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No. 15 Men’s Tennis tops No. 28 Texas A&M, 4-3
03.09.2022 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns went on the road and used four singles victories to clinch against the Aggies at 4-1.
College Station, Texas – No. 15 Texas Men's Tennis went on the road and topped No. 28 Texas A&M, 4-3, at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station on Wednesday. The Longhorns used four singles victories to clinch at 4-1 against the Aggies before the final two matches were completed.
Texas' four wins came from sophomores Siem Woldeab at No. 4, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3, and No. 38 Micah Braswell at No. 1, along with senior No. 32 Richard Ciamarra at No. 2. Spizzirri, Braswell and Ciamarra had all dropped their opening sets before rallying. Freshman No. 20 Pierre-Yves Bailly and sophomore Cleeve Harper were both out of the regular lineup due to injury.
After the doubles point, Woldeab captured the only straight-sets singles victory of the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Guido Marson. Woldeab picked up the first break of the match for a 2-1 lead that he consolidated at 3-1 on serve, but Marson was able get the break back at 3-3. The next three games then stayed on serve until Woldeab closed the set with his second break at 6-4. In the second set, Woldeab was again the first to break to take a 3-2 lead, however this time it would be the first of five breaks in six games by both players combined. After Marson broke back on a deuce point at 3-3, Woldeab responded with another at 4-3, but then secured the lone hold in the string on a deuce point to extend to 5-3. Marson stayed alive with a deuce-point break on a match point, but Woldeab claimed the final break and the match to even the overall score at 1-1.
All five other singles matches went three sets with Spizzirri next off to give Texas its first lead of the night with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Matthis Ross. Spizzirri opened the match with a hold, but later found himself down 5-1 as the last two games from Ross' run came on deuce points. Those would start a string of eight of nine games going to deuce. Spizzirri pulled back within 5-3 with a hold and deuce-point break, but Ross answered with a deuce-point break of his own for the set. The first four games of the second set all went to deuce with each player taking two, first on two breaks and then on two holds before Ross took a 3-2 lead on serve. From there, Spizzirri went on a 3-0 run that was capped by a deuce-point hold at 5-3, and although he pushed the next game to another deuce that went to Ross, he was able to serve out at 6-4. After Ross held his first serve of third set, it was all Spizzirri from there as he closed on a 6-0 run and took the match on one last deuce point.
Braswell would be next with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Noah Schachter in a match that was extremely tight the whole way with neither player leading by more than two games until halfway through the final set. Despite three deuce points in the first six games, the opening set stayed on serve almost all the way through until Schachter emerged with the first break to take the set, 6-4. Schachter got another early break in the second on a deuce point that gave him a 2-0 lead, but Braswell responded to the break and then held to even it and put the set back on serve. That's where it would stay all the way to 5-5 despite three deuce points in that stretch. The last of those provided Schachter a match point, but Braswell stood strong on serve to keep the match alive before breaking for the lead in the next game and holding again on deuce for the set. In the third, the first four games were all on serve, but with Schachter leading 2-1, Braswell held to even it and set out on a 5-0 run to capture the match and extend the Longhorns' lead to 3-1.
Shortly after that, Ciamarra came away with the clinch by producing a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 98 Raphael Perot. It was a tough start for Ciamarra, who dropped the opening game on a deuce-point break and then was broken again two games later to get down 3-0. Despite that, he was able to flip that run with two breaks of his own and even it at 3-3. That started a run of five straight breaks that included one deuce point for each player until Perot snapped the streak and claimed the first set at 7-5. In the second, the first break went in favor of Ciamarra for a 3-1 lead that he turned into 4-1 on serve. Perot took the next game on a deuce point, but Ciamarra had the margin he needed as the set stayed on serve the rest of the way to his 6-3 win. Ciamarra also secured the first break of the third set on a deuce point for 2-1, but Perot answered it and held for a 3-2 edge. However, it was all Ciamarra from there as he collected the final four games using two deuce-point breaks that included match point.
With the match clinched, the finals two singles matches were played out with both going to Texas A&M. The first had junior Chih Chi Huang, who fell to Giulio Perego, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, at No. 5. The first set stayed on serve all the way to the finish when Perego finally broke at 7-5. He broke again to take a 3-1 lead in the second, but Huang got going with two breaks of his own for a 4-0 run and 5-3 lead. Perot took the next game on a deuce point hold, but Huang completed the set on serve at 6-4. Huang grabbed an opening break on a deuce point to start the third, but Perot broke back, and much like the first set, it stayed on serve the rest of the way until Perot broke at the last for his win.
The final match was between sophomore Evin McDonald and Luke Casper at No. 6 with Casper coming out on top, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2. After trailing 3-0 early on a deuce-point break, McDonald stormed back with a 5-0 run that he maintained to his 6-4 win. The second then stayed on serve all the way to a tiebreaker despite five deuce points. In the breaker, Casper jumped out to a 4-1 lead and although McDonald rallied to within 6-5, Casper held on with the next point to send it to the third set. After McDonald got up 2-1 there, Casper went on a 5-0 run to the finish.
Earlier in doubles, the Longhorns lineup shifted with the absence of Harper and Bailly. Usually playing No. 3, Braswell and Huang moved up to No. 1, while Woldeab and Ciamarra paired at No. 2, and Spizzirri and McDonald partnered at No. 3.
The Texas A&M pair of Ross and Stefan Storch were first off with a 6-3 win over Woldeab and Ciamarra after taking the match's only break at 3-1. The other two matches came down to the end with Braswell and Huang falling to Schachter and Kenner Taylor, 7-5. In that match, the Aggies broke early for a 2-0 lead, but the Longhorns answered it on a deuce point in the next game. The rest of the match stayed on serve despite four deuce points up until Texas A&M got the break they needed on one final deuce to clinch the point. The remaining match stayed on serve the entire way, sitting at a 6-5 lead for the Aggies duo of Perego and Perot against Spizzirri and McDonald when play stopped. At 5-5, Texas had two break points to take the lead, but Texas A&M held on a deuce point with Texas attempting to send it to a tiebreaker up 40-30 in the next game.
The Longhorns (8-6) will now return home to square off against No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center.
#15 Texas 4, #28 Texas A&M 3
Singles – Order of Finish (4,3,1,2,5,6)
1. #38 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Noah Schachter (TAMU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
2. #32 Richard Ciamarra (UT) def. #98 Raphael Perot (TAMU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
3. Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Matthis Ross (TAMU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
4. Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Guido Marson (TAMU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Giulio Perego (TAMU) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 7-5, 4-6, 7-5
6. Luke Casper (TAMU) def. Evin McDonald (UT) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1)
1. Noah Schachter/Kenner Taylor (TAMU) def. Micah Braswell/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 7-5
2. Matthis Ross/Stefan Storch (TAMU) def. Richard Ciamarra/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-3
3. Giulio Perego/Raphael Perot (TAMU) vs. Eliot Spizzirri/Evin McDonald (UT) 6-5, unf.
Players Mentioned
