The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
UT-Pan American
No. 8 Men’s Tennis defeats UT-Pan American, 5-2
03.22.2015 | Men's Tennis
Longhorns win final tune-up before Big 12 Conference play begins next week.
#8 TEXAS (14-2) def. UT-Pan American (3-9), 5-2
• Results | PDF
AUSTIN, Texas – Without its top three players in singles, eighth-ranked Texas defeated UT-Pan American, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon at Westwood Country Club.
"I thought UTPA played us very tough today," said Head Coach Michael Center. "They were really competitive and did a nice job today. We got a few different guys out there, today, to get some matches, so I thought we got a little bit better as we went along. That kind of concludes our non-conference season and now we got to really a good week of preparation to get ready for the conference."
Texas (14-2) got off to a fast start by winning the doubles point and the first two singles matches against the Broncs (3-9). George Goldhoff rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the first set to defeat Juan Cruz Soria, 6-4, 6-3, and clinch the dual match-winning point for Texas. Goldhoff played No. 1 singles for the first time to maintain the Longhorns' undefeated (16-0) record on court one.
"George is on the way up," said Center. "I like the way George has been working in practice, I like the way he's competing. His opponent [Cruz Soria] got off to a great start, but he just hung in there and kept battling and I thought that was a really impressive win for him."
The Longhorns gained an early lead after wins at doubles positions two and three. Nick Naumann and Michael Riechmann won their third straight match with a 6-3 win on court two. In their first time as a duo, George Goldhoff and William Jou clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 victory on court three.
Clement Homs kept the momentum going in singles with a 6-1, 6-3, win over Nikola Crvelin at court No. 4 to improve to 3-0 on the year.
Michael Riechmann followed with a 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, victory against Miguel Alvarez-Hevia on court 5.
William Jou won the first set at No. 6 singles, 6-3, against Elliot Johnstone but dropped the next two sets, 0-6, 2-6, to give Johnstone and the Broncos their first point of the afternoon. Nick Naumann was defeated by Hector Ramirez, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (10-7), on court two, which gave Texas its first loss at No. 2 singles on the season (14-1).
John Mee finished the match with a 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 1-0 (10-6) victory over Koby Jansen at No. 3 singles.
Texas opens Big 12 play Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Friday, March 27. First serve is set for 6 p.m. Central.
"We just have to be ready to grind," Center said. "These upcoming matches are going to be very challenging now. We have to play with a lot of patience and be ready to make extra plays, so I expect a big test out of Oklahoma State on Friday night."
Players Mentioned
