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Oklahoma State
No. 12 Men’s Tennis downs No. 52 Oklahoma State, 5-2
04.16.2022 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns close the regular season with a 15-9 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the Big 12.
Stillwater, Okla. – No. 12 Men's Tennis downed No. 52 Oklahoma State, 5-2, at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday. With the win, the Longhorns close the regular season at 15-9 overall and 3-2 in the Big 12.
Texas won the doubles point for the fifth-straight match by taking Nos. 3 and 1, then followed with singles wins by freshman No. 35 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, junior Chih Chi Huang at No. 6, sophomore No. 22 Micah Braswell at No. 1 for the clinch, and sophomore Cleeve Harper at No. 5. The only two defeats came at Nos. 3 and 4 where the matches were decided in a third-set tiebreaker and a third-set superbreaker, respectively.
After doubles, Bailly gave Texas a 2-0 lead with an efficient 6-1, 6-2 win over Alex Garcia. Garcia's lone win in the first set came on a deuce-point hold at 1-1, and it was all Bailly after that with only one other deuce point that came at 5-1 on a break. In the second set, Garcia held his opening serve on a deuce point, and the next three games also stayed on serve, but Bailly was able to break at deuce for a 3-2 lead and start a 4-0 run to his win. Bailly has now won his last three decisions with only one unfinished match in that stretch where he was one game away from a victory against No. 18 Luc Fomba of TCU.
Next off for Texas was Huang, who happened to be the last player to finish his first set in a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Joseph Chen. Starting with Huang, the first set stayed on serve the entire way to the tiebreaker. That also stayed on serve throughout except for one mini-break, which Huang claimed for a 4-3 lead that he extended to 6-3 on serve before winning at 7-5. After no deuce points in the first set, four of the first five games went to deuce in the second. The first belonged to Chen on serve, and after answering the hold, Huang captured the next two games on deuce points for a break and another hold to go up, 3-1. Chen then used the last deuce in the stretch to hold and get within 3-2, but there would be no more breaks or deuce points the rest of the way to the win for Huang, who has now won three-straight and six of his last seven decision.
The clinch then went to Braswell with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over No. 108 Tyler Zink. Braswell picked up the first break of the match for a 3-1 lead and consolidated it to 4-1 on serve. Zink got the break back on a deuce point at 4-3, but Braswell responded with another immediately for 5-3 and served out at deuce in the next game. The second was back and forth throughout with each player breaking on a deuce point starting with Braswell, followed by each player holding. Braswell then broke on another deuce and held for 4-2, but the next four games all went to deuce with the first three claimed by Zink to retake the lead at 5-4. Braswell then fended off a set point for Zink at deuce in the next game to even it, and the final two games stayed on serve to a tiebreaker. There, Zink secured the first point on serve and went up a mini-break at 2-1, but Braswell got it back immediately for 2-2. Zink then took the next two points and maintained that lead to 5-3, but it was all Braswell after that as he went on a 4-0 run for the win, which was his 15th in his last 18 decisions.
The remaining matches all went to three sets with Harper downing former Longhorn Leighton Allen, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, to make it 5-0 for Texas. Each player broke the other's serve at deuce starting with Allen to begin the match. Harper picked up the next break for a 3-1 lead, and although Allen answered it with another deuce-point break, Harper broke again for 4-2 before extending to 5-2 on serve. The last two games were then both on serve for Harper's win. The second also began with a pair of breaks starting with Allen, but despite three deuce points, the set stayed on serve up to a 5-4 lead for him when was able to break again for the win. In the third, Harper broke and held for a 2-0 lead and would not relinquish it the rest of the way. After Harper went up 3-1, the last four games all went to deuce, but only one was a break, which went Harper's way for a 5-2 lead before he closed on serve at 6-2.
That left sophomore No. 61 Eliot Spizzirri and senior No. 92 Richard Ciamarra on court with both having their matches decided in tiebreakers. Ciamarra's match ended first as he fell, 3-6, 7-6 (10), 0-1 (8) to Fran Pini at No. 4. The first four games were on serve starting with Ciamarra who opened with a deuce-point win, but Pini then won back-to-back deuce games to push to a 4-2 lead before breaking again at 6-3 for the set. The second then stayed on serve all the way to a tiebreaker. In that frame, Ciamarra claimed the first point and either had the lead or was tied up to a set point at 6-5. However, Pini fended that off and then took his first lead at 7-6. Ciamara regained it at 8-7, but once again Pini moved back in front at 9-8. After the players alternated points to a 10-9 lead for Pini, Ciamarra captured the last three to win the set at 12-10, leaving the match to be decided by a superbreaker. It was more of the same there as the players exchanged leads numerous times. However, after Ciamarra took an 8-6 lead, Pini finished on a 4-0 run for the match.
At that point, Spizzirri was in his third set against Max Verboven at No. 4. In the first, Verboven used a deuce-point break for a 5-4 lead before serving out for the set. The second belonged to Spizzirri, who recorded a deuce-point break of his own to open on a 3-0 run, and then another to close at 6-2. He would also collect the first break of the third set at 4-2, but Verboven answered it to put it back on serve where it stayed until a tiebreaker, despite Spizzirri having a match point at deuce of the final game before that. Verboven was able to deflect it and then won the first three points of the tiebreaker to establish a lead that he maintained to give him match points at 6-4 and 6-5. Spizzirri fought those off to tie it on serve, but after Verboven picked up a mini-break to regain the lead, his following serve hit the tape hard but dribbled over for his win and the 5-2 final.
Earlier in doubles, sophomore Eshan Talluri played in his second dual match of the season, joining Huang at No. 3, and the duo downed Pini and Allen, 6-3. The Cowboys broke for an early 2-1 lead, but the Longhorns broke back immediate to even it. Texas then claimed the only other break of the match for a 5-3 lead before serving out for the win.
Oklahoma State leveled doubles play with a 6-4 win by Verboven and Garcia against No. 15 Spizzirri and sophomore Siem Woldeab at No. 2. The match stayed on serve to 4-4 when the Cowboys got the break they needed at 5-4, and then barely slipped by the Longhorns with a deuce-point hold in the next game.
That left it to No. 1 where the No. 3-ranked pair of Ciamarra and Harper topped No. 45 Zink and Sebastian Nothhaft, 7-5. Oklahoma State earned the first break of the match at 2-1 before holding for 3-1, but Texas got the break back to even it at 3-3. The match remained on serve from there until the Longhorns secured the match and the doubles point with another break at 7-5.
Texas (15-9, 3-2 Big 12) next heads to Fort Worth for the Big 12 Championship, which runs from April 22-24.
#12 Texas 5, #52 Oklahoma State 2
Singles – Order of Finish (2,6,1,5,4,3)
1. #22 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #108 Tyler Zink (OSU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #35 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Alex Garcia (OSU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Max Verboven (OSU) def. #61 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6)
4. Fran Pini (OSU) def. #92 Richard Ciamarra (UT) 6-3, 6-7 (10-12), 1-0 (10-8)
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Leighton Allen (OSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
6. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Joseph Chen (OSU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,2,1)
1. #3 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #45 Seb Nothhaft/Tyler Zink (OSU) 7-5
2. Max Verboven/Alex Garcia (OSU) def. #15 Siem Woldeab/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-4
3. Eshan Talluri/Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Fran Pini/Leighton Allen (OSU) 6-3
Players Mentioned
