The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Middle Tennessee State
No. 8 Men's Tennis blanks Middle Tennessee State, 4-0
01.30.2010 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 30, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas -- No. 8 Texas (2-0) took the doubles point and collected singles wins from newcomers Vasko Mladenov, Jean Andersen and Ben Chen, as the Longhorns posted a 4-0 win over Middle Tennessee State Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
In the day's additional match at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center, California blanked Texas Tech 4-0. Texas will take on California on Sunday at 2 p.m. Central with a berth in the upcoming ITA National Team Indoor Championships going to the winner. Middle Tennessee State and Texas Tech will meet in a consolation match at 11 a.m.
Texas opened the match by winning two doubles matches to lock up the doubles point. At third doubles, UT freshman Vasko Mladenov and senior Jon Wiegand remained on serve with Middle Tennessee State's Shaun Waters and Kyle Wishing through five games before the Texas tandem broke the Blue Raiders' duo and took a 4-2 lead. Mladenov and Wiegand held for a 5-2 lead and went on to an 8-4 victory.
At second doubles, freshman Daniel Whitehead and sophomore Jean Andersen, who was making his debut as a Longhorn, assumed a 3-0 lead at third doubles over Middle Tennessee State's Richard Cowden and Matthew Langley, but the Blue Raiders rallied to even the match at four. At 6-5, Andersen smacked a cross-court backhand winner at break point to give UT a 7-5 lead, and Andersen's volley at match point finished off the 8-5 win and clinched the doubles point for Texas.
Texas needed less than 90 minutes in the singles session to clinch the win over Middle Tennessee State. Mladenov never let up at fifth singles and posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over Alex McCann. Andersen tallied his first collegiate singles win at the fourth slot, where he posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Langley.
Chen posted a 6-1 opening-set win at the sixth slot over Shaun Waters and thwarted Waters' second-set rally and took the set by a 7-5 count to nail down the victory for Texas. The remaining singles matches were called when Chen clinched the match's outcome.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
On the win: It was a nice win, and we had a lot of people contribute today. It was exciting to have the opportunity to play at home. It's early and we still have a lot of room for improvement, but I'm excited about this team.
On the singles wins from newcomers Jean Andersen, Vasko Mladenov and Ben Chen: Jean Andersen was a little nervous, but once he settled in, he played well. He's a tremendous athlete who can do a lot of different things. Jean will be a big contributor. Vasko Mladenov was a little uptight at the start, but he settled in and played an excellent match. Ben Chen played great tennis. He had some trouble at the end, but he showed his poise and maturity in the last game. Those guys are all new to the program, but they got the wins for us today. It shows we have a lot of depth this year.
ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Penick-Allison Tennis Center - Austin, Texas
#8 Texas 4, Middle Tennessee State 0
Doubles - Order of Finish: 3, 2
1 #22 Kutrovsky/Zavala (UT) vs. Melo/Peers (MTSU) - 6-7, susp.
2 Andersen/Whitehead (UT) def. Cowden/Langley (MTSU) - 8-5
3 Mladenov/Wiegand (UT) def. Waters/Wishing (MTSU) - 8-4
Singles - Order of Finish: 5, 4, 6
1 #5 Dimitar Kutrovsky (UT) vs. John Peers (MTSU) - 6-3, 4-6, susp.
2 #9 Ed Corrie (UT) vs. Victor Melo (MTSU) - 4-6, 6-2, susp.
3 #38 Josh Zavala (UT) vs. Richard Cowden (MTSU) - 6-3, 4-2, susp.
4 Jean Andersen (UT) def. Matthew Langley (MTSU) - 6-3, 6-1
5 #104 Vasko Mladenov (UT) def. Alex McCann (MTSU) - 6-1, 6-2
6 Ben Chen (UT) def. Shaun Waters (MTSU) - 6-1, 7-5
