The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Rice
No. 6 Men’s Tennis downs Rice, 6-1
03.12.2021 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns completed their four-match road stretch with a perfect record with their win in Houston on Friday
Austin – No. 6 Men's Tennis completed their four-match road stretch with a perfect record by downing Rice, 6-1, at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston on Friday.
The Longhorns used the doubles point and five singles victories by sophomore Evin McDonald at No. 5, freshman No. 78 Micah Braswell at No. 2, sophomore Cleeve Harper at No. 3, sophomore No. 120 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, and junior Chih Chi Huang at No. 4 to take the victory.
McDonald was first off the court in singles with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Adam Oscislawski to extend the Texas lead to 2-0. The first three games of the match were decided on deuce points with McDonald grabbing the first two on a break and a hold. Oscislawski got one back on serve in the next game for his lone win in the set. The second frame followed the same scoring pattern with McDonald taking the first two games, this time on a deuce point hold and a break, followed by Oscislawski taking the third game on a deuce point for his only win.
Braswell was next off, extending the Texas lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Mohamed Abdel-Aziz. The first three games stayed on serve before Braswell picked up a deuce break point for a 3-1 lead. Abdel-Aziz answered the break, but Braswell grabbed the next two games on deuce points for a 5-2 lead en route to a 6-3 win with the last two games on serve. In the second set, the players exchanged holds and then breaks starting with Abdel-Aziz to make it 2-2, but Braswell closed on a 4-0 run to take the match.
Next up was Harper, who clinched the overall match with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Campbell Salmon. Harper moved through an efficient first set with 3-0 runs to begin it and end it, and then the second set then stayed on serve starting with Salmon all the way to 5-5 when Harper broke and then held for the win.
The following two matches both went to second-set tiebreakers, first with Spizzirri topping Sumit Sarkar, 6-1, 7-6 (5), and then Huang defeating Wes Barnett 6-3, 7-6 (7). Spizzirri opened his match on a 5-0 run that was only snapped by a deuce point before he finished the set on serve. With the second set on serve and even at 2-2, the players had three straight deuce point games with Sarkar winning the first on serve, and Spizzirri then holding and breaking for the 4-3 lead, which he extended to 5-3 on serve. However, Sarkar came back with a 3-0 run for a 6-5 lead of his own. Spizzirri held in the next game to force the breaker, and after Sarkar jumped out to a 4-1 lead in that, Spizzirri matched his run to even it at 5-5 and then added the final two points as part of a separate 4-0 run for the win.
Huang opened his match with a break and a hold for a 2-0 lead before Barnett won three-straight deuce points to put it back on serve. However from there, Huang finished the set on a 4-0 run for the win. Huang once again took a 2-0 lead in the second set, this time with a hold and a break, but Barnett answered with a break and a hold on deuce point to even it. The rest of the set stayed on serve all the way to the tiebreaker where the players stayed within one point of each other until Barnett pushed to a 5-3 lead. Huang captured the next two points to even it before they alternated to a 7-6 set point for Barnett, but Huang fended that off as part of a 3-0 run to his win.
Rice picked up their lone point on the day in a 7-5, 6-4 win for Trinity Grear against junior Nevin Arimilli at No. 6. The first set stayed on serve up to 5-5 when grabbed the break he needed and then held for the set. In the second set, Grear posted a 4-1 lead, but Arimilli fought back to 5-4 and a deuce point in the following game, which Grear secured for the win.
In doubles, the Longhorns used different combinations from previous matches, putting Harper and Huang back together who are 3-0 in dual matches, but who played for the first time at No. 1. They got off the court first, downing Sarkar and AJ Russell, 6-3, in match in which the Longhorns served first and got out to a 3-0 lead with the first two coming on deuce points. The rest of the match stayed on serve from there for the win.
At No. 2, Bullard and Spizzirri partnered together for the first time this season and collected a 6-4 win over Eskeland and Conrad Valenty to clinch the doubles point. Texas took a 2-0 lead with a deuce point break in the first game and then a hold and then extended to 3-1 on serve after Rice held on a deuce point. From there, the Owls put together a 3-0 run for a 4-3 lead, including a deuce point that at 3-3, but Bullard and Spizzirri answered the 3-0 run for the win.
The remaining match paired Braswell with senior Payton Holden for the first time in dual match play against Barnett and Grear. The contest stayed on serve up to 3-3 when Texas picked up a break and a hold for a 5-3 lead before it went unfinished at 5-4.
The Longhorns (12-3) will be back on the court for a match against No. 16 Arizona at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 19, at the Texas Tennis Center. That match will air on Longhorn Network.
#6 Texas 6, Rice 1
Singles – Order of Finish (5,2,3,1,6,4)
1. #120 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Sumit Sarkar (RICE) 6-1, 7-6 (5)
2. #78 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (RICE) 6-3, 6-2
3. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Campbell Salmon (RICE) 6-1, 7-5
4. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Wes Barnett (RICE) 6-3, 7-6 (7)
5. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Adam Oscislawski (RICE) 6-1, 6-1
6. Trinity Grear (RICE) def. Nevin Arimilli (UT) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. Cleeve Harper/Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Conrad Russell/Sumit Sarkar (RICE) 6-3
2. Jacob Bullard/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Jacob Eskeland/AJ Valenty (RICE) 6-4
3. Wes Barnett/Trinity Grear (RICE) vs. Micah Braswell/Payton Holden (UT) 4-5, unf.
Players Mentioned
