The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Tech
No. 8 Men's Tennis tops No. 19 Texas Tech, 5-2
04.10.2011 | Men's Tennis
April 10, 2011
AUSTIN, Texas - No. 8 Texas (16-6, 2-2 Big 12) surrendered the doubles point but rallied with five singles wins to post a 5-2 victory over No. 19 Texas Tech (14-8, 1-3 Big 12) Sunday afternoon at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
Texas Tech opened the match by taking two of three contests during the doubles session to take the doubles point. Texas led off the session with a victory at the third slot, where Chris Camillone and Daniel Whitehead teamed up to post an 8-4 win over David Gonzalez and Raphael Pfister. The Red Raiders scored wins at the first and second doubles positions to seize the doubles point.
Texas' Kellen Damico put the Horns on the board at first singles, where he dealt Tech's 20th-ranked Escobar a 7-5, 6-3 defeat to even the match. The Horns took the lead for good at fifth singles, as Whitehead handed Tech's Gabriel Wanderley a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to give Texas a 2-1 lead. The Longhorns' lead ballooned to 3-1 at fourth singles, where UT's Ben Chen held on for a 6-3, 6-3 win over Vitor Manzini.
Texas freshman Sudanwa Sitaram clinched the match for the Longhorns at sixth singles, where he finished off the Red Raiders' Pfister by a 6-3, 6-3 count. At third singles, UT's Jean Andersen dropped the first set to Tech's Rafael Garcia, 6-4. Andersen broke Garcia's serve midway through the second set and went on to claim the set, 6-3. Andersen broke Garcia early on in set three and held on for a 6-3 win to push the Texas lead to 5-1.
After dropping the first set at second singles, UT's Corrie took the second set off of Tech's 23rd-ranked Carvalho in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (6). Carvalho took command early in the ensuing match tiebreak and prevailed, 10-5 to close out the match.
Texas resumes Big 12 play on Sunday, April 17 when it hosts Nebraska on Senior Day.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
"In the doubles, Texas Tech had struggled at No. 3, and we had played well and felt good going in. But, anything can happen. They got on top of us at Nos. 1 and 2, and we just didn't make the plays. They did a good job and got that point. I told the guys there were six points out there. They had their backs against the wall, but thought we did a good job in singles."
"Kellen Damico had a tough one the other day (against Baylor), but he played really solid tennis at the end of his match. He put lot of first serves in play, stayed consistent, and didn't make mistakes in the end. When he does all of that, he's tough to beat. I'm really pleased with how he finished, because I have a lot of respect for (Texas Tech's) Gonzalo Escobar. It might be the first time we've beaten him in a dual match."
"Jean Andersen made some mistakes in that first set. We felt that if he could make his guy work, make some passing shots and cut out mistakes that he would dictate the match. Jean was really solid in how he finished. Ben Chen, it's great to have him back and feeling good. He really adds a lot to our lineup. Daniel Whitehead has just been a good fighter for us all year. I've seen a lot of improvement out of him. He is doing a better job of closing things out."
"At No. 6 singles, we've need to get more production down there, and Sudanwa Sitaram beat one of Tech's better positions in its lineup. It was a nice result for Sudanwa to clinch the match, just was a terrific effort."
#8 Texas 5, #19 Texas Tech 2
Doubles - Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
1 #26 Carvalho/Garcia (TTU) def. #3 Andersen/Corrie (UT) - 8-4
2 #46 Escobar/Manzini (TTU) def. #30 Damico/Holiner (UT) - 8-6
3 Camillone/Whitehead (UT) def. Gonzalez/Pfister (TTU) - 8-4
Singles - Order of Finish: 1, 5, 4, 6, 3, 2
1 #59 Kellen Damico (UT) def. #20 Gonzalo Escobar (TTU) - 7-5, 6-3
2 #23 Raony Carvalho (TTU) def. #28 Ed Corrie (UT) - 6-0, 6-7 (6), 1-0 (10-5)
3 #90 Jean Andersen (UT) def. Rafael Garcia (TTU) - 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
4 Ben Chen (UT) def. Vitor Manzini (TTU) - 6-3, 6-3
5 Daniel Whitehead (UT) def. Gabriel Wanderley (TTU) - 6-4, 6-4
6 Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) def. Raphael Pfister (TTU) - 6-3, 6-3
