North Carolina Comeback Downs Sooners

⁷North Carolina

⁵Oklahoma

2015 Stats

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The fifth-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team fell 3-4 to No. 7 North Carolina on Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Sooners (3-2) won the doubles point and the first singles match to lead 2-0 early, but UNC (6-0) took four of the remaining five singles matches to rally for the win.

At number three doubles, senior Austin Siegel and freshman Andre Biro, pairing for the first time this season, took down Ronnie Schneider and Blaine Boyden, 6-4. The Oklahoma duo trailed by a break early, but rallied to get back on serve. With the Tar Heels serving at 4-5, Siegel and Biro broke to take a 6-4 win. With UNC having won the match at number two, the doubles point came down to the top spot.

Junior Andrew Harris made his season debut against the Heels on Sunday. Having missed time due to injury, the Melbourne, Australia, native paired with fellow junior Alex Ghilea to take on the nation's No. 1-ranked duo of Brett Clark and Robert Kelly. Ghilea and Harris took an early break to lead 3-1, but UNC would later get back on serve with a break of their own. Down the stretch, the Sooner duo broke the serve of Clark at 5-5, and then finished its ensuing service game with an overhead slam from Harris to win the match 7-5 and deliver the doubles point.

Biro continued his strong collegiate start on Sunday. After winning in straight sets in under 50 minutes on Friday at Alabama, the freshman picked up another dominant, straight-sets win against North Carolina. He took down Boyden 6-2, 6-2 at number six singles and put the Sooners up 2-0. Biro improves to 3-1 on the year.

UNC took the next two matches from sophomore Spencer Papa at number two singles and Ghilea at number four singles to level the match at 2-all, but senior Axel Alvarez put the Sooners back on top with a win at number one. The reigning national and Big 12 player of the year, Alvarez took a tight first set from Brayden Schnur 7-6(3) in a tiebreaker, and then dominated the second set 6-0 to take the win.

The Tar Heels had an advantage in the remaining two matches, having taken the first set in each. At number five singles, freshman Maxime Mora dropped the first set 5-7, but won the second 6-4 to force a decisive third against No. 47 Kelly. Mora gave up a pair of early breaks to trail 4-1, but would take one of his own to get back in the match at 3-4, before ultimately falling 6-3. With just one match remaining, the dual was knotted at 3-all.

Playing at number three singles against No. 43 Clark, junior Florin Bragusi dropped the first set 5-7 and trailed 4-5 in the second with Clark serving. Bragusi won the next three games to take the second set and force a third. Clark broke Bragusi in the first game of the final set and would not look back, taking the set 6-2 to win the match and secure the dual for North Carolina.

The Sooners are back in action next weekend as they conclude the indoor portion of their schedule by traveling to Charlottesville, Va., to defend their 2015 title at the ITA National Indoor Championships. Oklahoma claimed its first ever title at the event last year with four straight wins including a 4-2 victory over then defending NCAA national champion USC in the final.

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

RESULTS

DOUBLES

1.Harris/Ghilea def.^#1Clark/Kelly - 7-5
2. Murray/Schnur def. Alvarez/Papa - 6-4
3. Biro/Siegel def. Boyden/Schneider - 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

SINGLES

1. ^#60Axel Alvarez def. Brayden Schnur 7-6(3), 6-0
2. ^#13Ronnie Schneider def. Spencer Papa - 6-4, 6-4

3. ^#43Brett Clark def. Florin Bragusi - 7-5, 5-7, 6-2

4. Jack Murray def. ^#92Alex Ghilea - 6-2, 6-4

5. ^#47Robert Kelly def. Maxime Mora - 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

6. Andre Biro def. Blaine Boyden - 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish: 6, 2, 4, 1, 5, 3

RESULTS

DOUBLES

SINGLES

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Florin Bragusi

Alex Ghilea

Andrew Harris

Spencer Papa

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics