Completed Event: Men's Tennis versus Arkansas Futures on September 15, 2025
Final
Men's Tennis
vs Arkansas Futures
University of Oklahoma Athletics
Saturday, February 14
Chicago
12:00 PM
University of Oklahoma
4
vs
1
North Carolina
OU Tops Tar Heels, Advances to Semifinals
February 14, 2015 | Men's Tennis
(7) North Carolina
1
4
(2) Oklahoma
Overall, we competed really well today. We really handled things that didn't go our way a lot better. When you do that, your level is higher.
Head Coach John Roddick
CHICAGO -- The second-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team advanced to the semifinals round of the 2015 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships with a 4-1 win over 7th-seeded and 9th-ranked North Carolina on Saturday afternoon at the Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago.
“Overall, we competed really well today,” head coach John Roddick said. “We really handled things that didn't go our way a lot better. When you do that, your level is higher. I really felt like we had more control of it than we did yesterday. As long as we can take steps to improve, that's all you can do.”
The Tar Heels jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with two wins in doubles. The 5th-ranked pair of Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb put the Sooners in a good spot early with a quick 6-1 win over Brayden Schnur and Oystein Steiro. The duo is an undefeated 10-0 on the year and 7-0 in dual play.
At No. 2 doubles, sophomore Andrew Harris and freshman Spencer Papa battled Brett Clark and Robert Kelly, but fell 4-6. At No. 3 doubles, sophomores Jose Salazar and Alex Ghilea fell to Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider 3-6. Despite the losses, Roddick was pleased with the team's effort.
“We played great at one and we lost at two, but we played well,” Roddick said. “We played one of the best sets we've played and they just beat us. We had a slow start at three and we fought back hard. I told the guys, 'That was better. If we play with the same intensity in singles and play that much better again in singles than we did yesterday, we're going to be fine.' I was fairly pleased with the doubles. We lost four deuce points at two and three combined, that's probably the difference.”
Having lost the doubles point, the Sooners needed to win four of the six singles matches to claim the dual and advance to the semifinals round.
Alvarez, ranked No. 11, was the first match off for OU. Playing at No. 2 singles, the junior topped No. 19 Schneider in straight-sets 6-1, 6-4 to tie the match at 1-all. Alvarez is now 9-1 on the year and 7-0 in dual play.
Just a freshman, Papa continued his hot play with a win at No. 4 singles. The Edmond, Okla. native bested Oystein Steiro 6-4, 6-2 to give the Sooners a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish. Papa has won his last four completed matches and is 4-1 in dual play.
The Sooners' next point came from Ghilea in the No. 5 spot. The 50th ranked sophomore trailed No. 104 Jack Murray for most of the first set, but came back to 7-5. He road that momentum to an easy 6-1 win and put the Sooners lead at 3-1. Ghilea is now 5-0 in dual play.
Alex is one of the best competitors on our team. He's one of the fastest guys and he really never gets tired. He mentally handles things when it goes poorly so he's a really tough out down there.
Head Coach John Roddick
“Alex is one of the best competitors on our team,” Roddick said. “He really learned how to compete last year in the second half of the season. He's one of the fastest guys and he never gets tired. He mentally handles things when it goes poorly so he's a really tough out down there. We've seen that out of him a lot and we've grown to expect it. Jack hit the ball really well in the first set and Alex was able to keep making him play that extra ball, and got a few more errors out of him in the second.”
The clinching point came from perhaps the best match of the day. At No. 1 singles Harris, ranked No. 26, squared off with No. 6 Brayden Schnur. The first set went to a tiebreak and leading 6-4 with a chance to end it, Harris double-faulted. The sophomore bounced right back and hit a return winner that gave him the set. Harris got up a break early in the second set and never looked back, winning 6-3 to deliver the dual for the Sooners 4-1.
“He won the breaker, got up a break early in the second and served it,” Roddick said. “That's what you have to do in high-level tennis; not give that break back. Schnur is obviously a really good player. He beat us at NCAA's against (Guillermo) Alcorta. Harris had a great December and January down in Australia where he beat a lot of top guys. For people that watched that match, I hope they know how good of tennis that is.”
Today's match marks the third time the Sooners have dropped the doubles point and gone on to sweep singles and claim the win. It was also the Sooners' second win in as many meetings with the Tar Heels. OU topped UNC in the quarterfinals of last year's NCAA National Team Championships.
At No. 3 singles, Webb led Clark 6-4, 3-6, 3-0, and at No. 6 singles Salazar trailed Kelly 0-6, 6-3, 4-5 when Harris clinched for OU. The matches were not finished.
Next up for the Sooners is a quarterfinal matchup with 11-seed and Big 12 conference rival Baylor Sunday at noon. The Sooners went 2-1 against Baylor last season, including a 4-3 win over the Bears in a consolation match at the 2014 ITA National Indoors. In the teams' last meeting, Baylor narrowly edged the Sooners 4-3 in the championship match of the Big 12 Championships.
For complete coverage of the 2015 ITA National Men's Indoor Championships, click here.
For more information on Oklahoma Men's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter at @OU_MTennis.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
No. 5 Axel Alvarez/Dane Webb vs. Brayden Schnur/Oystein Steiro 6-1
Brett Clark/Robert Kelly def. Spencer Papa/Andrew Harris 6-4
Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider def. Jose Salazar/Alex Ghilea
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
SINGLES
No. 26 Andrew Harris def. No. 6 Brayden Schnur 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
No. 11 Axel Alvarez def. No. 19 Ronnie Schneider 6-1, 6-4
No. 31 Dane Webb vs. Brett Clark 6-4, 3-6, 3-0 DNF
Spencer Papa def. Oystein Steiro 6-4, 6-2
No. 63 Alex Ghilea def. No. 104 Jack Murray 7-5, 6-1
Jose Salazar vs. No. 75 Robert Kelly 0-6, 6-3, 4-5 DNF
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5, 1
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
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