Championship Bound

(11) Baylor

(2) Oklahoma

I just said, 'keep doing the same thing. You might not win the match, but you have a fighter's chance to get back in this.' It was an unbelievable effort to win 11 straight. You don't see that very often.”
Head Coach John Roddick

CHICAGO -- The second-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team made history on Sunday when it bested No. T10 Baylor 4-2 to earn its first ever appearance in the finals of the ITA National Indoor Championships.

In a match filled with high drama, the tipping point came late in singles. With four matches in the books, and the Sooners (9-0) leading 3-2, sophomore Alex Ghilea was down a set and trailed 2-5 in the second set of his match with Mate Zsiga.

Ghilea would not lose another game.

“You have to fight until the last ball,” Ghilea said. “I was down 5-2 in the second set and he was up a set. I had to push on the gas pedal and I did.”

Ghilea stormed all the way back to win the second set 7-5. At that point sophomore Andrew Harris, ranked No. 26, was locked in a dead-heat with No. 10 Julian Lenz at No. 1 singles. Harris and Lenz were tied at 3-all in set three, and Ghilea was headed to a third set with the Sooners needing just one more win to claim the match. A berth in the finals hung in the balance.

Ghilea used the momentum of his comeback in the second set to overwhelm Zsiga in the third. Ghilea won the set 6-0, having taken 11 consecutive games, to give the Sooners their fourth point and the victory.

“Zsiga is a tough matchup,” head coach John Roddick said. “He's really good at making you uncomfortable. That's what happened in the first set. I just said, 'keep doing the same thing. If you cut down a couple errors, you're going to be right in there. You might not win the match, but you have a fighter's chance to get back in this.' It was an unbelievable effort to win 11 straight. You don't see that very often.”

By virtue of the victory, the Sooners will face No. 1 USC Monday at 11 a.m. for the National Indoor Championship. The Sooners last faced the Trojans in the championship match of the 2014 NCAA Team Championships. The Sooners jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but USC claimed the next four points to win the national title.

It's amazing. It's a great feeling, it feels like the NCAA Tournament. To clinch is just great. The effort by our guys was incredible. It's amazing to be in the final, and we hope we're going to do a good job.
Sophomore Alex Ghilea

“It's amazing,” Ghilea said of advancing to the finals. “It's a great feeling. It feels like the NCAA tournament. The fact that we're indoors and we're an outdoor team makes it even better. To clinch it is just great. The effort by our guys was incredible. It's amazing to be in the final and we hope we're going to do a good job.”

The Sooners had fallen behind 0-1 after a pair of losses in doubles. For the fourth time this season, the Sooners would have to rely on their prowess in singles to pull out a victory.

Oklahoma raced out to a strong start, winning first sets in the 1, 2, 3 and 4 spots. Senior Dane Webb, ranked No. 31, capitalized on his first set win, taking his match with No. 27 Tony Lupieri in straight sets 6-4, 6-0. The win leveled the dual at 1-all and stayed the tide of momentum Baylor had built in doubles.

The next shoe to drop came at the No. 2 spot. Junior Axel Alvarez, ranked No. 11, bested No. 67 Max Tchoutakian 6-4, 6-4 to put OU up 2-1. Baylor would not go quietly, however. The Bears forced third sets at No. 1 and No. 4, and took an early second set lead over Ghilea on five.

Playing at No. 4, and having split the first two sets, freshman Spencer Papa led 3-2 in the third. The Edmond, Okla. native broke the serve of Diego Galeano to gain a 4-2 lead, one he would not relinquish. Papa would take the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to put the Sooners up 3-1. Papa has won all three of his matches at the ITA Indoors this weekend.

“He's showing that he's going to be one of the best college players when he gets a little more comfortable out here and gets a little older,” Roddick said. “All the guys that he's played at four have been points the other teams count on. He told me at the changeover, 'I feel like I'm playing as good or better in most of the points and I just have to keep doing that.' I said, 'you're exactly right.' For Spencer to close it out at 5-4 on his first match point is a heck of an effort.”

At No. 6, sophomore Jose Salazar had forced a third set with Felipe Rios, but fell short in the deciding frame. Rios took the match 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 and brought Baylor back within one at 3-2. It was then that Ghilea's heroics iced the match for Oklahoma.

Doubles proved difficult for the Sooners on Sunday. At No. 2, Harris and Papa fell to Lenz and Galeano 2-6. In the No. 3 spot, Salazar and Ghilea dropped their match with Vince Scneider and Rios 1-6. The normally untouchable duo of Alvarez and Webb trailed their match with Zsiga and Lupieri 2-4 at the time Baylor clinched. Their match was not finished.

“Baylor had a game plan to come out and slug the ball,” Roddick said. “I wasn't ready for that. I didn't see that coming. That's what doubles is, you have to learn how to put it behind you one way or the other. We won it in the (NCAA) national title match last year and it didn't matter. A lot of times it doesn't matter and our guys are starting to realize that. They did a great job putting it behind them and competed unbelievably well in singles.”

Live streaming and scoring for the National Indoor Championship match can be found here: http://bit.ly/1IU6xVS

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. No. 40 Mate Zsiga/Tony Lupieri 2-4 DNF

Lulian Lenz/Diego Galeano def. Spencer Papa/Andrew Harris 6-2

Vince Schneider/Felipe Rios def. Jose Salazar/Alex Ghilea 6-1

Order of finish: 3, 2

SINGLES

No. 26 Andrew Harris vs. No. 10 Julian Lenz 6-1, 4-6, 5-5 DNF

No. 11 Axel Alvarez def. No. 67 Max Tchoutakian 6-4, 6-4

No. 31 Dane Webb vs. No. 27 Tony Lupieri 6-4, 6-0

Spencer Papa def. Diego Galeano 6-4, 1-6, 6-4

No. 63 Alex Ghilea def. Mate Zsiga 4-6, 7-5, 6-0

Felipe Rios def. Jose Salazar 7-5, 4-6, 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 2, 4, 6, 5

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alex Ghilea

Andrew Harris

Spencer Papa

Dane Webb

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics