Men's Tennis Looks to Continue Streak

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Oklahoma men's tennis team will look to continue its 11-match winning streak this week as the team hosts Colorado in Norman on Tuesday and will then travel south to face Texas on Friday, March 31, at 6 p.m. and Texas A&M on Saturday, April 2, at 1 p.m.

With a 6-1 win over Nebraska in its Big 12 opener on Sunday, OU improved to 14-3 in one of the program's most successful seasons in recent years. Only once before in head coach Paul Lockwood's 18 years at Oklahoma has the squad won 11 straight matches. The last time came in the 2005 spring season, when OU opened the season with an 11 consecutive victories.

The week's matches will be the most competitive for the Sooners this season, as all three squads are ranked in the national polls. Colorado is the lowest ranked of the three and sits at No. 42 in the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings, while Texas and Texas A&M are ranked No. 5 and No. 22, respectively.

The Sooners hold a 40-18 all-time advantage over the Buffaloes, while Texas A&M is 26-11 against Oklahoma. Oklahoma has only won three dual matches against Texas, with the most recent victory last year in Norman when the Sooners edged the Longhorns, 4-3, for the first time in 21 years.

The match against Colorado will be played at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman. Admission is free to all home matches.

Last Outing
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.

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 clinched the doubles point at the No. 2 spot after defeating James Clow and Arturo Navarro, 8-6.

In singles, Oklahoma won five of the six matches. Velicka, Ivanov, Garrison, freshman Sergey Avdeyev and senior Lee Gregg picked up wins for Oklahoma.

Postmatch Notes
With their 11 consecutive victories, the Sooners have now tied the longest winning streak under head coach Paul Lockwood's tenure. The other streak came at the beginning of the 2005 spring season when OU opened with 11 wins.
Senior Lee Gregg picked up his 11th consecutive victory and improved to a team-best 16-4 overall record. Gregg has not lost a match since Feb. 10.
Senior Matt Long and sophomore Ryan Thomas' winning streak was snapped when the duo fell to Nebraska's Adrian Szatmary and Renato Melo, 9-7. The tandem is now 7-1 overall.
Thomas also fell in singles, which is his only loss this spring. He sits at a 10-1 spring record and an 11-2 overall mark.

Going Streaking
Lee Gregg extended his winning streak on Sunday and has now won 11 straight dual matches. More impressive is that Gregg has defeated all of his opponents during his streak in straight sets. Other Sooners who are riding streaks of five or more wins include Alexei Ivanov (8), Cale Planck (7) and Sergey Avdeyev (5).

In doubles, the duos of Marek Velicka and Ivanov and Federico Chavarria and Tommy Garrison are riding eight-match winning streaks.

Regional Success
Senior Tommy Garrison and junior Marek Velicka have yet to lose a singles match against regional opponents. Garrison is perfect at 4-0 in singles and has faced players from Nebraska, Missouri State and Oral Roberts. He also has a spotless 4-0 record in regional doubles competition with sophomore Federico Chavarria.

Velicka is 5-0 in regional play with wins over Illinois State, Nebraska, Missouri State and Oral Roberts.

Scouting Colorado
The No. 42 Buffaloes are 10-5 this season and 1-0 in the Big 12 after upsetting No. 35 Oklahoma State, 4-3, on Sunday. The win came four days after the team was told that the men's tennis program would be eliminated at the end of this season due to budget issues.

Junior Eric Molnar will likely assume the No. 1 singles position for Colorado. Molnar is 5-9 in spring matches and 17-13 overall. For all but one match this spring, Molnar has paired with senior Marko Bundalo for No. 1 doubles, and the tandem has tallied a 4-7 mark.

Scouting Texas
Texas has only lost one match this spring as the squad opens Big 12 play against Oklahoma. With a 12-1 overall record, the Longhorns sit at No. 5 in the national rankings. Much like Oklahoma, Texas is in the midst of its own winning streak at 10 matches.

Sophomore Travis Helgeson leads Texas at No. 1 singles at 8-3 in the spring and 17-6 overall. Helgeson, ranked No. 20 in the country, has won his past six singles matches and has been instrumental in Texas' success this season. Other Longhorns in the singles polls are senior Callum Beale (No. 30) and Roger Gubser (No. 36). Beale is 7-6 in spring matches, while Gubser is 11-2.

Last year for the first time in 21 years, Oklahoma pulled off an upset of Texas, who was ranked No. 27 at the time.

Scouting Texas A&M
The No. 22 Aggies are coming off of a big win over No. 15 Notre Dame on Sunday, which puts them at at 10-5 record.

Texas A&M's only ranked player is sophomore Jerry Makowski, yet Makowski is one of the best players in the country. At No. 8 in the latest polls, he will be the highest ranked player who Oklahoma junior Marek Velicka has faced all season. Makowski is 16-5 overall and 10-2 this spring and has only competed at the No. 1 position for Texas A&M this year.

Sooners in the Rankings
Junior Marek Velicka fell to No. 84 in singles in the latest Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings released by the ITA on Thursday. Velicka, who is 14-5 overall this spring, has won his last three matches. He is 8-3 in spring matches and a perfect 5-0 in regional play. Velicka and Alexei Ivanov fell out of the doubles rankings in the latest poll.

Oklahoma is at No. 44 with the release of the latest computer rankings.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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