Alvarez Headlines ITA All-Star Team

NORMAN – The University of Oklahoma men's tennis player Axel Alvarez was named to the 2015 ITA Collegiate All-Star Team the ITA announced Thursday. Alvarez is one of just three Division I players to be named in singles and the only player from the Big 12.

Alvarez, the National and Big 12 Player of the Year, began his historic 2014-2015 campaign in the fall by winning a second consecutive USTA/ITA Central Region Singles Championship. He went on to advance to the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship.

In the spring, Alvarez was nearly untouchable. The junior won 23 consecutive dual matches in singles, while helping the Sooners maintain the No. 1 ranking for the bulk of the season. Alvarez led Oklahoma to its first ever ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship title and its fourth straight Big 12 Championship, and took the Sooners all the way to the final at the 2015 NCAA Championships for the second straight year. Alvarez finished 39-6 in singles, the third most wins in a single season in program history, and went 19-3 against top-30 ranked players. He was also dominant in postseason play, going 6-1 at No. 1 singles during the Big 12 and NCAA Championships.

Alvarez, who will return for his senior year, shined in doubles as well, going a combined 30-12. His 30 wins were the second most in a single season in OU history, just three shy of his own record of 33 set in 2014. Alvarez finished the season ranked No. 8 in the country in doubles with partner Dane Webb.

Inaugurated in 1984, the ITA All-Star Team honors the nation's top-ranked men's and women's players from the year-end Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings and spans the five competitive divisions of college tennis. Alvarez and the other 26 student-athletes, along with the ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. National Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winners, will be recognized at the Oracle/ITA Outing and Awards Luncheon held at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y., on Friday, August 28.

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