Men's Tennis Drops Grueling Match to Baylor, 4-2

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. The University of Oklahoma men's tennis team (14-7, 1-4) dropped a 4-2 decision in one of the most grueling matches of the season on Friday evening against the No. 5 Baylor Bears.

Due to inclement weather, the match was moved to the Willow Creek Indoor Facility in Oklahoma City. Because of the OU women's tennis match earlier in the evening which lasted six hours, the men's squad did not hit the courts until 11:30 p.m. and did not finish until 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Because of time constraints, the Sooners and Bears began with singles competition with the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 players hitting the courts first. Senior Tommy Garrison and Will Ward were the first to finish, with Ward winning the match for Baylor in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Baylor went up 2-0 with a win at No. 2, where senior Alexei Ivanov fell to Lars Poerschke, 6-2, 7-6 (5), after losing a tough second-set tiebreaker.

OU's first win of the evening was at the No. 1 position. Junior Marek Velicka, who is ranked No. 95 in the country, upset No. 45 Matija Zgaga in three sets. Velicka lost the first set, 7-6, after losing the tiebreaker 7-4. However, the junior came back with scores of 6-4 in the second and third sets to win the match for Oklahoma.

The three remaining Sooner singles players took the courts looking to win the match or at least tie it up at 3-3 and force doubles competition. Freshman Sergey Avdeyev pulled another upset for OU, this time over No. 105 Vladimir Portnov. Avdeyev defeated Portnov, 7-5, 7-5, in straight sets. However, Oklahoma's remaining singles players, seniors Lee Gregg and Matt Long, dropped their matches to give Baylor the 4-2 victory.

“I'm extremely proud of my players for the way they competed, even in defeat to the fifth-ranked team in the country,” said head coach Paul Lockwood. “This was the best match that we've played in over a month, so hopefully we can take that momentum into the rest of the matches this season.”

The Sooners' next opportunity to continue their momentum will come on Sunday, when the squad is set to host Texas Tech at 12 p.m. at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman.

Singles
1. No. 95 Marek Velicka (OU) def. No. 45 Matija Zgaga (BU), 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4
2. No. 12 Lars Poerschke (BU) def. Alexei Ivanov (OU), 6-2, 7-6 (5)
3. Will Ward (BU) def. Tommy Garrison (OU), 6-4, 6-4
4. No. 62 Michal Kokta (BU) def. Lee Gregg (OU), 6-2, 6-7, 6-3
5. Sergey Avdeyev (OU) def. No. 105 Vladimir Portnov (BU), 7-5, 7-5
6. No. 108 Matt Brown (BU) def. Matt Long (OU), 7-6 (4), 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1, 5, 4, 6

**No doubles matches played.