Mens Tennis Heads to Big 12 Championships

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Oklahoma men's tennis team (14-11, 1-6) is set to face Red River Rival Texas in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tennis Championships on Friday at the Baylor Tennis Courts in Waco, Texas. First serve is set for 8:30 a.m. CT.

The Sooners enter the championships as the seventh seed, while Texas is the No. 2 seed. The Sooners concluded the regular season with a 1-6 mark in conference duels, while the Longhorns tallied a 6-1 record.

Should the team advance to the quarterfinals, Oklahoma will face the winner of the No. 3 Colorado versus No. 6 Texas Tech match on Saturday at 1 p.m. The championship match for the men's teams is set for 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Tickets for the championships will be sold at the Baylor Tennis Center on each day of the event. All-Championship passes for adults are $10 with children's passes at $5 for the weekend. General admission tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children and students.

Last Outing
The Sooners fell 4-0 in a short match on April 18 against Tulsa at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the TU campus. The match began with doubles competition, where the Golden Hurricane won the matches at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions. The Sooners and the Golden Hurricane played three singles matches and stopped after Tulsa had clinched the match.

In the last match of the regular season, the team fell, 5-2, in a tough match to Oklahoma State in Stillwater on April 22. With the loss, OU drops to 14-11 overall and 1-6 in conference matches.

Postmatch Notes
Against the Cowboys, the only Sooner to win his singles match was senior Lee Gregg, who faced Felipe Diaz at No. 5. This was not the first time the two have competed against each other, as they have matched up in the past three meetings between the Sooners and Cowboys. Although Gregg had never defeated Diaz, Gregg did not let that deter him. In straight sets, Gregg handed Diaz a, 7-6 (4), 6-1, loss to give the Sooners their second point of the match.

Although Oklahoma lost the doubles point to Tulsa, the squad rebounded by winning the point against OSU. OU has now won the doubles point in 16 of the 21 matches in which the squad has played doubles this season.

Scouting Texas
Texas clinched a share of the Big 12 regular season title on April 23 when the Longhorns defeated Texas A&M, 5-2, in Austin. With the win, they improved to 19-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference.

Three Longhorns are ranked in the latest Fila Collegiate Tennis rankings. Sophomore Travis Helgeson comes in at No. 11, while senior Roger Gubser and senior Callum Beale are ranked No. 33 and 46, respectively.

Two doubles tandems also made the list. Beale and freshman Miguel Reyes Varela appear at No. 28, and Helgeson and freshman Michael Venus are No. 47.

The two squads have faced off once before this season. On March 31, the Longhorns handed the Sooners a 6-1 loss. However, Oklahoma won the doubles point thanks to the duos of senior Alexei Ivanov and junior Marek Velicka and senior Tommy Garrison and sophomore Federico Chavarria. Garrison and Chavarria had the biggest win of the match after defeating Helgeson and Venus, who were ranked No. 28 at the time.

Dominating Duos
Of the 21 matches this season in which OU has played doubles, the Sooners have won the doubles point in 16 match-ups. The lineup has remained consistent, with Alexei Ivanov and Marek Velicka at No. 1, Tommy Garrison and Federico Chavarria at No. 2 and senior Matt Long and sophomore Ryan Thomas at No. 3. In those 14 matches, only four had a different lineup.

Big 12 Success
Two Oklahoma tandems top the Big 12 regular season conference records in Nos. 1 and 2 doubles. Alexei Ivanov and Marek Velicka top the list at No. 1 with a 5-1 conference record. With a 4-2 mark, Tommy Garrison and Federico Chavarria rank at the top of No. 2 doubles.

Senior Salute
The following is a review of the careers of the team's four seniors:

Tommy Garrison, Enid, Okla.
Listed at No. 125 in the 2005 preseason Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings ... named to the 2005 All-Big 12 doubles team with Ondrej Fukala ... ties the OU record for most consecutive wins (19) ... received OU's Outstanding Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Award in 2005 ... named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team from 2004 to 2006 ... advanced to the 2003 NCAA Doubles Championships with partner Chris Mitchell.

Lee Gregg, Altus, Okla.
Won 12 consecutive matches earlier this season ... produced a team-best 26-11 singles mark in 2004 ... has produced 20 or more singles wins in the last two years ... named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team in 2004 and 2006 ... clinched OU's first Big 12 Conference title at No. 3 doubles with Marek Velicka ... named a 2003 NAIA All-American while playing at Oklahoma Christian during his freshman year.

Alexei Ivanov, Izhevsk, Russia
Appeared in the 2005 preseason Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings at No. 71 ... won the ITA Central Region Doubles Championships this season with teammate Marek Velicka ... competed with Velicka in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships and advanced to the quarterfinals ... named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team in 2004 and 2005.

Matt Long, Ft. Worth, Texas
Won six consecutive doubles matches with Ryan Thomas earlier this year ... went 5-2 at No. 6 singles as a junior ... teamed with Alexei Ivanov as a sophomore for a 12-2 record at No. 2 ... pair was the second-best in the Big 12 at that position ... honored as an Academic All-Big 12 First Team member in 2004 and Second Team member in 2003.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Mens Tennis Heads to Big 12 Championships

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