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Oklahoma State
No. 6 Men’s Tennis secures 4-3 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State
04.11.2021 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns defeated the Cowboys for the second time this season and are now 6-1 in contests decided in the final singles match.
Austin – No. 6 Men's Tennis secured their second win over No. 18 Oklahoma State this season with a 4-3 conference victory on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center.
The Longhorns won the doubles point and followed with singles wins by sophomores No. 23 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 and No. t-99 Siem Woldeab at No. 3, and freshman No. 16 Micah Braswell at No. 2, who clinched the overall match in a third-set tiebreaker.
Texas is now 6-1 in contests decided in the final singles match with the other wins over No. 9 Florida and No. 15 Arizona in Austin, No. 1 USC at the ITA Indoor Nationals, and on the road at Tulane and No. 28 Oklahoma. The Longhorns have picked up the clinching point from five different players in those matches including Braswell against Oklahoma State and Tulane, Spizzirri against Florida, sophomore Cleeve Harper against USC, sophomore Evin McDonald at Oklahoma and junior Nevin Arimilli against Arizona. The only defeat was to No. 8 TCU which also saw the final match go to a third-set tiebreaker.
After the Longhorns took the doubles point, Spizzirri was first off the court in singles with a 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 38 Matej Vocel. Spizzirri established control early with a 3-0 run, including a break in the second game. The set stayed on serve from there, including each player winning one deuce point, up to 5-2 when Spizzirri used another deuce point to break and take the set. The second stayed on serve to a 3-2 edge for Spizzirri before he broke and held on a deuce point for 5-2. Vocel picked up one more game on serve on a deuce point, but Spizzirri closed on serve for the win and a 2-0 Texas lead. It was his second straight win over a ranked opponent and his third win in his last five.
A flurry of results came in next with Oklahoma State using wins by Matisse Bobichon over McDonald at No. 6 (6-3, 7-5), and Mathieu Scaglia over Harper (6-4, 6-2) at No. 4 to even the overall score. Bobichon established a 4-1 lead in the first set that he maintained to win it, and took a 3-1 edge in the second before McDonald ran off three straight for the lead. Bobichon won the next two and each player won a deuce point after that, but Bobichon held in the last game to win the match. Scaglia used a pair of 4-0 runs in each set for leads of 5-2 and 5-1 en route to his win against Harper.
However moments later, Woldeab took the lead back for the Longhorns with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Henrik Korsgaard. Woldeab held in the opening game on a deuce point and the set stayed on serve until Korsgaard earned the first break for a 3-2 lead and followed with a deuce point hold for 4-2. Woldeab held on a deuce point of his own in the next game, and after Korsgaard also held to go up 5-3, Woldeab began a 9-0 run to take the first set and post a 5-0 lead in the second. Korsgaard picked up one more game on serve after that, but Woldeab finished it on serve to win 10 of the last 11 games.
Right after that, the Cowboys again tied the overall match with Etienne Donnet topping junior Chih Chi Huang, 6-1, 7-6 (4) at No. 5. Donnet opened with the first four games, including one on a deuce point, before Huang used a deuce point to make it 4-1. Donnet claimed the final two games of the first set, along with the opening game of the second on serve. The frame remained on serve to 3-3 when Huang earned a break on a deuce point and followed with a hold for a 5-3 lead. However, Donnet went on a 3-0 run to take the lead back, and Huang held in the next game to send it to a tiebreaker. There, Huang grabbed the first two points, but Donnet answered with the next two, and the players alternated up to 4-4. The last point of that stretch would be the first of a 4-0 run for Donnet for his win.
That left the drama at No. 2 where Braswell and No. 107 Emile Hudd each exchanged solid wins in the first two sets, first 6-2 for Hudd and then 6-1 for Braswell with each closing their set on a 4-0 run. However, the third set was a different story as it stayed on serve the whole way to the tiebreaker with no deuce points. In that frame, Braswell opened on serve and claimed the first point and then went up a mini-break at 2-0. That would give Braswell the cushion he needed as the players alternated points the rest of the way to the 7-5 clinching point for Braswell, sending his teammates charging onto his court.
Earlier in doubles, the Longhorns used wins at Nos. 1 and 3 to take the point. No. 12 Spizzirri and Woldeab were first off the court at No. 1 with a 6-2 win over Hudd and Vocel. The first four games of the match were all breaks, and with the Texas duo trailing, 2-1, they earned the last of those and set out on a 5-0 run to the win. Spizzirri and Woldeab won the final game on a deuce point and completed wins in all four of Oklahoma State's service games in the match.
At No. 3, Braswell combined with senior Payton Holden for the second-straight match, and they produced their second-straight win by defeating Donnet and Scaglia, 6-4. Oklahoma State used an opening game break and a deuce point hold to take a 2-0 lead, but the Longhorns responded with a deuce point win in the next game to start them on a 5-0 run that included two more deuce point wins. The Cowboys pulled within 5-4 on a hold and a break, but Braswell and Holden answered the break for the win and the clinch.
In the remaining unfinished match, Harper and Huang led Korsgaard and Dominik Kellovsky, 6-5, when play stopped. The Longhorns used a 3-0 run in the middle of the match to take a 5-2 lead, but the Cowboys evened it before Harper and Huang regained the lead in the last game.
The Longhorns (17-4) will now complete the regular season with two road matches, first at No. 3 Baylor on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT, then at No. 19 Texas Tech next Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
Great way to finish the home regular season at the TTC! 👀 #HookEm 🤘🎾 pic.twitter.com/dvwbwsBObF
— Texas Men's Tennis (@TexasMTN) April 12, 2021
#6 Texas 4, #18 Oklahoma State 3
Singles – Order of Finish (1,6,4,3,5,2)
1. #23 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #38 Matej Vocel (OSU) 6-2, 6-3
2. #16 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #107 Emile Hudd (OSU) 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5)
3. #99 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Henrik Korsgaard (OSU) 7-5, 6-1
4. Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) def. Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-4, 6-2
5. Etienne Donnet (OSU) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
6. Matisse Bobichon (OSU) def. Evin McDonald (UT) 6-3, 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. #12 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Emile Hudd/Matej Vocel (OSU) 6-2
2. Cleeve Harper/Chih Chi Huang (UT) vs. Dominik Kellovsky/Henrik Korsgaard (OSU) 6-5, unf.
3. Micah Braswell/Payton Holden (UT) def. Etienne Donnet/Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) 6-4
Players Mentioned
