No. 4 Virginia Narrowly Edges Sooners

No. 4 Virginia

No. 13 Oklahoma

2015 Stats

TULSA, Okla.. – Playing a top-five opponent for the second match in a row, the 13^th-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team fell 4-3 to No. 4 Virginia on Saturday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla. The Cavaliers took the doubles point and then three of the first four singles matches to clinch the dual at 4-1.

“We played a very good match today and just came up a little short,” head coach John Roddick said. “Give UVA a lot of credit, they played well. There were a lot of positives to take from this match and hopefully we can keep improving.”

The Sooners got a doubles win at the number three spot from freshmen Andre Biro and Maxime Mora, but took losses at the top two spots to give the Cavaliers the opening point. Biro and Mora topped J.C. Aragone and Collin Altamirano 6-2. Trailing 1-0 after doubles, Oklahoma needed to win four of the six singles matches to take the dual. The Sooners would come up just one match short.

Virginia took a 2-0 lead with a win at No. 5 singles where Henrik Wiersholm knocked off junior Florin Bragusi in straight sets. Wiersholm easily won the first set 6-0 and then took the second 6-4.

Senior Axel Alvarez put the Sooners' first point on the board with a straight-sets win at the top singles position. Alvarez bested No. 13 Ryan Shane, the defending NCAA singles champion, 6-2, 7-5. The win gives Alvarez 112 career wins in singles, putting him just three shy of tying Oliver Lorin's school record of 115.

The Cavs would pick up another point at No. 2 singles where No. 3 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski topped junior Alex Ghilea, ranked No. 99, in straight sets. Ghilea led by a break early in the first set, but Kwiatkowski rallied to take the frame. He would go ono to win the match by taking the second set 6-3.

The clinching point came on court four where Mora faced No. 116 Aragone. The Narbonne, France, native fell 6-4, 6-3, giving UVA their fourth and clinching win.

Oklahoma would win the last two matches off. Sophomore Spencer Papa grabbed his first ranked win of the year, topping No. 47 Altamirano 7-6(5), 6-2 at the number three spot, and Biro took a three-set decision from Mac Styslinger at the number six position, winning 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 to put the final mark at 4-3 in favor of Virginia.

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

RESULTS

SINGLES

1. ^#41Axel Alvarez def. ^#13Ryan Shane - 6-2, 7-5
2. ^#3Thai-Son Kwiatkowski def. ^#99Alex Ghilea - 7-5, 6-3
3. Spencer Papa def. ^#47Collin Altamirano - 7-6, 6-2
4.^#116J.C. Aragone def. ^#92Maxime Mora - 6-4, 6-3
5. Henrik Wiersholm def. Florin Bragusi - 6-0, 6-4
6. Andre Biro def. Mac Styslinger - 7-6, 3-6, 6-4

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

DOUBLES

1. ^#6Shane/Corinteli def. ^#24Papa/Alvarez - 6-2
2. ^#7Styslinger/Kwiatkowski def.^#46Ghilea/Harris - 6-3
3. Biro/Mora def. Aragone/Altamirano - 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

RESULTS

SINGLES

DOUBLES

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Florin Bragusi

Alex Ghilea

Spencer Papa

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics