Clean Sweep Crushes Crimson Tide

Alabama

Oklahoma

NORMAN – The second-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team capped off a winning weekend on Sunday with its second win in three days. Oklahoma swept Alabama 7-0 inside the Gregg Wadley Indoor Pavilion at the Headington Family Tennis Center to improve its record to 6-0 for the year.

For the fourth time this season the Sooners jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after doubles.

At No. 2 doubles, sophomore Andrew Harris and freshman Spencer Papa were the first to finish. Facing Sean Donohue and Stuart Kenyon the duo grabbed a break at 3-3 and never looked back, taking the match 6-3 for their third win of the year.

Junior Axel Alvarez and senior Dane Webb continued their dominant play at No. 1 doubles. The duo dropped an early break to Korey Lovett and Becker O'Shaughnessey and trailed 3-4 with Alabama serving. The Sooners held serve and then broke Alabama again to claim the match 6-4 and clinch the doubles point for Oklahoma. Alvarez and Webb ran their record to 9-0 for the year.

At No. 3 doubles, sophomores Alex Ghilea and Jose Salazar led Andrew Goodwin and Danny Kerznermann 5-3 when Alvarez and Webb won on court one. Playing in clinch format, the match was not finished.

“In doubles there was a big difference in energy,” head coach John Roddick said. “I think that showed in the scores. We worked hard on that this week and we didn't do great on Friday, but we worked again yesterday and I think we are getting there. It was nice to see us come out aggressive and play with a lot of energy.”

Leading 1-0 and needing just three wins to claim the dual, the Sooners continued their stifling play in singles.

With Ghilea being a late scratch, Salazar moved up to No. 5 singles where he faced Nikko Madregallejo. The sophomore from Canary Island, Spain won in straight sets 6-2, 6-0, and gave the Sooners their second point of the dual.

Playing his first match of the year at No. 1 singles, Alvarez was dominant. The junior topped O'Shaughnessey 6-0, 6-3 to give the Sooners a 3-0 lead. Alvarez leads the Sooners with eight wins in singles this season including an undefeated 6-0 mark in dual play.

Within minutes of Alvarez's win, the Sooners clinched the dual with a win on court six. Making his second start of the season, sophomore Florin Bragusi made quick work of Hayes Brewer, taking the match 6-0, 6-3. Bragusi is 2-0 for the year with both wins coming at No. 6 singles.

We've gotten better and better as we've gone along and now we are going to have some really tough matches. I think we are as ready as we can be this early in the season.
Head Coach John Roddick

With the Sooners leading 4-0 and the outcome decided, play continued on the remaining three courts.

Webb was the next match off as he picked up his seventh win of the year with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Kenyon. Webb is perfect in dual play with five wins at the No. 3 spot for Oklahoma.

Playing the No. 2 spot for the first time this season, Harris cruised to a 6-3 win over Lovett in set one. In the second set, Lovett rallied to force a tiebreaker. Harris won two crucial points with a pair of running backhands and put Lovett away 7-4 to give the Sooners their sixth point.

Papa versus Kernerman was the last remaining match. Papa won the first set comfortably 6-2, but Kernnerman picked up a late break in the second set to win 7-5 and force a third frame. Papa took a pair of breaks in set three an won 6-3 to make it a 7-0 sweep for OU.

Next up for the Sooners is a trip to Chicago to compete in the 2015 ITA National Indoor Championships Feb. 13-16 at the Midtown Athletic Club. This is the third consecutive year the Sooners have claimed a spot in the 16-team event that many consider a preview of the NCAA Team Championships in May. Last season the Sooners advanced to the second round of play where they were eliminated by No. 2 UCLA.

“I think we have played better and better as we've gone on and now we are going to have really tough matches,” Roddick said. “These are the teams we will see late in the NCAA tournament. It is going to be an exciting trip and we are looking forward to it. I think we are as ready as we can be this early in the season for these kinds of matches.”

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

RESULTS

DOUBLES
No. 38 Alvarez/Webb def. Lovett/O'Shaughnessey 6-4
Harris/Papa def. Donohue/Kenyon 6-3
Ghilea/Salazar vs. Goodwin/Kerznerman 5-3 DNF

Order of finish: 2, 1

SINGLES
No. 14 Axel Alvarez def. Becker O'Shaughnessey 6-0, 6-3
No. 20 Andrew Harris def. Korey Lovett 6-3, 7-6(4)
No. 33 Dane Webb def. Stuart Kenyon 6-4, 6-4
Spencer Papa def. Danny Kerznerman 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
Jose Salazar def. Nikko Madregallejo 6-2, 6-0
Florin Bragusi def. Hayes Brewer 6-2, 6-3

Order of finish: 5, 1, 6*, 3, 2, 1

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Players Mentioned

Axel Alvarez Llamas

Florin Bragusi

Florin Bragusi

Alex Ghilea

Andrew Harris

Andrew Harris

Spencer Papa

Dane Webb

Dane Webb

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics