Tide and Tar Heels Await Sooners Out East

⁵Oklahoma

⁶³Alabama

Feb. 5 | 5 p.m. CT | Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Recap

2016 Stats

Twitter

⁵Oklahoma

⁷North Carolina

Feb. 7 | Noon CT | Chapel Hill, N.C.

Live Stats

2016 Stats

Twitter

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MATCHES FOUR & FIVE

MATCHUPS AT A GLANCE
	Oklahoma	Alabama	UNC
2016 Record	3-1	5-3	5-0
vs. Top 30	0-1	0-2	1-0
Singles Ranks	#60, #92	#66, #106, #T123	#13, #43, #47
Doubles Ranks	None	None	#1

THE MATCHUP

The fifth-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team makes its first road trip of the year this weekend as it hits the road for a pair of non-conference matchups. The Sooners will take on No. 63 Alabama (5-2) on Friday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. CT in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and then head east to take on No. 7 North Carolina (5-0) on Sunday, Feb. 7 at noon CT in Chapel Hill, N.C.

LAST TIME VS. NORTH CAROLINA

The Sooners head to Chapel Hill looking to pick up their second win over UNC in as many years. Oklahoma took down the Tar Heels, then ranked No. 8, by a mark of 4-1 last season. Doubles wins from Alvarez/Webb and Harris and junior Alex Ghilea gave the Sooners a 1-0 lead they would not relinquish. Singles wins from Harris (No. 1), Alvarez (No. 2), Bragusi (No. 5) and senior Austin Siegel (No. 6) gave OU its first top-10 win of 2015.

TAR HEELS RANKED

Singles:
No. 13 Ronnie Schneider
No. 43 Brett Clark
No. 47 Robert Kelly

Doubles:
No. 1 Clark/Kelly

BACK FOR MORE

After back-to-back NCAA runner-up finishes, and fresh off their fourth consecutive Big 12 title, the 2016 Sooners feature a lineup loaded with experience and talent. OU lost just one starter from last year's postseason lineup and returns some of the nation's best players. Alvarez, the reigning Big 12 and national player of the year, won 39 singles matches in 2014-2015, the most ever by a Sooner in a single season. Harris was named 2015 ITA National Player to Watch and rose as high as No. 5 in the nation last season as he racked up 25 singles wins. Ghilea recorded a singles record of 36-10 last year, the fourth most singles wins in a single season in OU history, and earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the 2015 ITA National Indoor Championships. Papa and junior Florin Bragusi also played key roles in 2015 with the latter picking up Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors.

NEARING HISTORY

Alvarez is nearing a pair of historic marks for OU. The senior ace currently owns 194 career wins (86 doubles, 108 singles), needing just six more to join 2015 graduate Dane Webb as the only players in Oklahoma history to top the 200-win mark. Alvarez is also just 18 wins shy of breaking Webb's school record of 212 career wins. Alvarez has won at least 50 total matches in each of his previous three seasons at OU.

TIME TO DEFEND

With its wins during the 2016 ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Oklahoma earned a berth in the 2016 ITA National Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va., Feb. 12-15. OU swept both Utah State and Troy during the Kick-Off Weekend. In 2015 the Sooners won their first ever indoor national championship, besting defending NCAA champion USC 4-2 in the final.

PLAYING IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Oklahoma will continue to lead collegiate tennis in televised matches this season. Three of the Sooners' home matches will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and OU could see even more televised action if it makes a deep run in the postseason. In addition to its Jan. 30 match with Wake Forest which was broadcast live on Fox Sports Oklahoma, Oklahoma will also play on live TV against No. 9 Ohio State on March 6 at noon and against No. 5 Baylor on April 15 at 6 p.m. CT. The Sooners played a total of seven televised matches in 2015.

BATTLE TESTED

After racking up 22 wins over teams ranked in the ITA top 30 a year ago, the Sooners face another loaded schedule in 2016. Oklahoma travels to national contenders Tulsa, TCU and Texas and hosts Arkansas, Ohio State and Baylor. OU will also play neutral site matches against defending national champion Virginia and perennial power USC.

BIG 12 DYNASTY

The Sooners are seeking an unprecedented fifth consecutive conference title in 2016. Oklahoma earned a share of the regular season title in 2015 and then claimed its third Big 12 tournament title in the last four years last four years (2012, 2013, 2015) with a pair of wins at the Big 12 Championships in Waco, Texas. After receiving a first-round bye, Oklahoma topped Texas 4-3 in the semifinal round to advance to the final where it would face Baylor for the fourth time on the year. In the final, the Sooners outlasted the Bears to win 4-3 and claim the Big 12 Championships title.

2015 AWARDS

OU pulled in an impressive haul of awards following the 2015 season. Axel Alvarez became the first Sooner ever to be named the ITA National College Player of the year, and became just the second Sooner in history to be named the Big 12 Player of the Year, joining Costin Paval who won the award in both 2012 and 2013. Alvarez also became just the second Sooner to ever earn All-America honors in both singles and doubles in a single season. He was also named All-Big 12 in both singles and doubles.

For the fourth straight season, head coach John Roddick was named Big 12 Coach of the Year, sharing the honor with TCU's David Roditi. Sophomore Florin Bragusi added another honor for the Sooners as he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Oklahoma has taken home the award in back-to-back years as Andrew Harris won it in 2014.

In addition to Big 12 awards, Harris was named ITA National Player to Watch. Harris earned the central region Rookie of the Year award in 2014 as a freshman. Harris also took home All-America honors in singles and All-Big 12 honors in both singles and doubles. Alex Ghilea rounded out Oklahoma's presence on the all-conference team by earning a place on the doubles team.

Tide and Tar Heels Await Sooners Out East