Men's Tennis Falls to Colorado, 5-2

NORMAN, Okla. The University of Oklahoma men's tennis team fell 5-2 in a closely fought match that lasted four hours against Colorado on Tuesday in Norman. The loss snapped the Sooners' 11-match winning streak and drops them to 14-4 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 play.

“We ran into a really tough Colorado team,” said head coach Paul Lockwood. “I'm proud of the team for a strong start in doubles, but Colorado's power throughout the singles lineup was too much for us to overcome.”

OU started off strong and got on the board first by winning the doubles point. Senior Alexei Ivanov and junior Marek Velicka were the first to walk off the court with a win after defeating Marko Bundalo and Eric Molnar, 8-6. Sophomore Federico Chavarria and senior Tommy Garrison sealed the doubles point for Oklahoma with an 8-6 victory over Chad Tsuda and Jan Zelezny.

Despite a strong start in doubles, the Sooners could not establish a rhythm in singles. At No. 4, freshman Sergey Avdeyev was the first to fall, followed by Velicka at the No. 1 position, sophomore Ryan Thomas at the No. 6 spot and Ivanov at No. 2.

Garrison and senior Lee Gregg played the closest matches, as both went into third sets. At No. 3, Garrison went head-to-head with Bundalo and defeated him in the first set, 6-4. Bundalo rallied to win the second set, 6-2, and pulled off the win with a 6-3 score in the third set.

Gregg was the lone Sooner to win his singles match and competed against Tsuda at No. 5. After falling in the first set, Gregg pushed the match into a third set as he battled to win the second-set tiebreaker, 7-4, and the set, 7-6. Gregg took the third set to clinch the match and picked up his 12th consecutive win of the season.

Oklahoma will head south this weekend to face two tough road matches against Texas and Texas A&M. The Sooners will face the Longhorns on Friday, March 31, in Austin and the Aggies on Sunday, April 2, in College Station.

Doubles
1. Ivanov/Velicka (OU) def. Bundalo, Molnar (CU), 8-6
2. Federico Chavarria/Garrison (OU) def. Tsuda/Zelezny (CU), 8-6
3. Bjork/Dvorak (CU) def. Matt Long/Thomas (OU), 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles
1. Eric Molnar (CU) def. Marek Velicka (OU), 6-3, 6-4
2. Peter Bjork (CU) def. Alexei Ivanov (OU), 6-0, 7-6 (1)
3. Marko Bundalo (CU) def. Tommy Garrison (OU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Jan Zelezny (CU) def. Sergey Avdeyev (OU), 6-1, 6-4
5. Lee Gregg (OU) def. Chad Tsuda (CU), 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1
6. Marek Dvorak (CU) def. Ryan Thomas (OU), 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 1, 6, 3, 2, 5

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