Sooners Make Strides Under Roddick

May 15, 2013

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NORMAN, Okla. -- For the second time in the four years John Roddick has been the head coach for the University of Oklahoma, the men's tennis team is gearing up for the Sweet Sixteen at the NCAA Championships.

Roddick came to OU in June 2009 after coaching juniors, professionals and Division I student-athletes.
In September of that year, he added his first recruit, current Sooner standout Costin Paval, the highest-ranked player to ever sign with the Sooners.

Paval decided to come to OU after he learned Roddick was the coach.

“I thought it would be the perfect opportunity,” Paval said in 2009. “When I heard it was Coach Roddick, I thought, 'Wow,' I would do anything to play for him.”

That season saw the Sooners collect a 16-6 regular season record. Although they lost to Texas Tech in the first round of the Big 12 Championships, they took revenge on the Red Raiders after they beat them 4-2 in the second round of the NCAA Norman Regional.

OU found itself in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history, facing rival Texas in a David and Goliath matchup. With the No. 20 Sooners facing the No. 3 Longhorns, Roddick's squad was in for a tough fight.

OU lost the doubles point, which put them in an even bigger underdog position going into singles. However, 75th-ranked Big 12 Freshman of the Year Paval evened the score, beating Roddick's former juniors pupil, Kellen Damico, at the No. 3 position.

After that, it was a fight to the finish. Texas took back the lead, but OU's Ionut Beleleu evened the score again. It all came down to Georgia Chanturia on Court 5 and freshman Lawrence Formentera on Court 6.

Formentera clinched the match for OU, claiming the Sooners' first win over the Longhorns since 2005 and second time ever in the all-time series, and sending OU to the Elite Eight for the first time ever.

“I knew the team was relying on me and George,” Formentera said after the match ended. “They were both really close matches; but I knew that if it came down to me, I was the better player. George kept me in there. I just went for it.”

OU fell to No. 11 Georgia, 4-0, in the quarterfinals, but that didn't put a damper on the Sooners' attitudes. They had done things no OU squad before them had ever accomplished and OU's future looked bright.

When Roddick's second season started, he boasted an All-American player, a first for OU since 1988. The previous season, both senior Andrei Daescu and freshman Paval had been named All-Americans in doubles. These were the Sooners' first in doubles, and only other All-Americans in OU history besides two-timer Olivier Lorin.

Although Roddick's second-season team got eliminated from the NCAA Championships in the first round of regionals by a Tulsa team they had previously beat that season, Roddick's squad still made great strides.

For the first time in OU history, the Sooners earned a spot in the Big 12 Championship finals. The No. 25 Oklahoma team swept No. 21 Texas Tech in the first round. The fifth-seeded team then beat the first-seed and fifth-ranked Baylor Bears, 4-3, in the second round. Although they lost to Texas A&M, the Sooners were the lowest seed ever to advance to the Big 12 Championship finals.

Coming into the 2012 season after their early elimination in NCAA play the year before, the Sooners had possibly their best regular season yet. They racked a 16-3 regular season record en route to a regular season Big 12 Championship.

The previous year's doubles All-American, Paval, garnered the Big 12 Player of the Year award. Roddick was also named Big 12 Coach of the Year and Guillermo Alcorta claimed the Newcomer of the Year honor.

The Sooners also won three ITA Central Region honors. Roddick was named Coach of the Year, and Alcorta and Dane Webb were honored as Player to Watch and Rookie of the Year, respectively.

In the Big 12 Championship semi-finals, OU beat 2011's champions, Texas A&M, and continued on to face Baylor in the finals. In that match, senior David Pultr claimed the win for OU after a 4-and-1/2 hour match at No. 6 singles.

The Sooners were Big 12 champions for the first time ever and conference champions for the first time in 20 years.

Once again, however, OU was eluded in the NCAA regionals by a Tulsa team it had defeated in the regular season. This time, OU swept UMKC in the first round, before being stumped by its in-state foe.

The Sooners did end the season on a high note, though. Paval was once again named an All-American, garnering the award again in doubles and for the first time in singles. Freshman Dane Webb was also named a doubles All-American.

However, after their regionals loss, the Sooners once entered the 2013 season with a chip on their shoulders.

After sweeping Wichita State to begin the season, OU was one of 15 host sites for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend tournament, the precursor to the ITA National Team Indoor Champiosnhips.

The Sooners began the tournament by sweeping Memphis. They then swept Harvard, marking the first time the Sooners qualified for the Round of 16 at the Team Indoor Championships in school history.

At the end of February, the Sooners made history once again. For the first time ever, OU was voted No. 5 in the ITA national team rankings.

When it came time for Big 12 play, the Sooners were voted the unanimous preseason No. 1.

They began conference season with a bang, beating rival Texas, 5-2, and then sweeping Big 12 newcomer TCU, 7-0, two days later. The next week, sophomore Webb was named Player of the Week.

However, that Friday, the Sooners would experience a hiccup in their season.

No. 12 OU traveled to No. 15 Baylor for its third conference match. Despite Alcorta and Axel Alvarez Llamas winning a quick doubles match at the No. 2 position, the Sooners lost the doubles point.

It was hard for them to fight back after that. The Sooners only won one singles match, with veteran Paval defeating Baylor's Patrick Pradella on Court 1. The Sooners left Waco, Texas, with a 6-1 defeat hanging over them.

Instead of giving up, though, the Sooners started playing with a new vigor. They beat Texas Tech, 5-2, in Lubbock that Sunday. The next week, they beat in-state rival Oklahoma State, clinching the No. 2 seed for the Big 12 tournament.

After dropping the doubles point to Texas in the semi-finals, the Sooners barreled back, dropping the Longhorns 4-1. They faced Baylor in the finals once again, seeking revenge for their regular season loss.

After an extremely tight doubles match that came down to a tiebreaker at the No. 3 position, the Sooners clinched the doubles point and carried momentum into singles.

In singles, Alvarez Llamas, playing in his first Big 12 tournament, upset Baylor's No. 51 Julien Lenz and won the Big 12 Championship for OU. The Sooners had won their second Big 12 Championship in a row.

The awards flew in for OU. For the second consecutive year, Roddick and Paval were named Big 12 Coach of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year, respectively. Alvarez Llamas tied with Lenz to win Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year.

Paval also won the ITA Central Region Senior Player of the Year honor, and Alvarez Llamas was awarded with Rookie of the Year.

For the fourth time under Roddick, OU hosted an NCAA regional. They easily beat Wichita State and North Carolina State.

The Sooners had made it to the Sweet Sixteen. This was not just the second time OU had done so in Roddick's four years as head coach--it was the second time in school history.

For Paval and Formentera, it was a nice way to bookend their OU careers. The only two players remaining that went to the Sweet Sixteen in Roddick's first year, upset No. 3 Texas and played Georgia in the Elite Eight, they know what this means for the program.

“It's hard because you can't really share those kinds of feelings with [the younger guys],” Paval said. “You can only express it in words and leave room for the imagination. I hope they're getting it, and I hope they understand it's a pretty big deal.”

Formentera knows his experience in the Sweet Sixteen positions him as a leader.

“You can't compare the two teams,” he said. “Costin and I are the only ones remaining from that group. We were young and now we're the leaders, so it's completely different. I believe we have more talent now, so hopefully that's going to give us a push.”

Roddick, as much as anybody, knows how much the Sweet Sixteen means for the program.

“That was one of our biggest goals all year,” Roddick said. “We haven't been since 2010. We had a couple good chances to get there last year and we didn't. I know for the guys that have been here a while especially, they've worked hard to get there, so I know it feels good.”

Paval, Roddick's first recruit, will have a chance to continue to help his team on Thursday. He will also get to compete once again in the singles tournament, which will be held after the team finals are finished.

“I was sitting on the bench after my last match at home, realizing that it was my last match, and I felt kind of sad,” Paval said. “Everything has a beginning and ending, at the same time. I just want to go out there, give my best and hope for the best. I really hoped my last year would be OU's biggest experience, so I hope that happens.”

Once again, the Sooners face Roddick's alma mater, Georgia, in the NCAA Championships. This time it is in the Sweet Sixteen instead of the Elite Eight; but just like in 2010, OU is the underdog.

A perennial powerhouse, Georgia is the No. 3 seed and No. 2 team in the ITA rankings. The Bulldogs collected a 24-4 record overall, and won both the regular season and tournament SEC Championship titles.

“We haven't seen them since February and their team has changed a little bit since then,” Roddick said. “They had a guy go out with injury for the year and then their No. 1 player left the team last week. They're a different team.”

However, Roddick knows his and assistant coach Bo Hodge's alma mater well.

“They're always going to be really good,” he said. “They're always deep. We're still going to have to play our best tennis.”

The Sooners face the Bulldogs Thursday at 9 a.m CT in Urbana, Ill. To stay up-to-date on the match, follow @OU_Tennis on Twitter.

Players Mentioned

Guillermo Alcorta

Axel Alvarez Llamas

Lawrence Formentera

Costin Paval

Dane Webb

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