Sooners Win 2015 Big 12 Championship

No. 2 Baylor

No. 1 Oklahoma

WACO, Texas – The top-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team claimed the 2015 Big 12 Championship Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 win over No. 2 Baylor at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. The championship is the third in four years and third in program history for Oklahoma (24-2, 4-1).

“That was a great match,” head coach John Roddick said. “A lot of credit goes to Baylor, because, as you saw, that match goes either way. That was a coin flip situation and you are not going to see better tennis than down there at (court) six. It was a heck of a match, and I was really proud of our guys for just kind of grinding through that one and pulling it out at the end.”

I just wanted to bring it home. I felt like I had to win that one.
Sophomore Florin Bragusi

After five and a half hours of tennis and rain delays, the championship, tied at 3-all, came down to court six where OU's Florin Bragusi was locked in a third-set battle with Felipe Rios.

Bragusi gave up an early break to trail 3-2 and suddenly it looked like the Sooners were in trouble.

Not so.

Bragusi broke-back to level the match at 3-all, and then held serve to push the match to 5-4. Needing a hold to extend the match, all the pressure fell to Rios. Rios failed to put a first serve in play during his service game and then double faulted at 15-40 to give Bragusi a 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 win and give OU its third Big 12 Championship.

"He went down a break but handled it really well," Roddick said. "It is always a question of how you handle adversity. It didn't faze him. He got the break back and from that point on he was rock solid. He executed what he wanted to do and did it really well."

"I just wanted to bring it home," Bragusi said. "I felt like I had to win that one. I have clinched in the past against Ohio State and Virginia, but this was by far the best I've had because it was for a trophy. It's just crazy."

In what turned out to be a roller coaster ride of a match, Baylor took control early in doubles, jumping out to a 3-0 lead at number one doubles and leading 3-1 at number three doubles.

OU would not be down long, however.

The Sooners' number three pair of Axel Alvarez and Jose Salazar took a break from Vince Schneider and Felipe Rios to level the match at 3-all, and with OU leading on court 2, the Sooners had momentum.

He is doing it in a manner that sometimes puts out matches in complete control. He is proving that he is the best player in the country.
Head Coach John Roddick

On court 2, senior Dane Webb and freshman Spencer Papa led 3-1 when Mate Zsiga and Tony Lupieri, ranked No. 61, broke the serve of Papa. With Baylor serving to even the match, the Sooner duo came up with a huge break-back to push the lead to 4-2.

Alvarez and Salazar would go on to win the match 6-4 on court three with a break at 5-4, and the doubles point came down to court 2 where OU's all-time leader in doubles wins, Webb, was serving at 5-4. Webb and Papa swept the game and clinched what turned out to be a crucial doubles point for the Sooners.

The doubles point loss was just the second of the season for Baylor. OU also took the point from the Bears in the teams' meeting in Indian Wells. The Sooners' revamped doubles lineup has now won the point in back-to-back matches.

Leading 1-0, the Sooners would need just three of six singles to claim the title, but that would have to wait.

Lightning and rain delayed play for more than an hour and a half. When play resumed the Sooners jumped all over Baylor. Webb took a 4-0 lead on court three. Bragusi led 3-0 and two breaks on six and Alvarez made quick work of his first set, winning 6-1 over Lenz. Baylor began to fight back, picking up breaks on three and six when play was delayed yet again for lightning.

After another half hour delay, the top of OU's lineup got to work.

Alvarez, ranked No. 2 in the nation, took an early break from No. 1 Lenz and then held serve the rest of the way to take a 6-1, 6-4, straight-sets win. Alvarez is now 2-0 against Lenz this season and 4-0 in his career. Alvarez moves to 21-0 in dual play this season.

"I think he is showing that he is playing the best tennis in the country right now," Roddick said. "He is doing it in a manner that sometimes puts out matches in complete control. He is proving that he is the best player in the country."

Alvarez took home some additional hardware for the Sooners. The junior was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player. Alvarez finished 2-0 in singles with wins over player's ranked No. 2 and No. 4 in the nation and picked up a win at No. 3 doubles against Baylor with partner Salazar. Alvarez joins Webb (2012) and Guillermo Alcorta (2013) as Sooners to take home the honor.

Harris, ranked No. 5, added another point when he finished off Lupieri 6-4, 6-4 on court two. The win is the seventh straight for Harris. The win put Oklahoma up 3-0 and just one win away from the conference title.

That margin would not last long however. On court three, Webb dropped the first set to Max Tchoutakian in a tiebreak after having led 4-0 at one point. Webb gave up early breaks in the second set and Tchoutakian closed out the set 6-3 to take the match.

Ghilea joined Webb in dropping an uncharacteristic straight-set match. The sophomore took a late break in the second to level the set at 5-all but gave up a break back to fall 6-4, 7-5.

On court five, Papa rallied from a first set tiebreak-loss to win the second set against Mate Zsiga 6-2 to force a third set. Despite forcing the extra frame, Baylor's veteran leader took the set 6-2 to level the dual at 3-all. With the momentum firmly with Baylor the championship would come down to Bragusi's heroics on court six.

Sooners will tell you they are now 3-for-3 on goals. They won the ITA National Indoor Championship back in February, then claimed a share of the regular season Big 12 conference title and, with the win today, claimed the championships title.

The Sooners will await their position in the NCAA Team Championships. The draw will be announced Tuesday, April 26 at 4:30 p.m. CT. Having been ranked No. 1 for nine straight weeks and picking up two top-10 wins this weekend, Oklahoma will likely be the No. 1 overall seed.

"It would be a big deal for us," Roddick said. "The guys have earned it and they've played hard all year. They've won some really tough matches that could have gone the other way. You still have to go out and play the tournament though."

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

RESULTS

DOUBLES

#18 Lenz/Galeano def. #69 Ghilea/Harris 6-1
Webb/Papa def. #68 Zsiga/Lupieri 6-3
Alvarez/Salazar def. Schneider/Rios 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

SINGLES

#2 Axel Alvarez def. #1 Julian Lenz 6-1, 6-4
#5 Andrew Harris def. #33 Tony Lupieri 6-4, 6-4
#74 Max Tchoutakian def. #35 Dane Webb 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
Diego Galeano def. #65 Alex Ghilea 6-4, 7-5
Mate Zsiga def. Spencer Papa 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-2
Florin Bragusi def. Felipe Rios 6-4, 6-7(8-6), 6-4