Completed Event: Men's Tennis versus Alabama on March 22, 2026 , Win , 4, to, 0
Final
Men's Tennis
4
vs Alabama
0
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Saturday, January 24
Norman, Okla.
2:00 PM
University of Oklahoma
4
vs
0
New Mexico
Sooners Sweep Lobos on Day One of Kick-Off
January 24, 2015 | Men's Tennis
NORMAN – The second-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team swept 56th-ranked New Mexico 4-0 on day one of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend to secure a place in the championship match on Sunday.
Playing in the friendly confines of the Gregg Wadley Indoor Pavilion at Headington Family Tennis Center, the Sooners (2-0) jumped on the Lobos quickly in doubles. Oklahoma took a break in each match within the first three games.
“We've been working on doubles since Atlanta,” head coach John Roddick said. “For us to go out and get breaks on every one was good to see.”
Sophomore Andrew Harris and freshman Spencer Papa finished first for OU. The duo topped Bart VanLeijsen and James Hignett 6-3 at No. 2 doubles.
Oklahoma led 5-4 at both the No. 1 and No. 3 positions and was serving for the doubles point at 40-15 on each court. At the No. 1 spot, the 38th-ranked duo of senior Dane Webb and junior Axel Alvarez scored first and took a 6-4 win over Rodolfo Jauregui and Hayden Sabatka to clinch the doubles point for OU. Sophomores Alex Ghilea and Florin Bragusi did not finish their match in the No. 3 spot.
In singles, the Sooners were powered by dominant play in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. At No. 1, Harris, ranked No. 20, made a clean sweep of the first set, taking it 6-0 from Mitch Daniels. Harris took the second set 6-4 and put the Sooners up 2-0. The win was the first of the spring for Harris, who's record now stands at 1-1, with both matches having been played at No. 1 singles.
“It looked like he was hitting a big ball,” Roddick said. “His forehand, he is taking it really early and giving it a ride. He is serving so much bigger. He has added 10 miles per hour and his consistency has gone up. He is trying to position himself as one of the best players in the country.”
Fourteenth-ranked Alvarez quickly took set one from Sabatka in the No. 2 spot. The junior was pushed to a tiebreak in the second set, but Alvarez controlled the frame taking the tiebreak 7-2 and the match 6-1, 7-5 to give OU a 3-0 lead. Alvarez is now 4-1 for the spring.
The fourth and deciding point came from sophomore Jose Salazar at No. 5 singles. Salazar came from behind to take set one 7-5 from Hignett, and then dominated set two to win 6-1.
Due to the “clinch-clinch” format of Kick-Off Weekend, play was ended at the time of the Sooners fourth point.
When Salazar put away Hignett, No. 33 Webb led Van Leijsen 6-3, 5-5 at No. 3 singles, No. 50 Ghilea trailed Jauregui 4-6, 2-3 at the No. 4 spot and Bragusi led Ge 6-4, 5-3 at No. 6.
“Singles was good,” Roddick said. “We were a little complacent sometimes and we need to be more aggressive, but overall even when something bad happened they did a good job of recovering quickly. All in all it was a really good day.”
By virtue of the win, Oklahoma will now face No. 28 Northwestern on Sunday at 2 p.m. with a trip to the National Indoor Championships on the line. Northwestern advanced after topping No. 58 Arkansas (4-2) Saturday morning.
“We had a tough match with them last year in this event,” Roddick said. “They are going to play smart and they are going to play aggressively on big points. They probably have a little bit of that nothing to lose mentality.”
Arkansas and New Mexico will square off on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. in the consolation match.
For more information on OU Men's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter at @OU_MTennis.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
No. 38 Alvarez/Webb def. Van Leijsen/Hignett 6-4
Harris/Papa def. Jauregui/Sabatka 6-3
Ghilea/Bragusi vs. Ge/Escutia 5-4 DNF
Order of finish: 2, 1
SINGLES
No. 20 Andrew Harris def. Mitch McDaniels 6-0, 6-4
No. 14 Axel Alvarez def. Hayden Sabatka 6-1, 7-6
No. 33 Dane Webb vs. Bart Van Leijsen 6-3, 5-5 DNF
No. 50 Alex Ghilea vs. Rodolfo Jauregui 6-4, 2-3 DNF
Jose Salazar def. James Hignett 7-5, 6-1
Florin Bragusi vs. Augie Ge 6-4, 5-3 DNF
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Saturday, March 30
Thursday, March 28
Saturday, March 23
Thursday, March 21
