however, took the final two games to finish the match and give Stanford a 3-2 lead.
At third singles, Texas' Corrie took the first set off of Stanford's Bruch, 6-3, but Bruch rallied to take the second, 6-4. Trailing 6-5 in the third set, Corrie broke Bruch's service to even the set at six games apiece and force the deciding tiebreaker. Tied at four, Corrie took advantage of two Bruch errors to assume a 6-4 lead. Bruch swung a volley wide on the final point to give Corrie the victory and even the match at three.
In the deciding match at second singles, Damico took the first set, 6-1, and Klahn won a lengthy second-set tiebreaker, 10-8, to force a third set. Klahn broke Damico's serve at five-all, and Klahn held serve in the final game to take the set and clinch the match for the Cardinal.
ITA National Team Indoor Championship
Quarterfinals
#11 Stanford 4, #2 Texas 3
Doubles - Order of Finish: 3, 2
1 Corrie/Damico (UT) vs. Richard Wire/Blake Muller (SU) - 7-7, susp.
2 #25 Kutrovsky/Zavala (UT) def. Matt Bruch/Ryan Thacher (SU) - 9-7
3 Reyes Varela/Sajous (UT) def. Alex Clayton/Bradley Klahn (SU) - 8-3
Singles - Order of Finish: 5, 1, 6, 4, 3, 2
1 #33 Alex Clayton (SU) def. #31 Dimitar Kutrovsky (UT) - 7-5, 6-2
2 #16 Bradley Klahn (SU) def. Kellen Damico (UT) - 1-6, 7-6 (8), 7-5
3 Ed Corrie (UT) def. Matt Bruch (SU) - 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
4 Ryan Thacher (SU) def. Miguel Reyes Varela (UT) - 6-3, 7-5
5 #62 Richard Wire (SU) def. #84 Olivier Sajous (UT) - 6-1, 6-2
6 Josh Zavala (UT) def. Blake Muller (SU) - 6-4, 6-2
POST-MATCH QUOTES
Texas Coach Michael Center
On the match
"It was just a great college match. We had some opportunities to do some things and could have won the match, but we've got to give Stanford credit. Any time it comes down to the last match, it's about as close as you can get. It's disappointing, but we've got a long season ahead of us. We know that in the end you have to be able to win four matches against the best to be the last team standing. We knew coming up here it would be a real test, and we didn't get the job done today.
On preparing for Sunday's match
"We'll have another big test tomorrow, and it'll be another test of our character. We just have to come back and be ready to go. It's only February, so we can't hang our heads. We've got to keep playing and competing."
