The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Pepperdine
No. 15 Men’s Tennis downs No. 21 Pepperdine, 5-2
03.18.2022 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns completed their west coast trip with two top-25 victories by defeating the Waves on Friday.
Malibu, Calif. – No. 15 Texas Men's completed its west coast trip with a 5-2 victory over No. 21 Pepperdine at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu, Calif., on Friday. The Longhorns won both their matches on the trip and secured their second top-25 win against the Waves after defeating No. 9 USC on Tuesday.
Texas won the doubles point and then received singles wins from sophomores Siem Woldeab at No. 4, No. 38 Micah Braswell at No. 1, Evin McDonald at No. 6, who clinched it for the Longhorns at 4-1, and Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3.
After doubles, Woldeab was first off the court in singles by capturing his second-straight win over a ranked opponent, 6-4, 6-1, over No. 48 Andrew Rogers. After a deuce-point hold on his first serve to even it at 1-1, Woldeab picked up an early break and then held again for 3-1. It would turn out to be the only break of the first set, taking Woldeab to his win. In the second, he immediately opened with another break on a deuce point and held for 2-0. After Rogers picked up one game on serve, Woldeab took it from there with a 4-0 run to the victory and a 2-0 Texas lead.
Pepperdine then got on the board with a 6-3, 7-5 win by Corrado Summaria over junior Chih Chi Huang at No. 5. Huang broke in the opening game, but Summaria got the break back at 2-2 before taking the lead at 3-2. Huang then held for 3-3, but Summaria went on a 5-0 run to win the set and establish a 2-0 lead in the second. Huang answered Summaria's opening game break with one at 3-3 that he consolidated on serve for a 4-3 lead, and after the next three games stayed on serve, Summaria broke again at 6-5 and held for the match to cut the lead to 2-1.
However not long after that, Braswell pushed it back to a two-point margin by topping No. 13 Daniel De Jonge, 6-3, 7-5 at No. 1. It was Braswell's 11th win in his last 13 decisions and his second top-15 win in the last three matches. Despite the score, it was De Jonge who grabbed a break in the opening game and a 2-0 lead on serve, but Braswell responded with a 5-0 run with the last game coming on a deuce point. De Jonge got one game back on serve, but Braswell closed out the set with another deuce-point hold. In the second, Braswell was the one to open with a break and a hold for a 2-0 lead, but this time De Jonge answered with a 3-0 run to take the edge. After Braswell held for 3-3, De Jonge grabbed consecutive deuce-point wins to get out to a 5-3 advantage, but once again Braswell went on a run, this time 4-0, that included consecutive deuce-point wins of his own at 5-5 and 6-5 before he serve out for the win.
That left three matches going that all went to third sets, but it would be McDonald who would get to the finish line first with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over Eric Hadigian. Once again, there would be only one break in the first set, and it went to McDonald to give him a 5-3 lead that he turned into a 6-3 win on a deuce-point hold. After opening with a deuce-point hold in the second, Hadigian broke on another deuce for a 3-1 lead that he extended to 4-1 on serve. McDonald fought back from down 0-40 to hold his next serve, but two games later, Hadigian broke again on another deuce for the set. The third set played out much like the first, only starting with Hadigian on serve, as there wasn't a break until McDonald claimed one for a 5-4 lead. McDonald was down in the first part of his next service game, but rallied it to deuce and then claimed the game, set, match and clinch for Texas at 4-1.
In the first match to finish of the remaining two, senior No. 32 Richard Ciamarra put together a solid first set where he broke on a deuce point and held for a 4-2 lead against No. 65 Tim Zeitvogel. Although Zeitvogel evened it at 4-4, Ciamarra broke again and served out on a deuce point for the win. The second set could have gone either way, as after each player held their opening serve starting with Zeitvogel, they combined for seven consecutive deuce-point games. It appeared as Ciamarra might be on his way after claiming three of the first four of those for a 4-2 lead, but Zeitvogel responded with three straight to take the lead and then broke for the win at 6-4. Just as he closed the second with a 4-0 run, Zeitvogel also opened the third with one to take control. Ciamarra pulled back within 4-2 with a break and a hold, but the final two games belonged to Zeitvogel for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 decision and to make the score 4-2 overall for Texas.
In the final match, Spizzirri closed things out with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 win over Eero Vasa. Spizzirri put together an efficient first set with two breaks at 2-1 and 5-2 without allowing any for Vasa. Vasa would get his first for a 3-1 lead in the second that he turned into 4-1 on serve. Although Spizzirri got the break back as part of a 3-0 run, Vasa managed one more break to take the set at 6-4. In the third, Spizzirri claimed the first break on a deuce point for a 2-1 lead that he consolidated to 3-1 on serve, but Vasa recorded a deuce-point break of his own that tied it at 3-3 before regaining the lead on serve at 4-3. Vasa had a chance for another break in the next game as it went to deuce, but Spizzirri held to keep Vasa from having a chance to serve for the match. Instead, it would be Spizzirri who would register the next break, doing so at 6-5 before serving out at 7-5 for the 5-2 team final. It was Spizzirri's fifth-straight singles win as he has continued to work his way back from injury.
Earlier in doubles, the Longhorns snapped a streak of four-straight defeats for the doubles point as sophomore Cleeve Harper returned from injury. Although Harper and Ciamarra's match at No. 1 against Rogers and Vasa went unfinished with them trailing, 5-4, his return also reunited Woldeab and Spizzirri who pitched a 6-0 shutout against De Jonge and Hadigian at No. 2. That was the first match to finish, and after Braswell and Huang put together a 6-4 win over Zeitvogel and Summaria at their traditional No. 3 spot, Texas secured the point and a 1-0 lead. Zeitvogel and Summaria had actually taken a 4-3 lead with a break, but Braswell and Huang broke back on a deuce point and then finished with another break at 6-4.
Next up, the Longhorns (10-7) return home for a non-conference match against No. 37 Oklahoma at 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 27, at the Texas Tennis Center. It will also be the first match of the year to air on Longhorn Network.
#15 Texas 5, #21 Pepperdine 2
Singles – Order of Finish (4,5,1,6,2,3)
1. #38 Braswell, Micah (UT) def. #13 De Jonge, Daniel (PEPP) 6-3, 7-5
2. #65 Zeitvogel, Tim (PEPP) def. #32 Ciamarra, Richard (UT) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. Spizzirri, Eliot (UT) def. Vasa, Eero (PEPP) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
4. Woldeab, Siem (UT) def. #48 Rogers, Andrew (PEPP) 6-4, 6-1
5. Summaria, Corrado (PEPP) def. Huang, Chih Chi (UT) 6-3, 7-5
6. Mcdonald, Evin (UT) def. Hadigian, Eric (PEPP) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3)
1. Rogers, Andrew/Vasa, Eero (PEPP) vs. #12 Ciamarra, Richard/Harper, Cleeve (UT) 5-4, unf.
2. #51 Spizzirri, Eliot/Woldeab, Siem (UT) def. De Jonge, Daniel/Hadigian, Eric (PEPP) 6-0
3. Braswell, Micah/Huang, Chih Chi (UT) def. Summaria, Corrado/Zeitvogel, Tim (PEPP) 6-4
Players Mentioned
