Men's Tennis Falls to Texas in Big 12 Championships

WACO, Texas In the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tennis Championships, the No. 7 seed University of Oklahoma men's tennis team dropped a 4-0 decision to second-seeded Texas at the Baylor Tennis Courts in Waco, Texas. OU falls to 14-12 overall with the loss.

“I'm proud of the players for the way they fought,” said head coach Paul Lockwood. “I know we were ready to play, but I'll give Texas credit for being just too good today.”

The squads began with singles, but only junior Marek Velicka, seniors Alexei Ivanov and Tommy Garrison and sophomore Ryan Thomas finished their matches. Velicka was the first to walk off the courts after falling to No. 11 Travis Helgeson, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 1 position. At No. 3, Garrison also dropped a tough match in straight sets to Milan Mihailovic, 6-4, 6-4.

The last two matches of the day were at the Nos. 2 and 6 spots. Although Ivanov won his first set at No. 2 against No. 33 Roger Gubser, Gubser came back in the last two sets to claim the match, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Rounding out competition was Thomas and Michael Venus. Venus upended Thomas, 6-1, 6-1, to clinch the match for Texas.

Oklahoma must now wait until Wednesday, May 3, to see if the squad will receive a bid to the NCAA Team Championships. The men's selection announcements will air at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time on ESPNEWS.

1. No. 11 Travis Helgeson (UT) def. No. 70 Marek Velicka (OU), 6-4, 6-4
2. No. 22 Roger Gubser (UT) def. Alexei Ivanov (OU), 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
3. Milan Mihailovic (UT) def. Tommy Garrison (OU), 6-4, 6-4
4. Miguel Reyes Varela (UT) vs. Lee Gregg (OU), DNF
5. Michael Venus (UT) def. Ryan Thomas (OU), 6-1, 6-1
6. Hubert Chodkiewicz (UT) vs. Matt Long (OU), DNF
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2, 6

*No doubles matches played.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Men's Tennis Falls to Texas in Big 12 Championships

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