Sooners Upset in Lubbock

No. 23 Texas Tech

No. 1 Oklahoma

2015 Stats

LUBBOCK, Texas – The top-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team fell to No. 23 Texas Tech 4-3 Sunday afternoon in Lubbock, Texas. The loss is just the Sooners (21-2, 3-1) second of the season.

"Hats off to Texas Tech, head coach John Roddick said. "They played really well and earned the win today. Coach Siegel runs a class program and we respect the way they go about it. There are obviously some things we need to work on, and we will play better tennis because of this loss."

In doubles, the teams split the first two matches off. Spencer Papa and Florin Bragusi fell 3-6 on court three while Andrew Harris and Alex Ghilea picked up a win on two by dominating a tiebreaker 7-1.

With the first two matches split, the doubles point came down to court 1 where the eighth-ranked pair of Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb were locked in a tiebreak with No. 33 Felipe Soares and Hugo Dojas. Neither pair led by more than a point during the breaker until Tech evened the match at 6-all and then won the next two points to clinch the match and the point.

At number three singles, Webb fell in straight sets to Tech's Alex Sendegeya, 6-2, 6-3 and for the first time this season, Oklahoma trailed 2-0.

The deficit would not last long, however. Harris put the first Sooner point on the board shortly after Webb's match ended. The sophomore won 6-3, 6-1 at number two singles to cut the Red Raider lead to 2-1.

Bragusi was next on the board with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Connor Curry at number six singles. The win leveled the match 2-all.

Just moments later Alvarez gave OU its only lead of the day when he bested the Red Raider's highest ranked player No. 35 Soars. The junior won the first set in a tiebreak and then took the second relatively easily 6-3 to take the match. Alvarez, ranked No. 2, remains undefeated on the year with a 19-0 record in the dual play.

With a 3-2 lead the Sooners needed just one more win to take the match. On four, Ghilea had taken the first set against No. 114 Jolan Cailleau, but dropped the second to force a third and deciding set. On five, Papa had dropped the first set, but had rallied to force a tiebreak in the second.

Ghilea led 1-0 in the third, but gave up an early break and would win just one more game in the set. The sophomore dropped the set 6-2 and for the second time the match was tied. On five, Papa would drop his tiebreaker to lose his match in straight sets. For just the second time in 23 matches the Sooners had been upset.

The loss snaps an 11-match winning streak and is the Sooners' first since they fell to No. 7 Texas A&M Feb. 20. OU moves to 3-1 in conference play and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with No. 2 Baylor. Both OU's losses this season have come in outdoor road matches and both have come to ranked opponents.

Oklahoma will look to rebound from the loss when it hosts No. 25 Oklahoma State Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

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

RESULTS

DOUBLES

#33 Dojas/Soares def. #8 Webb/Alvarez 7-6 (8-6)
#52 Harris/Ghilea def. Cailleau/Sendegeya 7-6 (7-1)
Zambon/Curry def. Papa/Bragusi 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

SINGLES

#2 Axel Alvarez def. #35 Felipe Soares 7-6, 6-3
#7 Andrew Harris def. Hugo Dojas 6-3, 6-1
Alex Sendegeya def. #30 Dane Webb 6-2, 6-3
#114 Jolan Cailleau def. #70 Alex Ghilea 6-3, 3-6, 2-6
Fransisco Zambon def. Spencer Papa 6-4, 7-6
Florin Bragusi def. Connor Curry 6-4, 6-3