Sooners Claim Regular Season Big 12 Title

No. 29 Oklahoma State

No. 1 Oklahoma

Highlights

Photos

Results

2015 Stats

NORMAN – The top-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team claimed its second consecutive Big 12 Conference regular season title with a 4-1 win over No. 29 Oklahoma State Sunday afternoon at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

The Sooners (22-2, 4-1) share the title with No. 2 Baylor, who also finished 4-1 in conference play. Oklahoma is 3-0 against Baylor so far this season. OU has now won either the Big 12 regular season or tournament title in four consecutive years.

Four years in a row we have won or shared the Big 12. I'm proud of the seniors to have won the Big 12 every year they have been here.
Head Coach John Roddick

“Four years in a row we have won or shared the Big 12,” head coach John Roddick said. “Obviously we had a chance to clinch last week and we didn't. To come out against Oklahoma State and play as well as we did it was a good feeling. I'm proud of the seniors to have won the Big 12 every year they have been here.”

The Sooners dug a hole early, dropping the doubles point with losses at the one and three spots. At number two doubles sophomores Alex Ghilea and Andrew Harris picked up their fifth consecutive win with a 6-3 mark over Lucas Gerch and Nicolai Ferrigno. The Sooner pair gave up a break early and trailed 3-1 but would go on to win the next five games to take the match. Harris and Ghilea finish regular season play an unbeaten 5-0 in Big 12 play.

Trailing 1-0 after doubles, Oklahoma needed to win four of the six singles matches to take the dual and claim the Big 12 title.

They did just that.

Playing at number two singles, sixth-ranked Harris tied the dual at 1-all with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 114 Gerch. The win moves Harris to 15-4 in dual play with 10 wins over ranked opponents and perfect 5-0 record in Big 12 play.

Oklahoma took the lead for good when Dane Webb delivered a 6-4, 6-3 win over Arjun Kadhe. The senior trailed early in the first set but rallied with a pair of breaks to take the frame. Webb, also 15-4, has won a Big 12 title in each of his four years as a Sooner.

Ghilea, playing at number four singles, was the next Sooner finished. The sophomore, ranked No. 78, won the first set with Tristan Meraut 6-4 but trailed a break and 3-1 early in the second before storming back with a pair of breaks to take the set 6-4 and put the Sooners just one point away from the conference title.

With junior Axel Alvarez leading 3-1 in the third set on court one and sophomore Florin Bragusi leading 4-1 and 1-set-to-none on court six, all eyes turned to court five where freshman Spencer Papa was serving with a 5-4 lead in the second.

That's why he came here. He is a native of Oklahoma. He came here to help the program win titles.
Head Coach John Roddick

Facing Lukas Finzelberg, Papa trailed 15-40 in his service game, but rallied to win the next three points to give OU the 4-1 win and a share of the Big 12 regular season title.

“I didn't even know I was about to clinch the match,” Papa said. “I was so focused on my own court. I am excited but it is not over yet.”

“That is why he came here,” Roddick said. “He is a native of Oklahoma. He came here to help the program win titles and learn to be a better tennis play. I think he did both of those today. To close it out the way he did in a tough game was great job. He really picked up his level and did a nice job today.”

The Sooners finish the regular season having won 22 of 24 matches and the 2015 ITA National Indoor Championship. The Sooners also won the Oracle Classic title and snapped Ohio State 200-match home winning streak. Oklahoma has been atop the ITA polls eight weeks in 2015 including the last seven straight.

“We are two for two on goals this year,” Roddick said. “We have more to go but all-in-all it was a great effort. We are just going to work hard and keep improving. We did a good job last week to this week and we want to try and have another good week. I think we can make a jump in our level.”

Oklahoma will be back in action this coming weekend as they travel to Waco, Texas looking to add the Big 12 Tournament title to this season's resume. The Sooners won the Big 12 tournament in 2012 and 2013 and advanced to the finals in 2014. By virtue of the head-to-head tiebreak with Baylor, Oklahoma will be the tournament's No. 1 overall seed and will receive a bye in the first round. Second round play begins Saturday, April 25.

Sunday also served as Senior Day for the Sooners. Oklahoma honored Webb and fellow senior Nick Papac before the match.

Webb leaves OU as one of the most successful Sooners in history. Webb is the Oklahoma all-time leader in doubles wins with 103 and is second in Sooner history with 105 career wins in singles.

Papac, who has missed most of the 2015 season due to injury, began his career at Fresno State before transferring to OU after his freshman season. Playing primarily in doubles, Papac has delivered several crucial wins for the Sooners in both regular season and postseason play.

Webb and Papac have won either a Big 12 regular season or tournament title in each other their four years at Oklahoma. The duo led the Sooners to a program-best NCAA Championship runner-up finish in 2014.

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

RESULTS

DOUBLES

#33 Sude/Kadhe def. #6 Webb/Alvarez 6-3
Harris/Ghilea def. Gerch/Ferrigno 6-3
Mendoza/Finzelberg def. Papac/Salazar 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

SINGLES

#2 Axel Alvarez vs. #40 Jakob Sude 2-6, 6-2, 3-1 DNF
#13 Andrew Harris def. #114 Lucas Gerch 6-3, 6-1
#23 Dane Webb def. Arjun Kadhe 6-4, 6-3
#65 Alex Ghilea def. Tristan Meraut 6-3, 6-4
Spencer Papa def. Lukas Finzelberg 6-3, 6-4
Florin Bragusi vs.Nicolai Ferrigno 7-6(7-5), 4-1 DNF