Men's Tennis Wins Big 12 Opener, 6-1

NORMAN, Okla. The University of Oklahoma men's tennis team extended its winning streak to 11 on Sunday with a 6-1 victory over Nebraska in the Sooners' Big 12 opener in Norman. Oklahoma is now 14-3 overall, while Nebraska fell to 10-6.

“With the heavy winds today, the conditions on the courts were as tough as they could be,” said head coach Paul Lockwood. “I'm proud of my team for fighting through those conditions and coming away with a solid Big 12 win.”

The Sooners got on the board first by winning the doubles point. At the No. 1 position, senior Alexei Ivanov and junior Marek Velicka were the first to pick up a win and defeated Jerry Posch and Mark Tate, 8-4. Sophomore Federico Chavarria and senior Tommy Garrison clenched the doubles point at the No. 2 spot after defeating James Clow and Arturo Navarro, 8-6.

The duo of senior Matt Long and sophomore Ryan Thomas also competed for the Sooners in doubles. The two went into their match against Adrian Szatmary and Renato Melo with a perfect 7-0 record yet were unable to extend their streak and fell to the Huskers, 9-7.

In singles, Oklahoma won five of the six matches. Garrison, who downed Clow in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, was the first to walk off the court with a victory. Senior Lee Gregg followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Hendrik Stahmer at the No. 5 slot and picked up his 11th consecutive dual victory. At No. 4, freshman Sergey Avdeyev sealed OU's victory as he upended Tate, 6-3, 6-3.

The final three singles matches tested OU's endurance as Nebraska pushed them all into the third sets. At No. 1, Velicka won the first set, 6-1, yet Posch rallied in the second set to win the tiebreaker, 7-6(4). However, Velicka came back and took the third set, 6-1, to win the match. Meanwhile at No. 2, Ivanov also won the first set and dropped a tiebreaker in the second set. Like Velicka, Ivanov was able to rally and win the last set, 6-2, to pull off a victory.

In the final match of the afternoon, Thomas faced Melo at No. 6 singles, with the match coming down to the third set. Despite a strong performance, Thomas fell to Melo in the third set, which gave the Huskers their only singles victory of the match.

With their 11 consecutive victories, the Sooners have now tied the longest winning streak under head coach Paul Lockwood's tenure. The other longest streak came at the beginning of the 2005 spring season when OU opened with 11 wins.

The Sooners will return to the courts on Tuesday, March 28, for another Big 12 match in Norman. Oklahoma is slated to play Colorado at 5 p.m. at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

Doubles
1. Ivanov/Velicka (OU) def. Posch/Tate (NU), 8-4
2. Federico Chavarria/Garrison (OU) def. Clow/Navarro (NU), 8-6
3. Melo/Szatmary (NU) def. Matt Long/Thomas (OU), 9-7
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles
1. No. 84 Marek Velicka (OU) def. Jerry Posch (NU), 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-1
2. Alexei Ivanov (OU) def. Adrian Szatmary (NU), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2
3. Tommy Garrison (OU) def. James Clow (NU), 6-3, 6-4
4. Sergey Avdeyev (OU) def. Mark Tate (NU), 6-3, 6-3
5. Lee Gregg (OU) def. Hendrik Stahmer (NU), 6-3, 6-1
6. Renato Melo (NU) def. Ryan Thomas (OU), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 5, 4, 1, 2, 6

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