The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
California
No. 9 Men’s Tennis defeats Cal, advances to NCAA round of 16
05.09.2015 | Men's Tennis
Senior All-American Søren Hess-Olesen clinches the win for UT in the final home match of his career.
#9 TEXAS def. #26 California, 4-1
• Results
• Season Stats
• Championship Central
AUSTIN, Texas -- No. 9 Texas Men's Tennis punched its ticket to the NCAA Championship round of 16 with a 4-1 victory over California on Saturday afternoon at Caswell Tennis Center.
In the final home match of his career, senior All-American Søren Hess-Olesen rallied from an opening set loss to clinch UT's 27th appearance in the NCAA tournament's round of 16. Fourth-ranked Hess-Olesen defeated Cal's 29th-ranked Andre Goransson in three sets, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 1 singles for the clincher.
"Our team really fought hard today," Head Coach Michael Center said. "Søren had this refuse-to-lose mentality today, even when faced with adversity. He has had a heck of a year, so for him to come back and clinch that match for us was fitting."
With the win, Hess-Olesen improves his singles record to 30-6 on the year -- marking his second consecutive 30-win season -- and 103-38 during his career.
The Longhorns have not lost an NCAA Championship match on their home court (22-0), and they set the tone early by winning the doubles point to keep that trend alive. Texas, now 13-0 when earning the doubles point, won on courts one and three to take a 1-0 team lead.
Hess-Olesen and fellow senior All-American Lloyd Glasspool breezed to an 8-4 win over Cal's 51st-ranked Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton on doubles court one.
Nick Naumann and Michael Riechmann rallied to clinch the momentum-swinging doubles point for Texas. The duo of juniors trailed a break early, 0-2, but finally broke serve at their last opportunity to even the set, 7-7, and force a tiebreaker in the eight-point pro format. Naumann and Riechmann went on to win the tiebreaker in convincing fashion, 7-2.
"We're undefeated when we get the doubles point," Center continued. "That comeback on court three was pretty exciting. That's got to be encouraging for those guys moving forward. We feel like if we get that doubles point, we're going to be a pretty tough team to handle."
Naumann rode his momentum from doubles into a quick 6-1, 6-4, singles victory over Cal's J.T. Nishimura on court five. Glasspool also finished in straight sets for the Longhorns, notching a 6-4, 7-5 victory over 97th-ranked Filip Bergevi on court two.
The pair of singles wins gave UT a 3-0 team lead over the Golden Bears.
California picked up its first and only point of the day on singles court three, as Gregory Bayane defeated 54th-ranked Adrien Berkowicz, 7-5, 6-3.
Meanwhile, the three remaining courts in play were in the thick of three-set battles, involving Hess-Olesen on court one, senior Clement Homs on court six, and sophomore George Goldhoff on court four. When Hess-Olesen came through with the clincher for the Longhorns, Homs held a 6-3, 4-6, 5-4 lead over Cal's Billy Griffith, and Goldhoff was even with Oskar Wikberg, 6-7 (9-11), 6-2, 1-2.
The Longhorns will face No. 8 Georgia on Thursday in the NCAA Championship round of 16 in Waco, Texas. Tickets are available for purchase at BaylorBears.com.
Players Mentioned
