The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma
No. 18 Men’s Tennis Preview: Big 12 Championships
04.26.2016 | Men's Tennis
Sixth-seeded Longhorns take on third-seeded Oklahoma in Friday’s quarterfinals.
WHAT: No. 18 Texas (17-10, 1-4 Big 12) opens postseason play this week at the Big 12 Championships.
Texas tied for fifth place in the final Big 12 regular season standings. The Longhorns hold the tournament's sixth seed and will take on 10th-ranked and third-seeded Oklahoma (14-9, 3-2 Big 12) in Friday's quarterfinals.
WHEN/WHERE
No. 18 Texas vs. No. 10 Oklahoma
Friday, April 29 – 9 a.m. CT
Greenwood Tennis Center
Stillwater, Oklahoma (event hosted by Oklahoma State
LIVE SCORING: Available at OKState.com
LIVE VIDEO: http://okstate.com/sports/2016/2/22/TENNIS_VIDEO.aspx
LAST MEETING AGAINST OKLAHOMA
Texas fell to Oklahoma by a 4-0 count on April 10 in Austin.
BIG 12 SEMIFINALS/FINALS
Saturday, Noon CT/Sunday, 1 p.m. CT
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Texas has won four Big 12 Championship events, most recently in 2010. The Longhorns have reached the finals in nine of the previous 19 Big 12 Championships contested.
Texas defeated Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Big 12 Championships in Waco. UT nearly toppled top-seeded Oklahoma in the semifinals before falling by a 4-3 count.
PRE-TOURNAMENT COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
On the parity in the Big 12 Conference
This is a unique league. All six teams have been competitive at the highest level nationally this year. You look at the team records across the board, and all of the teams have defeated some of the best teams, and in some cases champions, in other leagues. Ours is a wide-open league. This should be an exciting tournament this week. Whoever gets hot in this last week will win it. We're trying to peak and play our best tennis leading into the NCAA Championships. We're excited and looking forward to playing Oklahoma.
On his team as it begins postseason play
Honestly, this has been one of the most rewarding and satisfying seasons I've ever been a part of anywhere. We've played so many younger guys, and everyone has given everything they've had, in terms of their commitment to the program and each other. Their attitudes have been fantastic, and it has been a lot of fun to coach this team. Even some of the fans have told me how much fun this team has been to watch. I'm proud them, and I know they want more.
ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
April 26
Texas Players
Singles
59. George Goldhoff
Doubles
58. Michael Riechmann/Adrian Ortiz
MORE ON THE LONGHORNS
Texas has won 13 of its last 18 matches, including two against top-12 foes, heading into the Big 12 Championships.
Back on Feb. 7, the Horns wiped out a 3-1 deficit against Stanford and put away a 4-3 win over the Cardinal. Texas sophomore Adrian Ortiz saved a match point against him and won a tiebreaker against the Cardinal's Nolan Paige to cap the Texas rally.
Two weeks later, Texas made short work of Rice and shut out the Owls by a 4-0 count in Houston. The following weekend, Texas rallied from a 3-1 deficit to post a thrilling 4-3 win at No. 5 Wake Forest behind three third-set tiebreak wins.
Texas stretched its winning streak to six matches with its victories over UTSA, Louisiana and Southern Mississippi at the H-E-B Tournament of Champions in Corpus Christi. The Horns notched another key road win on March 13 with the victory at San Diego, which ended the Toreros' 23-match home winning streak.
Texas swept a doubleheader against No. 24 Tulsa and Incarnate Word on March 26 before adding another doubleheader sweep on Saturday (April 2) against UTSA. The Longhorns posted their second victory over a top-15 opponent last season when it knocked off No. 12 Oklahoma State, 4-0.
Texas returned five veterans from the 2015 squad that posted a 21-7 record and finished the season ranked ninth nationally.
George Goldhoff posted a 17-10 singles mark, including an 8-6 record in dual matches last season as a sophomore, and he scored his first ranked win of the season in late February at Wake Forest.
He added his second top-40 win in a month-long span when he knocked off Arkansas' 32nd-ranked Mike Redlicki. Goldhoff knocked off Oklahoma State's 59th-ranked Julian Cash in straight sets and vaulted 31 spots to No. 56 in the following week's ITA singles rankings. He now ranks 59th nationally.
Sophomore Adrian Ortiz went 3-2 in dual-match play last season, and redshirt sophomore William Jou added three singles wins as a freshman. Ortiz takes a 12-6 dual-match record to the Big 12 Championships.
Senior Michael Riechmann is poised to finish his Texas career with a flourish. The Houston native holds a 26-9 overall singles record, a 15-6 mark in dual matches and a 3-1 record in league play.
Sophomore John Mee notched a 16-8 overall singles record last season as a freshman and holds a 5-3 mark in dual matches this season.
UT also welcomes redshirt freshman Julian Zlobinsky and freshmen Rodrigo Banzer, Johnny Goodwin, Colin Markes, the aforementioned Harrison Scott and Leonardo Telles.
Banzer made his collegiate debut during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event against Florida and clinched the win at No. 5 Wake Forest. Zlobinsky put together an impressive 13-4 mark in dual matches, including a 2-0 record in league matches. Scott boasts 12 dual-match wins at Nos. 1 and 2 singles.
Michael Center returns for his 16th season at the helm of the Texas men's tennis program. The four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year led the Longhorns to their second-straight top-10 final ranking last season as Texas reached the round of 16 at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
A pair of Center's pupils reached the pinnacle of their sport last May when Soren Hess-Olesen and Lloyd Glasspool won the first NCAA doubles title for Texas since 1944.
Center turned to a pair of familiar faces to fill the vacancies on his coaching staff. Bruce Berque, who served as a volunteer coach at Texas last season, is in his first season as an associate head coach under Center.
Berque filled the position previously held by longtime associate head coach Ricardo Rubio, who accepted his first head coaching position last summer with The University of Denver men's tennis program.
Berque served 10 seasons (2004-14) as the head men's tennis coach at Michigan and led the Wolverines to the NCAA Championships in his final nine seasons in Ann Arbor. He helped the Illinois men to the 2003 NCAA title during his six-season stint (1999-2004) as an associate head coach for the Fighting Illini.
Chris Camillone, a former ITA doubles All-American at Texas, is in his first season with the Longhorns as a volunteer assistant coach.
Players Mentioned
