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Oklahoma State
No. 5 Men’s Tennis downs No. 33 Oklahoma State, 6-1
04.05.2024 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns swept the six singles matches, including the 200th combined singles and doubles win for Cleeve Harper in his UT career to join Eliot Spizzirri (202).
Stillwater, Okla. – No. 5 Texas Men's Tennis (17-3, 5-0) swept the singles matches to earn a 6-1 victory over No. 33 Oklahoma State (15-6, 2-3) on Friday afternoon in Stillwater.
After the Cowboys took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2, the Longhorns responded by winning all six singles contests in straight sets to earn their eighth-straight victory.
The singles victories included senior Cleeve Harper at No. 5, senior No. 3 Micah Braswell at No. 2, junior No. 79 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, freshman Lucas Brown at No. 6 for the clinch, senior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, and freshman No. 40 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3.
In singles play, Cleeve Harper was the first one off the court after he cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Leighton Allen on court No. 5. In combination with his doubles win with Micah Braswell earlier in the match, it gave Harper 200 total combined singles and doubles wins in his career, joining Eliot Spizzirri (202) in the 200-win club. Harper opened the first set with a 3-0 run, including a deuce-point break for 2-0. After Allen got one game back to make it 3-1, Harper went on a second 3-0 run to win the first set. In the second set, Allen took the first game on serve, but Harper answered with a 6-0 run to close out the match and even the overall score, 1-1.
Micah Braswell finished next after he downed No. 78 Isaac Becroft 6-3, 6-3, at No. 2. In the first set, Braswell opened with a 3-0 run before Becroft held to make it 3-1. After that, both players stayed on serve and Micah kept his three-game lead until he closed out the first set, 6-3. Braswell opened the second set with a deuce-point break and a deuce-point hold to jump out to a 2-0 lead he would not relinquish. From there, both players stayed on serve until Braswell broke once more while up 5-3 to win the second set, 6-3, and give Texas a 2-1 lead.
The next match to finish was on court 4 where Pierre-Yves Bailly defeated Francisco Pini, 6-3, 6-2. In the first set, Pini got out to a 3-1 lead with a break in the opening game, but Bailly managed to find momentum and went on a 5-0 run that included a deuce-point win for 3-3 on the way to taking the first set, 6-3. Bailly kept his momentum into the second set and took a 4-0 lead, increasing his total run to 9-0 before Pini finally managed to get a game back to make it 4-1. Bailly later served for the match and won, taking the second set, 6-2, to extend the Longhorns' lead to 3-1.
The clinching match for Texas was Brown earning a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ty Wunderlich at No. 6. After a deuce-point break that increased his lead to 3-1 in the first set, Brown kept his break advantage and eventually finished out the first set, 6-3. In the second set, Wunderlich opened things with a deuce-point hold, but Brown answered it to get back to 1-1. The set then stayed on serve until Brown secured a deuce-point break for a 5-3 lead, which he consolidated in the ensuing game to clinch the match for Texas.
Just a few minutes following the clinch, Spizzirri won his match against No. 23 Tyler Zink, 7-5, 6-4, to give Texas a fifth-straight singles win. After being down 2-0 in the first set following a break in the second game, Spizzirri went on a 4-0 run. However, Zink answered with a 3-0 run of his own for a 5-4 lead. Spizzirri followed that with a hold and a break to go up 6-5 and then served out the set. In the second, Zink opened with a deuce-point break after being down, 40-0, and followed it with a deuce-point hold to go up, 2-0. Spizzirri then proceeded to break Zink's next two serves and go on a 3-0 run for the lead. The set stayed on serve from there to Spizzirri's win.
Gilles-Arnaud Bailly completed the singles sweep for Texas with a 6-1, 7-6 (8) victory over No. 71 Alex Garcia at No. 3. After cruising to a quick 6-1 first set win, Bailly found himself locked in a tight battle in the second set. After Bailly earned a deuce-point win to go up 5-2, Garcia rallied for three consecutive games to tie it. When both players held their ensuing service games, the set went to a tiebreaker. The breaker was back and forth, with neither player able to go on much of a run. Garcia went up 6-5 and Bailly fought off the set point to make it 6-6. After Garcia regained the lead, 7-6, Bailly again fought off a set point tie it again. Bailly won the next point for an 8-7 lead, and although Garcia managed to fight off the point for 8-8, Bailly captured the next two points for the win.
Earlier in doubles, senior Eshan Talluri and Pierre-Yves Bailly fell to Garcia and Pini, 6-4, on No. 2. Oklahoma State went up a break right away on a deuce point, and consolidated on another deuce point to open, 2-0. From there, both teams stayed on serve until Oklahoma State closed it out, 6-4.
On court 3, Harper and Micah Braswell defeated Wunderlich and Allen, 6-3. After Texas opened with a hold and a break for 2-0, Oklahoma State did the same to get it back to 2-2. Following that, Texas went on a 3-0 run to make it 5-2, and although Oklahoma State managed a deuce-point hold to get back to 5-3, Texas took the next game to win, 6-3.
That left it to No. 1 where the senior pair of No. 53 Spizzirri and senior Siem Woldeab went to a tiebreaker. Texas found themselves up, 5-2, Oklahoma State went on a 3-0 run punctuated by a deuce-point hold to make it 5-5. After each team held, they went to a tiebreaker where the Cowboys opened with a 4-1 lead. Although the Longhorns rallied, they could not overcome the hot start, and Oklahoma State won the tiebreaker, 7-4.
Up next, Texas will travel to Norman, Okla., to take on the No. 11 Sooners on Sunday, April 7, at 1 p.m. CT.
#5 Texas 6, #33 Oklahoma State 1
Singles – Order of Finish (5,2,4,6,1,3)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #23 Tyler Zink (OKST) 7-5, 6-4
2. #3 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #78 Isaac Becroft (OKST) 6-3, 6-3
3. #40 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. #71 Alex Garcia (OKST) 6-1, 7-6 (18)
4. #79 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Francisco Pini (OKST) 6-3, 6-2
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Leighton Allen (OKST) 6-1, 6-1
6. Lucas Brown (UT) def. Ty Wunderlich (OKST) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3,1)
1. #30 Isaac Becroft/Tyler Zink (OKSTM) def. #62 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) 7-6 (4)
2. Alex Garcia/Francisco Pini (OKSTM) def. Eshan Talluri/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-4
3. Cleeve Harper/Micah Braswell (UT) def. Ty Wunderlich/Leighton Allen (OKSTM) 6-3
Players Mentioned
