Singles Sweep Sends Sooners to Sweet 16

No. 28 Northwestern

No. 1 Oklahoma

Highlights

Photos

Results

2015 Stats

NORMAN – The top-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team punched its ticket to the round of 16 of the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Tennis Team Championships on Saturday with a 4-1 win over No. 28 Northwestern at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

Heavy rain and lightning forced play indoors for the second straight day. OU (26-2, 4-1) dropped the doubles point, but rallied to win the first four singles finished and take the match by the same score of the teams' meeting in January at the ITA Kick Off Weekend. The win sends Oklahoma to Waco, Texas for the remainder of the Championships.

“Singles was solid,” head coach John Roddick said. “We didn't dig any holes. The one spot where we got down, we got out of it and had control of that match when it finished. Doubles was close. It came down to a tiebreaker and a few points here or there. Overall we are playing better there.”

Trialing 1-0 after doubles, the Sooner needed to win four of the six singles matches to move on. They did just that.

Sophomore Andrew Harris put OU on the board first. The Melbourne, Australia native made quick work of Strong Kircheimer, winning 6-2, 6-2. Harris, ranked No. 7, remains unbeaten at number two singles and improves to 18-4 on the season.

When you are moving the ball around like that and not making errors it is tough to handle.
Head Coach John Roddick

Moments later Axel Alvarez put the Sooners on top 2-1 when he finished off No. 48 Sam Shropshire 6-1, 6-2. Alvarez led 5-0 in the first set before Shropshire held to snap a 17-game win streak for the nation's top ranked player. Alvarez has dropped just three games so far in NCAA Championship play.

“It is pretty impressive to play like that at one,” Roddick said. “When you are moving the ball around like that and not making errors it is tough to handle.”

OU's next point came on court five where freshman Spencer Papa finished off a 6-1, 6-4 win over Fedor Baev. The win is Papa's first career postseason victory.

“He was just really patient,” Roddick said. “He hit solid ground strokes in rallies and wasn't going for too much and didn't leave it short either. He just really did a good job of forcing that guy into errors all day. He won 12 games to five. That is pretty solid.”

Sophomore Alex Ghilea finished things off for OU, winning a second-set tiebreak 7-3 to take his match with Logan Staggs 6-2, 7-6(3). The win moves Ghilea to 20-5 on the season and makes him just the second Sooner to hit the 20-win mark, joining Alvarez.

Oklahoma's four singles wins allowed it to overcome a close doubles loss.

At number three doubles, Alvarez and sophomore Jose Salazar jumped out to an early 3-0 lead over Horoz and Kumar. The Sooner duo held serve and added a break down to the stretch to win 8-4 and improve to 3-1 as a team.

Ghilea and Harris opened their match with Shropshire and Alex Pasareanu with a break, but gave up a pair of their own to trail 6-4. Needing a break to get back into the match, the Sooners twice had chances at advantage and looked to have taken the game, but Northwestern called a volley wide and the chair official upheld the ruling. Northwestern went on to hold and take the match 8-5.

With the first two matches split, doubles came down to court number two where Papa and senior Dane Webb were headed to a tiebreaker with Beav and Kircheimer. After a match in which neither pair earned a break, Northwestern took three points on OU's serve to win the breaker 7-3 and give Northwestern the doubles point and a 1-0 lead.

This is the 11^th time this season Oklahoma has dropped the doubles point but gone on to win the match.

The Sooners will now travel to Waco, Texas where they will play the winner of No. 16 UCLA vs. No. 19 Texas Tech on Thursday, May 14 at 10 a.m. CT.

“We are going to get an idea of the practice schedule, but we are going to take a day off and then head out,” Roddick said. “We are ready to get it going and I think the guys are excited to play.”

The Red Raiders are one of just two teams to beat OU this season. The Sooners dropped a close one in Lubbock, 4-3 in conference play. OU last saw UCLA in the NCAA semifinals last season. OU won 4-2 to advance to the NCAA final.

This is the third consecutive season the Sooners have advanced to the round of 16 and the fourth time in Roddick's tenure.

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

RESULTS

SINGLES
#1 Axel Alvarez def. #48 Sam Shropshire 6-1, 6-2
#7 Andrew Harris def. Strong Kirchheimer 6-2, 6-2
#44 Dane Webb vs. Konrad Zieba 2-6, 6-3, 0-1, unfinished
#103 Alex Ghilea def. Logan Staggs 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
Spencer Papa def. Fedor Baev 6-1, 6-4
Florin Bragusi vs. Alp Horoz 7-5, 2-3, unfinished

DOUBLES
#64 Alex Pasareanu/Sam Shropshire def. #57 Andrew Harris/Alex Ghilea 8-5
Fedor Baev/Strong Kirchheimer def. Dane Webb/Spencer Papa 8-7 (7-3)
Axel Alvarez/Jose Salazar def. Alp Horoz/Mihir Kumar 8-4