Sooner Men's Tennis Team On The Road

Feb. 17, 2000

This Week for the Sooners
The University of Oklahoma men's tennis team (2-2) resumes play Saturday, Feb. 19, against Texas-Arlington (2-4) at the UTA Tennis Center in Arlington, Texas. The match is set to begin at 10 a.m. In the last meeting against the Mavericks on Feb. 21, 1998, the Sooners prevailed, 4-3.

Recapping Last Weekend's Doubleheader
Oklahoma went 1-1 in its contests last Friday and Sunday at the Oaktree Country Club Club Indoor Tennis Courts in Edmond. On Friday, the Sooners edged regional foe Southwest Missouri State, 4-3.

After winning the two out of the three doubles matches to claim the doubles point, the two teams split the singles matches 3-3. In the deciding match, junior Julio Martinez (Algorta, Spain) survived a tough start, fought off four match points in a second set tie-break, and went on to win 0-6, 7-6, 6-2.

On Sunday, the Sooners fell to No. 33 Indiana, 6-1. Senior Dusty Beard (Tulsa, Oklahoma) was the only Sooner to win a point as he was victorious over IU's Milan Rakvica who retired in the second set. Freshman Tobias Kronlein (Askim, Sweden) managed to push his match to three sets but eventually lost to IU's Rahman Smiley in a close contest, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Scouting the Mavericks
Texas-Arlington enters the contest against Oklahoma owning a 2-4 record, with a recent loss to No. 59 UNLV, 4-3, at the UNLV Invitational.

UTA is ranked No. 11 in Region VI. The Mavericks began the spring season with two losses on the road against No. 39 Arkansas and No. 35 Texas Tech, and also lost at home to No. 12 Baylor. They rebounded at the UNLV Invitational with wins over Weber State and Cal Poly.

They are led by sophomore Andy Leber, who is ranked No. 22 in Region VI. Leber has gone 5-1 at the No. 1 singles position this spring.

In doubles action, Leber and fellow sophomore Ola Bentzen have produced a 4-2 mark at the No. 1 doubles position during the spring season.

"I think this match will be extremely close," said OU Head Coach Paul Lockwood. "We've had extremely close matches with them before and I think it could go either way. It is our first outdoor match of the year, so that will make it an adjustment for us. We have had a few good days of practice going into it. I think the guys will be ready. It will be a great match," said Lockwood.

Miraculous Finishes
The past few weeks have seen some of the most exciting matches for the OU men's tennis team.

Senior Dusty Beard (Tulsa, Oklahoma) began the trend with an incredible comeback win against Wichita State's Mark Mullins. Down 5-4 in the third set, Beard was able to fight off seven match points and before earning the victory, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

This past week saw junior Julio Martinez (Algorta, Spain) fend off three match points and defeat Southwest Missouri State's Nikola Merkovic, 0-6, 7-6, 6-2, to clinch the match for the Sooners.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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