The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Nebraska
No. 5 Men’s Tennis tops Nebraska, 6-1
02.23.2020 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns opened their doubleheader with a win to move to 8-2 this season.
Austin, Texas – The No. 5 Texas Men's Tennis team opened a doubleheader with a 6-1 win over Nebraska on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center. They will face UTSA in the second match at 3:30 p.m. CT.
The Longhorns won the doubles point and earned straight-set singles victories from senior No. 2 Yuya Ito at No. 1, sophomore Chih Chi Huang at No. 4, and freshmen No. 45 Siem Woldeab at No. 2, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3, and Evin McDonald at No. 5 to move to 8-2 overall this season.
After Texas took a 1-0 lead on the doubles point, the top four positions in the Longhorns' singles lineup combined to drop just nine games on the way to their wins. Spizzirri got things started with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Albert Sprlak-Puk. Spizzirri won the first three games with the first two coming on deuce points, and after Sprlak-Puk got one game back on deuce point, Spizzirri finished the set on another 3-0 run. The players traded breaks to open the second set, but it was all Spizzirri from there as he closed on a 5-0 run, winning the match on a deuce point. With the win, Spizzirri moved to 7-1 in dual match play.
Ito came off the court next with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Victor Moreno Lozano to extend the Texas lead to 3-0. Ito won an opening break on deuce point and then held for a 2-0 lead. Moreno then got back within one on serve, but Ito went on a 3-0 run starting with a deuce point for a 5-1 advantage. Moreno picked up one more game on serve, but Ito served out the set at 6-2. The first six games of the second set followed the same scoring up to a 5-1 lead for Ito, however this time Ito finished the match with a break for his 107th career singles win, which stands sixth all-time at Texas.
The clincher came from Woldeab with a 6-0, 6-2 win over William Gleason. Woldeab opened the match with eight-straight games to post a 2-0 lead in the second set. After Woldeab collected two deuce-point wins in the first set, the first four games of the second set were decided at deuce with three of those going to Woldeab for a 3-1 lead. He extended to 5-1 on another deuce point break before Gleason got one of his own to make it 5-2. However, Woldeab closed on a final break for the win and a 4-0 Texas lead.
Huang then advanced the lead to 5-0 for the Longhorns with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Andre Saleh. Huang used four deuce points to sweep the opening set, including the final two games. Saleh grabbed one break in the opening game of the second, but Huang ran off four more straight games for a 4-1 lead. Saleh took one more game on serve to make it 4-2 before Huang secured the match with the last two games for the win.
That left a pair of freshmen on the court playing in the first dual match of their UT careers in McDonald and Eshan Talluri. McDonald prevailed over Shunya Maruyama, 6-4, 6-4, to earn his first singles win, while Talluri fought back in his second set against Patrick Cacciatore, but came up short, 6-1, 7-5. McDonald's first set stayed on serve starting with Maruyama up to a 3-3 tie when McDonald got the break he needed for the win as the rest of the frame stayed on serve. McDonald captured his second break in the opening game of the second set to take a 2-0 lead, but Maruyama was able to get the break back to even it at 3-3. McDonald immediately answered with two deuce-point wins for a break and a hold, and the final two games stayed on serve for his victory, putting Texas up 6-0 before the 6-1 final.
In doubles, Texas jumped out to early leads in all three matches. No. 13 Ito and Sigsgaard were the first off the court with a 6-2 win over Saleh and Sprlak-Puk at No. 1. After each team held serve in its opening game starting with Texas, the Longhorns went on a 4-0 run, including two deuce points, to establish a 5-1 lead. The Cornhuskers got one game back on a break, but Ito and Sigsgaard answered in the next game on a deuce point for the win.
Bullard and Spizzirri were next with a 6-3 victory over Cacciatore and Gleason at No. 2 to take the point. That match started with each team grabbing a break in its opening game, beginning with Nebraska. The break for Texas began a 4-0 run that was capped with a deuce point. After a hold for the Cornhuskers, they earned another break on a deuce point to pull within 4-3, but the Longhorns answered with one of their own, followed by a hold to secure the victory and a 1-0 lead for Texas. The third match featured the combination of Talluri and Woldeab for the first time this season in dual match play. They led Maruyama and Lozano, 5-4, at No. 3 when doubles play stopped.
No. 5 Texas 6, Nebraska 1
Singles – Order of Finish (3,1,2,4,5,6)
1. No. 2 Yuya Ito (UT) def. Victor Moreno Lozano (NEB), 6-2, 6-1
2. No. 45 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. William Gleason (NEB), 6-0, 6-2
3. Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Albert Sprlak-Puk (NEB), 6-1, 6-1
4. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Andre Saleh (NEB), 6-0, 6-2
5. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Shunya Maruyama (NEB), 6-4, 6-4
6. Patrick Cacciatore (NEB) def. Eshan Talluri (UT), 6-1, 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. No. 13 Christian Sigsgaard/Yuya Ito (UT) def. Albert Sprlak-Puk/Andre Saleh (NEB), 6-2
2. Eliot Spizzirri/Jacob Bullard (UT) def. Patrick Cacciatore/William Gleason (NEB), 6-3
3. Siem Woldeab/Eshan Talluri (UT) vs. Shunya Maruyama/Victor Moreno Lozano (NEB), 5-4, unf.
Players Mentioned
