Sooners Southbound for Big Weekend

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 2 Baylor

April 10, 6:00 p.m. CT | Hurd Tennis Center

Waco, Texas

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Recap

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 23 Texas Tech

April 12, 2:00 p.m. CT | McLeod Tennis Center

Lubbock, Texas

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NORMAN -- The eyes of the collegiate tennis world turn to Waco, Texas this weekend as the No. 1 Oklahoma men's tennis team kicks off a weekend of Big 12 play with a trip to No. 2 Baylor Friday night at 6 p.m. Following Friday's match the Sooners will head northwest for a meeting with No. 23 Texas Tech Sunday at noon.

1 VS. 2

Friday's match with Baylor will be the third meeting of the season for the nation's top two teams. The Sooners first faced Baylor in the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships. In that meeting, Baylor won the doubles point, but OU rallied to win the match 4-2 when sophomore Alex Ghilea won a come-from-behind victory to clinch a finals berth for the Sooners. Oklahoma went on the win the title.

The Sooners next met the Bears in the California desert at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Classic presented by Oracle. In the tournament final OU dealt the Bears their first loss of the year in doubles and went on to win 4-1.

CONFERENCE DOMINANCE

Either Oklahoma or Baylor has won the Big 12 regular season title every year dating back to 2011 and has won the Big 12 tournament title the last three years. The Sooners took the regular season title in 2012 and split it with Baylor and Texas in 2014. Oklahoma won the Big 12 Championship title in 2012 and 2013.

STILL NO. 1

For the sixth week in a row and the eighth time in school history, the Sooners are ranked No. 1 by the ITA. The Sooners' current streak is the only time in program history the team has been No. 1 in consecutive weeks. The team also occupied the top spot for a single week immediately following its title at the indoor championships in February and in 2014 after topping Ohio State at home.

A TOUGH ROW TO HOE

The Sooners have racked up their 20-1 record despite playing perhaps the toughest schedule in the nation. The Sooners have 13 wins over teams currently ranked in the ITA top-25 and six wins over teams in the top-10. This weekend will mark the 17^th and 18^th times this season the Sooners have squared off with teams ranked in the top-25 at the time of their match.

SOONERS RANKED

Oklahoma is well represented in the latest ITA singles and doubles rankings. Axel Alvarez is the highest ranked Sooner at No. 2, sophomore Andrew Harris jumps six spots to No. 7 and makes his first appearance in the top-10, senior Dane Webb sits at No. 30 and Ghilea rounds out the singles rankings at No. 70. Oklahoma is the only team with two players ranked in the top-10.

Two Sooner doubles teams are ranked this week. Alvarez and Webb dropped two sports to No. 8 while Harris and Ghilea are back in the poll this week at No. 52.

DOMINANT DUO

Oklahoma has been nearly untouchable in the top two singles spots. Alvarez is undefeated in dual play this year at 17-0. The junior has played much of the year at No. 2 singles, and has dropped only one set in a completed match all season.

Harris has anchored the top spot for Oklahoma for most of the season. The sophomore from Melbourne, Australia is 10-4 at No. 1 singles, and is fresh off a straight-sets win over the nation's top-ranked player Soren Hess-Olesen of Texas last week. The loss was just Hess-Olesen's second of the year.

SCOUTING REPORT: NO. 2 BAYLOR

Baylor enters Friday's match ranked No. 2 in the nation by the ITA. The Bears (17-3, 1-0) have swept their last three matches 7-0, all against unranked opponents, with their last loss coming in the their last meeting with OU. Baylor is one of the best doubles teams in the country, having dropped the point just once, against OU.

Ranked Bears:
No. 1 Julian Lenz
No. 31 Tony Lupieri
No. 61 Maxime Tchoutakian
No. 112 Mate Zsiga

No. 38 Lupieri/Rios
No. 51 Lupieri/Zsiga
No. 54 Lenz/Galeano

SCOUTING REPORT: NO. 23 TEXAS TECH

The Red Raiders (16-6, 0-2) are ranked in the top-25 for the fourth consecutive week. Texas Tech is looking to bounce back after a tough open to Big 12 play last weekend. Tech lost matches with TCU and Texas, snapping a five-match winning streak.

Ranked Red Raiders:
No. 35 Felipe Soars
No. 114 Jolan Cailleau

No. 33 Dojas/Soares
No. 70 Soares/Curry

QUICK HITS

- Oklahoma has won its last ten consecutive matches
- The Sooners are 7-1 outdoors this season
- OU is an undefeated 10-0 at home this year
- The Sooners have 13 wins over teams currently ranked in the ITA top-25 and 6 in the top-10
- Oklahoma is 8-1 when losing the doubles point and 12-0 when winning it
- Alvarez leads the Sooners in wins with 19 and is 17-0 in dual play.
- The Sooners are 15-0 at No. 2 singles
- The four Sooners ranked in singles are 55-9 this season in dual play
- Oklahoma is the only team with two players ranked in the top-10 in singles
- Oklahoma's lone loss of the season came in its only outdoor road match thus far. (Texas A&M 2/20)