The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 7 Men’s Tennis defeats No. 6 Texas A&M, 4-3
03.31.2021 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns clinched the match at 4-0 with a dramatic doubles point and three singles wins on Wednesday for their third top-10 victory this season.
Austin – No. 7 Men's Tennis clinched at 4-0 and went on to defeat No. 6 Texas A&M, 4-3, on Wednesday at the Texas Tennis Center for their third victory over a top-10 opponent this season.
The Longhorns used a dramatic doubles point victory and three singles wins from sophomores No. 99 Siem Woldeab at No. 3, Cleeve Harper at No. 4, and Evin McDonald at No. 6 for the win in the first meeting between the teams since 2016.
After the doubles point, Woldeab, playing at No. 3 singles for the first time this season, put together a strong match with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over No. 77 Noah Schachter. Schachter won the opening game on serve, but from there Woldeab went on a 7-0 run to take the first set and open at 1-0 in the second. At that point, Schachter went on a 4-0 run to establish a lead, but Woldeab responded with a 4-0 run of his own to take the lead back at 5-4. Schachter got one game back on serve to even it, but Woldeab closed with the next two for his win and a 2-0 lead for Texas.
Harper wasn't far behind Woldeab in taking his 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 78 Pierce Rollins. Harper used a deuce point break in the third game for a 2-1 lead that he extended to 3-1 on serve. After the next two games also stayed on serve, Harper captured another break for 5-2. The players exchanged deuce point wins in the final two games to give Harper the set, and he then opened the second with a another on serve. That frame stayed on serve from there up to a 3-2 lead for Harper, which was the first game of a 4-0 run he used to finish the match and give the Longhorns a 3-0 lead.
A short time after that, McDonald capture the clinching point with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over Bjorn Thomson. Finding himself down, 5-1, in the first, McDonald came roaring back with a 4-0 run that evened it at 5-5 and put the set back on serve to Thomson, who briefly regained the lead at 6-5. However, McDonald answered that game to send it to a tiebreaker where he got out to a 3-1 lead and never relinquished it on his way to a 7-4 win. The second set stayed on serve almost the entire way starting with McDonald with each player winning a deuce point in the third and fourth games. Up, 5-4, McDonald then captured the break he need and sent his teammates running to him after the clinch.
At that point, the teams played out the remaining matches with Texas A&M claiming its three points with a 6-4, 6-3 win by No. 64 Juan Carlos Aguilar over freshman No. 16 Micah Braswell at No. 2, a 6-4, 6-4 win by Raphael Perot over junior Chih Chi Huang at No. 5, and a 6-4, 7-5 win for No. 5 Valentin Vacherot over sophomore No. 23 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1. Braswell's match featured five deuce points, four of which were won by Aguilar to establish leads in both sets that he held throughout. Meanwhile, Huang had gotten down 3-0 early in his first set, but fought back to even it at 4-4 before Perot claimed it with two deuce point wins. The second set stayed primarily on serve until Perot picked up a break in the final game for the win. Spizzirri's first set featured back-to-back deuce point breaks in the third and fourth games that kept the frame on serve up to a 5-4 lead for Vacherot. He had taken that on another deuce point before closing the set with a break. The second set stayed on serve starting with Vacherot up to 3-3 when Spizzirri took the next two games for a 5-3 lead, but Vacherot was able to finish on a 4-0 run for the final.
The drama was immediate to start the night as Texas took the doubles point following an extended tiebreaker at No. 2. There, Harper and Huang went to the limit for a 7-6 (9) win over Rollins and Vacherot. The Longhorns found themselves down, 3-0, early after dropping the second game on serve on a deuce point. After the teams each held serve in the next two games, Harper and Huang went on a 3-0 run of their own that also included a deuce point break. The teams again held serve in the following two games before the Longhorns picked up a break for a 6-5 lead and had a deuce match point in the next game after rallying from down 0-40. However, Texas A&M secured the deuce point to send it to the tiebreaker where they pushed ahead, 4-2, after the teams had split the first four points. Texas was able tie it at 4-4, and the points alternated from there starting with the Aggies to a 7-6 lead and a match point. Harper and Huang responded with the next two points for their own match point, but Rollins and Vacherot did as well to go up 9-8 for their second. The Longhorns fought that one off and started a 3-0 run to take it from there for the win.
The match at No. 2 had been the deciding match because of yet another comeback by Spizzirri and Woldeab at No. 1 to give them another win over a top-10 opponent, which was their fourth this season. After trailing 3-1 in their match against No. 8 Aguilar and Thomson, including one deuce point loss, the Longhorns won back-to-back games to even it at 3-3. The Aggies appeared to capture the momentum with consecutive deuce point wins for a 5-3 lead, but Spizzirri and Woldeab flipped the switch and set out on a 4-0 run to finish their match at 7-5.
The first doubles match to finish had been a 6-4 win for Schachter and Pranav Kumar over Braswell and sophomore Jacob Bullard at No. 3. The Texas duo had fallen behind, 3-1, on deuce point after Texas A&M had earned a break in the game before, and that would remain the margin as the rest of the match stayed on serve.
The Longhorns (15-3) return to the court this Saturday against No. 8 TCU at 12 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center.
#7 Texas 4, #6 Texas A&M 3
Singles – Order of Finish (3,4,6,2,5,1)
1. #5 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. #23 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4, 7-5
2. #64 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def. #16 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-4, 6-3
3. #99 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #77 Noah Schachter (TAMU) 6-1, 7-5
4. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #78 Pierce Rollins (TAMU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Raphael Perot (TAMU) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-4, 6-4
6. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) 7-6 (4), 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1,2)
1. #12 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. #8 Juan Carlos Aguilar/Bjorn Thomson (TAMU) 7-5
2. Cleeve Harper/Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Pierce Rollins/Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) 7-6 (9)
3. Pranav Kumar/Noah Schachter (TAMU) def. Micah Braswell/Jacob Bullard (UT) 6-4
(UT)
Players Mentioned
