No. 2 Oklahoma Hosts Florida State Saturday

No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 26 Florida State

Feb. 28, 3:30 p.m. | Headington Family Tennis Center

Norman, Okla

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NORMAN –The second-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team will host No. 26 Florida State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. inside the Gregg Wadley Indoor Pavilion at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

TIME CHANGE

With forecasts calling for frigid temperatures and the potential for snow and ice, Saturday's match has been moved from noon to 3:30 p.m. and will be played indoors. The match, which was slated to be the Sooners' first home outdoor match of the year, will be played inside the Gregg Wadley Indoor Pavilion following the conclusion of Oklahoma women's tennis team's match with SMU.

RANKINGS SHUFFLE

After a weekend in which they split with No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 8 North Carolina, the Sooners dropped one spot to No. 2 in ITA poll. USC, the team OU beat in the final at the ITA National Indoors, now occupies the top spot.

The Sooners made several jumps in the singles rankings this week. Junior Axel Alvarez is up four spots to No. 11, sophomore Andrew Harris moves all the way up to No. 12 from his previous spot at No. 26, senior Dane Webb jumps from 31 to No. 18 and sophomore Alex Ghilea moves from No. 63 to No. 56. The Sooners' top doubles pair of Alvarez and Webb comes in at No. 6 this week, while the new pairing of Harris and Ghilea makes their rankings debut at No. 52.

LAST MEETING

This will be the fourth consecutive year that the two teams have squared off. OU is 2-1 against FSU in the previous three meetings. The Sooners faced the Seminoles last season in Tallahassee as part of ESPN's College MatchDay. Oklahoma swept the Seminoles 4-0 to take the win.

SCOUTING REPORT

Florida State comes to Norman boasting an 11-2 record and riding a four game winning streak. The Seminoles have beaten College of Charleston, Florida Atlantic, Florida A&M and Stetson in the their last four matches, dropping only one point in the process. The only two losses of the year for FSU both came against top-15 opponents in No. 9 Texas and No. 14 Florida.

The Seminoles are led by the 29^th ranked doubles pair of Benjamin Lock and Marco Nunez. The duo is 14-4 on the season and 7-2 in dual play, all at the No. 1 doubles position.

While Florida State does not currently have any players listed in the latest ITA singles rankings, it has gotten strong play in several spots. At No. 1 singles Lock is 7-1 in dual play this season and has won his last four matches. The team is also strong at No. 5 singles where it is a combined 11-1 in dual play on the backs of five different players contributing in that spot.

QUICK HITS

- Oklahoma is 7-1 against opponents ranked in the top-25.
- The Sooners are an unbeaten 11-0 indoors this season. OU will play indoors Saturday.
- Florida State will be only the second Sooner opponent in the last 10 matches not to be ranked in the top-25. The Seminoles are ranked No. 26
- The Sooners are a combined 10-0 at No. 2 singles this season. Alvarez and Harris have split time there.
- At 10-0, Alvarez is the lone Sooner without a loss in dual play.
- Ghilea/Harris are 2-0 since first pairing at No. 2 doubles against Texas A&M (2/20).

QUOTES

Head Coach John Roddick

On being back indoors:
“If I had my choice we would be outside. Even though Florida State plays outside all the time, we just have to start getting ready for conference play and the NCAA's. This weather across the country keeping everyone indoors is not what we want, even though it's easier because we are used to it. That's not what it's about.”

On what the team is working on:
“We're still working on doubles quite a bit. The singles stuff for the most part for the guys that have been here, with Spencer (Papa) being the one exception where we are working a lot on his game because he just came in January and he missed the fall, for everyone else they know what they are doing. They know what they are working on and there is nothing we are changing because we lost a match. When you lose a match like that (Texas A&M) its usually about mental things you need to adjust, playing aggressively on big points and things like that. That's no different than any other week.”

On what he wants to see out of the team against FSU:
“I want to see us play good disciplined tennis. I want to see us do the things we talk about in practice and play the way we did in Chicago at National Indoors. If we do that then I am happy. I don't like to take steps backwards or be complacent. That's what I don't want to see happen.”

On the crowd help on Sunday:
“The crowd was awesome. That is as big a crowd I have seen indoors for us. I think it says a lot about the guys. People recognize that it was a good team to come and watch. It helped us to be honest. The guys are much more focused when there are a lot of eyes on them.”