The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Columbia
No. 3 Men’s Tennis preview: No. 12 Columbia
03.20.2019 | Men's Tennis
Texas continues its homestand on Friday with its third all-time meeting against the 12th-ranked Lions.
No. 3 Texas vs. No. 12 Columbia
When: Fri., March 22, 2019, 6 p.m. CT
Where: Texas Tennis Center
Live Video: hookem.at/Watch-Tennis
Live Stats: hookem.at/MTN-Stats
Notes
-Columbia Series: Texas leads, 2-0
This will be the third meeting between the Longhorns and Lions and the second in Austin. Two years ago, No. 8 Texas topped No. 24 Columbia, 4-1, as current Longhorns Harrison Scott, Leonardo Telles and Rodrigo Banzer all picked up singles wins, while Christian Sigsgaard and Yuya Ito's matches were left unfinished. The other meeting came in 2015 at the ITA Indoors in Chicago, which also resulted in a 4-1 win for No. 9 Texas over No. 13 Columbia.
Last Meeting
No. 8 Texas 4, No. 24 Columbia 1
March 17, 2017 • Austin, Texas (Caswell Tennis Center)
Singles – Order of Finish: 6, 5, 4, 2
1. No. 12 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) vs. No. 72 Shawn Hadavi (Columbia), 6-1, 4-6, unf.
2. No. 70 Harrison Scott (UT) def. No. 91 Victor Pham (Columbia), 6-4, 6-2
3. No. 34 Yuya Ito (UT) vs. No. 83 Jackie Tang (Columbia), 5-7, 1-4, unf.
4. George Goldhoff (UT) def. Alex Keyser (Columbia), 6-2, 6-2
5. No. 108 Leonardo Telles (UT) def. Adam Ambrozy (Columbia), 6-1, 6-2
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Timothy Wang (Columbia), 6-0, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 2
1. Leonardo Telles/George Goldhoff (UT) vs. No. 20 Victor Pham/Richard Pham (Columbia), 6-6, unf.
2. No. 67 Shawn Hadavi/Jackie Tang (Columbia) def. Colin Markes/Yuya Ito (UT), 7-6 (3)
3. Christopher Grant/Michal Rolski (Columbia) def. Christian Sigsgaard/Julian Zlobinsky (UT), 6-3
-Texas in the ITA Rankings
Texas returned to No. 3 in the latest ITA Team rankings released March 19 after one week at No. 4, the No. 3 ranking is its highest position since March 8, 2011. The Longhorns also had five individual listings with four in singles and one pair in doubles, which was also released March 19. Texas was the only team to have two singles players ranked in the top 10, and along with having a doubles pair in the top 10, the singles would have to be extended to the top 25 to find any other teams with two singles and one doubles pair ranked that highly (No. 1 Ohio State, No. 10 TCU).
Singles (March 19)
No. 6 Christian Sigsgaard
No. 9 Yuya Ito
No. 59 Harrison Scott
No. 104 Leonardo Telles
Doubles (March 19)
No. 7 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard
-Columbia in the ITA Rankings
Columbia is ranked No. 12 in the latest ITA Team rankings released March 19.
Singles (March 19)
No. 16 Jack Lin
No. 41 Victor Pham
No. 91 Adam Ambrozy
Doubles (March 19)
No. 5 Jackie Tang/Jack Lin
No. 12 Jack Lin/William Matheson
No. 48 Adam Ambrozy/Jackie Tang
-Trending
Rodrigo Banzer: Banzer returned to the lineup to play sixth singles in the last four matches for his first action since the North Carolina match (Feb. 2). This season he is 6-2 in dual match singles play and 17-8 overall including tournaments.
Chih Chi Huang: Huang has had a solid freshman campaign, posting a 9-3 dual match singles record. He has played singles in all but two matches this season, which came against NC State last Sunday and Ohio State last Thursday. He notched wins over three ranked opponents during tournament play, but has yet to play one in dual matches playing fifth and sixth singles. In doubles, he has paired with Yuya Ito and recorded a 10-2 record at third doubles with losses only to pairs from Ohio State and Illinois, one of which they redeemed when beating a duo from Ohio State in the second meeting. They also beat No. 21 Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith of USC.
Yuya Ito: Ito has shown himself to be one of the top players in college tennis, rising to his current No. 9 ranking. He leads the team with 15 dual match singles wins to only one loss with five wins over ranked opponents, predominantly at second singles, including a straight-sets victory over No. 28 Kyle Seelig in the win over No. 1 Ohio State. His only loss came to John McNally of Ohio State. Ito is 26-4 including tournament play. In doubles, he has paired with Chih Chi Huang and recorded a 10-2 record at third doubles with losses only to pairs from Ohio State and Illinois, one of which they redeemed when beating a duo from Ohio State in the second meeting. They also beat No. 21 Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith of USC.
Colin Markes: Markes won 15 straight singles matches going back to tournament play prior to dropping his most recent match against James Trotter of Ohio State. He is now 10-1 in dual match play. During that time, he has only one unfinished match, which was left on triple match point in his favor against No. 86 Alex Kobelt of Ohio State in the first meeting. He was the only player not from Ohio State or Wake Forest named to the ITA Indoors All-Tournament Team and was at fifth singles, which is where he has primarily played for Texas. In doubles, he partners with Leonardo Telles at second doubles and the pair has amassed a 10-2 dual match record, including the clincher to give Ohio State its first doubles point loss of the season.
Harrison Scott: Scott has played fourth singles most of the season registered a 10-3 dual match singles record that includes wins over No. 31 Laurens Verboven of USC and No. 61 Josh Peck of North Carolina. His two losses against ranked foes both went three sets with one to a third-set tiebreaker. He was also up a set and in a second-set tiebreaker against No. 81 Alex Kobelt of Ohio State before their match went unfinished. He and Christian Sigsgaard combine to make up one of the best doubles teams in the country. They've posted a 7-2 record in dual match play, all at first doubles, and a 15-4 record going back to tournament play. At the ITA Indoors, they defeated a pairing of JJ Wolf and Martin Joyce of Ohio State, and against Rice downed the No. 40 duo of Sumit Sarkar and Eric Rutledge.
Christian Sigsgaard: Sigsgaard is one of the best players in college tennis and has played first singles for the Longhorns in every match he has played in. In dual match play, he has faced 11 ranked opponents and is 6-3 with two unfinished. Although he fell to No. 2 JJ Wolf at ITA Indoors, he won his next two matches against No. 5 Jan Zielinski of Georgia and No. 25 Alexis Galarneau of NC State. He is 29-9 overall in singles play this year and 16-7 against ranked foes. Against Ohio State, he was up 2-0 in the third set against No. 27 John McNally before their match went unfinished. He and Harrison Scott combine to make up one of the best doubles teams in the country. They've posted a 7-2 record in dual match play, all at first doubles, and a 15-4 record going back to tournament play. At the ITA Indoors, they defeated a pairing of JJ Wolf and Martin Joyce of Ohio State, and against Rice downed the No. 40 duo of Sumit Sarkar and Eric Rutledge.
Leonardo Telles: Telles has a five-match winning streak, including wins over No. 69 Martin Joyce when he clinched the match against No. 1 Ohio State, No. 30 Zeke Clark of Illinois at the ITA Indoors and No. 55 Brian Cernoch of North Carolina. He is 9-1 in dual match singles play mostly at the third position and is 16-3 this year in singles overall. In doubles, he partners with Colin Markes at second doubles and the pair has pair has amassed a 10-2 dual match record, including the clincher to give Ohio State its first doubles point loss of the season.
-Ito named Big 12 Co-Player of the Week
For his efforts in leading Texas to wins over Rice and No. 1 Ohio State last week, junior Yuya Ito earned his first Big 12 weekly honor of the season on March 19. Ito defeated No. 28 Kyle Seelig of Ohio State in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, including opening the match with a run of seven straight games, while also pairing with freshman Chih Chi Huang in topping Seelig and John McNally (No. 27 singles). The doubles win was part of the Buckeyes' first lost doubles point all season. Earlier in the week on Tuesday, Ito also topped Jacob Eskeland of Rice, 6-2, 6-2.
-Taking down No. 1
The Longhorns took down No. 1 Ohio State, 4-1, on March 14 at the Texas Tennis Center. The win included handing the Buckeyes their first doubles point loss of the season with wins by Colin Markes and Leonardo Telles at second doubles, and by Chih Chi Huang and Yuya Ito at third doubles. Texas posted singles victories by Ito over No. 28 Kyle Seeling at second singles, the clincher by Telles over No. 69 Martin Joyce at third singles, and by Rodrigo Banzer over Hunter Tubert at sixth singles. The Longhorns were also leading the two remaining matches that went unfinished with Christian Sigsgaard against No. 27 John McNally, and Harrison Scott against No. 81 Alex Kobelt.
-Facing the best
Texas is officially 5-1 against ranked opponents based on the rankings available at the time of the matches, however that doesn't tell the full story of the quality of their opponents since the rankings expand during the season. The Longhorns have an 10-1 mark against teams currently rated in the top 50 by the ITA including No. 1 Ohio State (win and only loss), No. 11 North Carolina, No. 13 Illinois, No. 15 USC, No. 22 Georgia, No. 23 Miami (Fla.), No. 25 Arkansas, No. 30 NC State, No. 33 Ole Miss and No. 37 Tulsa. They have matches remaining against No. 6 Baylor, No. 10 TCU, No. 12 Columbia, No. 15 USC (second time), No. 20 Oklahoma, No. 26 Oklahoma State and No. 29 Texas Tech.
-Seven-match homestand
Texas opened its seven-match homestand with three wins in five days, including a 6-0 sweep over No. 35 NC State, a 5-2 win over Rice, and a 4-1 victory over No. 1 Ohio State. Of the seven opponents, six are currently ranked with four in the top 15 (No. 1 Ohio State, No. 6 Baylor, No. 12 Columbia, No. 15 USC).
-Dual match success
So far this season, the Longhorns have compiled a 68-17 (.800) singles record and a 31-6 (.838) doubles mark in dual match play while getting off to a 16-1 start. Texas is outscoring its opponents 82-18.
-Flying past the Owls
The Longhorns played their second home match in three days as part of three matches in five days and earned a 5-2 win over Rice on March 12 at the Texas Tennis Center. After having two consecutive matches where doubles weren't played due to weather concerns, Texas took the doubles point highlighted by No. 13 Harrison Scott and Christian Sigsgaard downing No. 40 Sumit Sarkar and Eric Rutledge. They then won four of six singles matches with wins by Yuya Ito, Harrison Scott, Colin Markes and Chih Chi Huang in the second-fifth positions.
-Sweeping the Pack
Texas opened up its seven-match homestand with a solid 6-0 sweep of No. 35 NC State on March 10. The teams played only singles due to weather concerns and after a bit of slow start in a number of the matches, the Longhorns responded in each case, including two wins that came after dropping the opening set.
-Sigsgaard named Big 12 Player of the Week
Christian Sigsgaard was named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week on March 5. It marked his first conference weekly honor of the season. Sigsgaard, who had been No. 8 ITA singles rankings, defeated No. 5 Jan Zielinski in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, to lead Texas to a 4-2 road victory at Georgia. Sigsgaard then moved up to No. 4 in the rankings. At the time, it was Sigsgaard's fifth win over a ranked opponent in dual match play, all at first singles, and his 15th including tournament play.
-Winning in Athens
In a match that saw only singles play and was split between outdoors and indoors, the No. 3 Texas took a 4-2 road win over Georgia in Athens on March 3. In order to attempt to beat incoming rain, the teams began with singles on the outdoor courts. However, after all but one of the matches had reached the second set, the rains came and led to a brief delay before play began inside.
-Quick Change
Texas' match at Tulane scheduled for Feb. 26 was cancelled due to weather-related issues, but the Longhorns found a quick replacement match in hosting University of the Incarnate Word for that same day. Texas picked up a sweep over the Cardinals, 7-0, in the match.
-Good in the classroom
Senior Johnny Goodwin was named one of four Texas student-athletes to be named a recipient of the Big 12's 2019 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award. To be eligible, an honoree must have lettered, earned 100 hours of credit and have a cumulative GPA of 3.8 or better. Goodwin is majoring in humanities and government.
-Texas reaches ITA Indoors semifinals for the second time
For the second time in program history, the Longhorns got to the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championship, which was held Feb. 15-18 in Chicago. Texas topped a pair of ranked teams in host No. 14 Illinois and No. 5 USC before falling to the eventual champion, top-seeded No. 2 Ohio State. In order to qualify for the tournament, the Longhorns had previously swept Washington and Miami (Fla.) in the Austin ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 25-26.
-On the Markes
Senior Colin Markes is on a 15-match winning streak in singles going back to tournament play and is 10-0 in dual matches this season. Following the ITA Indoors, Markes was selected to the All-Tournament Team at fifth singles. He was the only player chosen for singles or doubles from a team other than champion Ohio State or finalist Wake Forest. Markes played fifth singles and second doubles in all three matches in helping Texas reach the semifinals for the second time in school history. He posted a 2-0 singles record that included straight-set wins over No. 116 Caleb Chakravarthi of Illinois and Riley Smith of USC, extending his singles winning streak to 11. His third singles match was left unfinished on triple match point against No. 86 Alex Kobalt of Ohio State. It had the potential to be just the fourth loss in dual match singles play for Ohio State all season. During that match, Markes won a first-set tiebreaker in which he was down 5-1, but rallied for the 8-6 win.
-Fast start
Despite falling for the first time this season in its match against No. 2 Ohio State, Texas' win over No. 5 USC in its previous match on Feb. 16 moved the Longhorns to 11-0 at the time in dual match play, which was its best start since opening 15-0 in 2002. It passed the 8-0 start the team posted in 2011. The Longhorns also had back-to-back 7-0 starts in 2014-15.
-On the road again
The Longhorns hit the road and took a pair of 6-1 wins at Tulsa (Feb. 8) and Arkansas (Feb. 10) in its first two true road dual matches of the season. They had been scheduled for another pair of road matches following the ITA Indoors, but the first of those, against Tulane (Feb. 26), was cancelled. Texas will still travel to Georgia on March 3.
-Huang earns first career Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week honor
Freshman Chih Chi Huang earned his first career Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week honor on Feb. 5. Huang clinched the team's 5-2 win over No. 6 North Carolina in a third-set tiebreaker in fifth singles as a true freshman defeating UNC senior Blaine Boyden (6-4, 4-6, 7-6 [5]). He also paired with Yuya Ito to contribute to the doubles point with a 6-2 victory over Brian Cernoch and Mac Kiger. Earlier in the week, Huang twice stepped into the third singles spot during a Wednesday doubleheader, picking up a win over Javier Rodriguez of UTSA (6-2, 4-6, 1-0 [8]), while having to leave his match against Thomas Rodrigues of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi unfinished on a match point after the team clinched. Huang also partnered with Ito for a 6-4 doubles win over UTSA to help the team earn that point en route to four wins for the week, including two in singles and two in doubles. Overall, Huang helped the team to a 3-0 record with a combined score of 15-3.
-Texas tops No. 6 North Carolina for third straight time
Texas played its first indoor match of the spring season against No. 6 North Carolina at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center on Feb. 2. The Longhorns took a thrilling 5-2 victory for their third straight win over the Tar Heels after claiming 4-3 victories in 2018 in Chapel Hill and in 2015 at Weller. In a match that came down to the wire, the top five singles matches all went to a third set with Texas winning four of them. The last time Texas had defeated a top-10 team, it was also a No. 6 North Carolina team in the 2018 match in Chapel Hill.
-Year Two of the Texas Tennis Center
The Longhorns are in their second season at the Texas Tennis Center. During its inaugural season, Texas posted a 10-2 record, including winning the 2018 Big 12 Tournament. Texas opened its home season with a 6-1 win over SMU on January 20, and swept the ITA Kickoff Weekend with wins versus Washington and Miami (Fla.) before sweeping a doubleheader against UTSA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and then topping Incarnate Word, No. 35 NC State, Rice and No. 1 Ohio State to move to 9-0 at the Texas Tennis Center for the season.
-Longhorns begin dual match play in Orlando
Texas topped Ole Miss in the first dual match of the 2019 season, 7-0, on Jan. 16 at the USTA National Campus Collegiate Center in Orlando, Fla. The Longhorns took all six singles points plus the doubles point without dropping a set. Texas now holds a 4-1 all-time dual match record against Ole Miss. It was the second time Texas and Ole Miss competed against each other in this first week of the spring season. The Longhorns posted 6-1 singles and 3-1 doubles marks against the Rebels in individual play at the Miami Invitational.
-Texas part of new college tennis technology
Texas' match versus Ole Miss was part of the United States Tennis Association Collegiate Series, which includes a total of 12 matches featuring 22 different teams throughout the season. It was the first of four matches in the series to be part of the introduction of the PlayFair Challenge System using PlaySight SmartCourt technology. The mission of PlayFair is to improve the level of sportsmanship throughout tennis with the goal of increasing participation in, enjoyment, and viewership of the sport. PlayFair is a feature of PlaySight's SmartCourt technology, enabling players to challenge line calls made by their opponents or an official's overrule using instant video replay (a concept in sports known as Video Assistant Refereeing, or VAR). Players and officials can review where the ball landed by looking at a multi-angle video replay on the PlaySight touchscreen kiosk or an iPad/tablet device. The other three contests will include the Florida State-Miami men's match on March 10, and two women's matches, Michigan-Duke on March 9 and Notre Dame-Iowa on March 12.
-Longhorns open season with individual play at Miami Invitational
Texas finished the Miami Invitational (Jan. 11-13) with an 18-5 singles record and an 11-1 doubles mark, earning more victories than its opponents (Miami, Ole Miss, Wisconsin) in each section of singles and doubles of the three-day tournament. In singles, the Longhorns finished with a 5-1 mark against Wisconsin, 7-3 against Miami, and 6-1 against Ole Miss, while in doubles they swept both Miami and Wisconsin in four matches and were 3-1 against Ole Miss.
-ITA Preseason Rankings
Texas was ranked No. 8 in the preseason Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Rankings released Jan. 9. It marked the second straight season the Longhorns have opened in that spot and they moved back into the Top 10 after finishing last season at No. 12. Texas was the top-rated Big 12 team in the poll, which featured five of the six conference members. Texas held that spot in each of the rankings released Jan. 23 and 30 before moving up to No. 6 after its win over then No. 6 North Carolina.
-Big 12 Preseason Rankings
The Big 12 Conference men's tennis coaches unanimously selected Texas as the No. 1 team in the preseason conference poll, the league announced on Jan. 8. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team, so the Longhorns took all five first-place votes available to them and 25 points overall. Baylor and Oklahoma tied for second with 18 points.
-Defending Big 12 Champs
The Longhorns return a talented and experienced lineup that includes seven juniors or seniors back from its 2018 Big 12 title team, along with three newcomers.
Players Mentioned
