No. 1 OU Wins Rematch with No. 8 UNC

No. 8 North Carolina

No. 1 Oklahoma

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Weekend Notes

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It was a tough stretch we've had. You just have to gut those out and compete hard. I was proud of our effot to actually close it out.
Head Coach John Roddick

NORMAN -- Playing without two starters, the top-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team topped No. 8 North Carolina 4-1 Sunday afternoon at the Headington Family Tennis Center in a match that played out much closer than the score indicated.

“It was a tough stretch we've had,” head coach John Roddick said. “We went straight from National Indoors to right back on the road at Texas A&M in tough conditions outside. After the result we had at Indoors you don't want to take two losses the very next weekend. They were missing a guy and we were missing two and so it was a match where neither team was all that healthy. You just have to gut those out and compete hard. I was proud of our effort to actually close it out.”

The Sooners (11-1) were without freshman Spencer Papa in singles due to illness and sophomore Jose Salazar to an injury. After OU claimed the doubles point, junior Austin Siegel and sophomore Florin Bragusi stepped in a delivered a pair of wins in singles to help Oklahoma top the Tar Heels for the second time in eight days.

“I'm proud of the effort the team put together,” Bragusi said. “We did a great job in doubles. We beat them before and now to beat them again, that is great for us.”

Oklahoma dropped the doubles point to North Carolina when the two teams faced off in the quarterfinals of the National Indoors, but Roddick's revamped lineup helped flip that script Sunday.

Playing together for the first time, Papa and Siegel grabbed the first win of the dual for OU at No. 3 doubles. The duo took a break from Oystein Steiro and Andrew Gores at 2-1 and never looked back, taking the match 6-3.

The clinching point came from the No. 2 spot where sophomores Alex Ghilea and Andrew Harris bested Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider 6-3. Ghilea and Harris have played together in the Sooners' last two matches and have picked up wins in both.

The 5^th-ranked Sooner pair of junior Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb were up 5-4 in their match with Brayden Schnur and Brett Clark when OU clinched. Neither team had taken a break yet. The match was not finished.

“We have been trying to figure out our third doubles team,” Roddick said. “I think we have our number two team sorted out and now we're working on the three team. We're just trying to give everyone a chance and see who can go out and earn it.”

With the doubles point in hand, OU needed just three wins in singles to take the dual, but North Carolina came out swinging. The Tar Heels took four first sets and then claimed the first point in singles with a win at No. 3. With the match in doubt, the Sooners got a pair of wins to retake momentum.

At No. 1 singles, Harris grabbed a big 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 19 Ronnie Schneider. In the second set, Harris gave up a break at 5-4, but answered with a break of his own to go up 6-5. A monstrous ace at 40-30 gave the young Aussie the match and put the Sooners up 2-1. In front of the best crowd of the year so far, Harris's ace drew a huge roar and suddenly the Sooners were back in control.

Seeing his first action in dual-play, Siegel came up big for OU Sunday. He paired with Papa to grab a doubles win for OU, then added a point when he topped Stuart Depaolo 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6 singles. Siegel was playing for the first time since the MLK Invitational where he went 2-1. The win gave OU a 3-1 lead and put the Sooners on the precipice of their 11^th win of the year and seventh against a top-25 opponent.

Needing just one more win to take the match, the Sooners had chances to serve for the match at both No. 4 from Ghilea and No. 5 from Bragusi.

Bragusi got the call to play late when Papa and Salazar were both scratched from the singles lineup. Bragusi dropped the first set, but rallied to take the next two from Steiro to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Bragusi is now 3-0 for the year in the number six spot.

“It was the first time in a while I had the opportunity to play,” Bragusi said. “So I was a bit nervous because I haven't had an opportunity to play that much. I just tried to stay focused and fight. I knew that if I kept fighting I was going to come back. I am glad I got the win and the clinch.”

I just tried to stay focused and fight. I knew that if I kept fighting I was going to come back. I am glad that I got the win and the clinch.
Sophomore Florin Bragusi

“Florin played really well against Steiro,” Roddick said. “He's a really experienced player so that was a really good win and to clinch against him was fantastic.”

On court four, Ghilea was also serving for the match. Ghilea clinched wins for the Sooners in both the semifinals and final of the ITA National Indoors. The sophomore from Romania dropped his first set, but rallied to take the second set from Murray. Ghilea led 5-2 in the third when Bragusi clinched.

Playing at No. 2 singles, Alvarez was locked in a battle with 6^th-ranked Brayden Schnur. Alvarez dropped the first set in a tiebreaker (5-7) and trailed early in the second set before storming back with a pair of breaks to tie the match at 5-all. The second set stood at 6-6 when OU clinched. The match was not finished.

Webb was again the first Sooner finished in singles, but not the way he would have wanted. The senior, ranked No. 31 fell to Clark in straight-sets 3-6, 4-6 to give UNC its only point of the day.

It was the first loss of the season for Webb in dual play. He had been 9-0 entering today's match. Webb and Clark played each other in the teams' meeting at the ITA Indoors. They split the first two sets and did not finish the third.

The road wont get any easier for the Sooners who have matches with No. 4 Virginia and No. 9 Ohio State coming up before conference play begins.

“It is great just to get the win over a top-10 team,” Ghilea said. “It's really good momentum for us. We have a few days off and then we get right back at it with a match next weekend.”

The Sooners will get a much-deserved break before returning to Headington Family Tennis Center to host No. 31 Florida State Saturday, Feb. 28 at noon.

For more information on Oklahoma Men's Tennis, follow the team on Twitter at @OU_MTennis.

RESULTS

DOUBLES

#5 Dane Webb/Axel Alvarez vs. Schnur/Clark 5-4 DNF
Andrew Harris/Alex Ghilea def. Murray.Schneider 6-3
Papa/Siegel def. Steiro/Gores 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 2

SINGLES

#26 Andrew Harris def. #19 Ronnie Schneider 6-4, 7-5
#11 Axel Alvarez vs. #6 Brayden Schnur 6-7 (5-7), 6-6 DNF
Brett Clark def. #31 Dane Webb 3-6, 4-6
#63 Alex Ghilea vs. #104 Jack Muray 5-7, 6-2, 5-2 DNF
Florin Bragusi def. Oystein Steiro 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Austin Siegel def. Stuart Depaolo 6-4, 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 1, 6, 5

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Players Mentioned

Florin Bragusi

Alex Ghilea

Andrew Harris

Spencer Papa

Dane Webb

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University of Oklahoma Athletics