Sooners Best Texas 4-3, Advance to Final

No. 10 Texas

No. 1 Oklahoma

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2015 Stats

We have to do a better job of taking opportunities when we have them. That's a credit to Texas for playing really well, and they are a tough team.
Head Coach John Roddick

WACO, Texas – The top-ranked and top-seeded Oklahoma men's tennis team beat fourth-seeded Texas 4-3 in dramatic fashion Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championships in Waco, Texas.

By virtue of the win, the Sooners (23-2, 4-1) will play second-ranked and second-seeded Baylor for the Big 12 Championship title Sunday at noon. This is the fifth consecutive season the Sooners have advanced to the finals of the conference championships.

After three hours of intense play, and with the score knotted at 3-all, the dual came down to court four where Alex Ghilea was locked in a third-set battle with George Goldhoff. The third set went to serve until 3-all when Ghilea and Goldhoff started trading breaks back and forth. Ghilea had a match point at 6-5, but Goldhoff broke his serve to force a tiebreak.

The extra frame was close at first. The duo traded points to 2-all, before Ghilea took control. The sophomore would win five of the next six points to win the breaker 7-3 and clinch the match and a finals berth for Oklahoma.

“We have to do a better job of taking opportunities when we have them,” head coach John Roddick said. “In certain spots we had opportunities early that we didn't take advantage of, and then the match ended up getting tough. That's a credit to Texas for playing really well, and they are a tough team.”

Having dropped the doubles point in their last four matches, the Sooners rolled out a revamped doubles lineup for Texas. Roddick moved Oklahoma's normal number two team to the top spot and created new pairings for two and three doubles.

In the number one spot, sophomores Ghilea and Andrew Harris, ranked No. 69, continued their torrid play with a 6-4 win over No. 14 Glasspool and Soren hess-Olesen. The Sooners' new top pair has now won six straight doubles matches all against Big 12 opponents.

With a loss at number three doubles, the point came down to the two spot where the duo of Dane Webb and Spencer Papa was locked in a 4-all tie with Goldhoff and Joacoby Lewis. The Sooners held serve for 5-4 and then broke Texas to take the match 6-4 and give the Sooners the doubles point.

With a 1-0 lead after doubles, the Sooners needed to win just three of the six singles matches to earn a place in Sunday's Big 12 Championships final.

The Sooners came out slow in singles. For the first time this season an opponent won four first sets from OU. Texas won the first two matches off, taking wins over Webb at three and Florin Bragusi at six to take a 2-1 lead.

Axel Alvarez leveled the match at 2-all when he delivered a straight-sets win over the nation's fourth ranked player, Hess-Olesen. Alvarez won the first set 6-4 and took the second 7-5 to grab the win. Alvarez improves to 20-0 in dual play this season.

The tie wouldn't last long, however. Texas jumped back ahead when Spencer Papa fell to Nick Naumann in straight-sets, 7-6(7-3), 7-5.

With OU trailing 3-2, Harris and Ghilea were both in third sets and the Sooners needed to win both matches to take the dual. Harris delivered a point with a relatively easy 6-2 win over No. 41 Llyod Glasspool in set three to tie the dual at 3-all. Harris, who finished Big 12 play 5-0, has now won six straight matches. The fifth-ranked sophomore is 16-4 in dual play and 11-3 against ranked opponents.

Ghilea took over from there.

Both teams know each other well. Really, I think whatever team executes is the team that is going to win tomorrow.
Head Coach John Roddick

Oklahoma will now play for the Big 12 Championship title Sunday at noon. The Sooners will take on Baylor for the fourth time this season. For the second time this season OU will face Baylor on their home court. The Sooners are 3-0 against Baylor so far this season. Baylor was also pushed to a final match tiebreak in their semifinal against TCU before winning 4-3 to advance.

“Both teams know each other well,” Roddick said. “Both teams know what they have to do. It's going to be up to the players at this point to make sure that they execute their game plans. Really, I think whatever team executes is the team that is going to win tomorrow.”

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.

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

RESULTS

DOUBLES

#69 Ghilea/Harris def. No. 14 Hess-Olesen/Glasspool 6-4
Webb/Papa def. Lewis/Goldhoff 6-4
Naumann/Reichmann def. Alvarez/Salazar 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2

SINGLES

#2 Axel Alvarez def. #4 Soren Hess-Olesen 6-4, 7-5
#5 Andrew Harris def. #41 Lloyd Glasspool 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
#51 Adrien Berkowicz def. #23 Dane Webb 6-3, 7-5
#65 Alex Ghilea def. George Goldhoff 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3)
Nick Naumann def. Spencer Papa 7-6(3), 7-5
Clement Homs def. Florin Bragusi 6-2, 6-4