OU Drops Final Match, 4-3

April 19, 2009

LUBBOCK, Texas -- The 38th-ranked University of Oklahoma men's tennis team (12-9, 1-5 Big 12) suffered its fifth loss in Big 12 action to No. 34 Texas Tech, 4-3, Sunday, at the McLeod Tennis Center.

“It was a tough loss,” OU head coach Paul Lockwood said. “We played shorthanded with only 4-out-of-6 starters available to play, but we fought hard in singles and squeezed out three points.”

The Sooners began the match dropping the doubles competition, even though they held large leads at all three positions.

“Doubles was extremely disappointing,” Lockwood said. “We had big leads in all three doubles and let them slip away.”

At No. 1 doubles sophomore Ionut Belelue and senior Sergey Avdeyev, No. 42 nationally, fell to Texas Tech's 12th-ranked doubles team comprised of Raony Carvalho and Christian Rojmar, 7-6(6).

OU's two other doubles positions each faired the same, falling to the Red Raider's pairs, 8-6.

In singles action OU was able to muster three points despite retiring the No. 1 position held by OU's 66th-ranked, Andrei Daescu.

Leading the way for the Sooners was Beleleu. He defeated Texas Tech's Gonzalo Escobar, at the No. 3 position. Escobar retired from the match in the third set and securing the win for Beleleu.

Sophomore David Pultr also went to a third set to claim his victory over the Red Raider's Christian Rojmar. Each of the three sets went to tiebreaker sets, which Pultr won 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 1-0(9).

Freshman George Chanturia was the final Sooner to gain a point for OU. He defeated Texas Tech's Michael Breler, 6-2, 6-4.

“It is hard to beat any Big 12 team, especially on the road, without a full allotment of starters available,” Lockwood said. “Now we will rest and get ready for the Big 12 tournament this weekend.”

Next up, the Sooners host the Big 12 Championships, April 24-26. Match opponents and times will be posted as soon as they become available.

OU 3, TTU 4

Singles
1. #41 Raony Carvalho (TTU) def. #66 Andrei Daescu (OU) 1-0 retired
2. #109 Sinisa Markovic (TTU) def. Sergey Avdeyev (OU) 7-5, 6-3
3. Ionut Beleleu (OU) def. Gonzalo Escobar (TTU) 0-6, 7-5, 1-1, retired
4. David Pultr (OU) def. Christian Rojmar (TTU) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (11-9)
5. Blake Boswell (OU) def. Michael Breler (TTU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Milos Kustudija (TTU) def. Andrew Oatman (OU) 6-1, 7-5

Doubles
1. #12 Raony Carvalho/Christian Rojmar (TTU) def. #42 Ionut Beleleu/Sergey Avdeyev (OU) 7-6 (8-6)
2. Sinisa Markovic/Michael Breler (TTU) def. #65 Andrei Daescu/David Pultr (OU) 8-6
3. David Gonzalez/Gonzalo Escobar (TTU) def. Blake Boswell/Chase Miller (OU) 8-6

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