Ohio State Comes to Town Looking for Revenge

No. 13 Oklahoma vs. No. 4 Ohio State

March 6, Noon CT | Headington Family Tennis Center

Norman, Okla.

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NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR WEEK SEVEN

THE MATCHUP

The 13th-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team will host No. 4 Ohio State on Sunday, March 6 at noon CT. The match will be played outdoors weather permitting. Forecasts call for a high in the upper 60s, cloudy skies with a small chance of precipitation and winds out of the south at 20-30 mph with gusts potentially near 40 mph. The match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Oklahoma and Fox College Sports Central and is available to stream on Fox Sports Go. Chad McKee and former Oklahoma coach Paul Lockwood are on the call.

LAST TIME VS. OHIO STATE

The Sooners traveled to Columbus, Ohio, last year and came away with a big 4-3 win that snapped the Buckeyes' NCAA all-sport record 200-match home win streak. The Sooners dropped the doubles point and the first singles match to trail 2-0 before Axel Alvarez and Alex Ghilea delivered singles wins to level the match at 2-all. Ohio State would pull ahead once again with a win at No. 1 singles, but Dane Webb grabbed a three-set win on court three to once again tie the dual. Florin Bragusi gave OU the clinching point, winning a three-set match at number six singles, with all three sets being decided in tiebreakers.

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES

Ohio State comes to Norman ranked No. 4 in the latest ITA poll, sporting a record of 14-1. The Buckeyes boast a pair of wins over Texas A&M and also knocked off Texas at home. Their lone loss came at the ITA National Indoor Championship to eventual champion North Carolina. Ohio State is 12-3 in the doubles point this year and has only given up a total of 10 points in their 15 duals.

SINGLES

No. 6 - Mikael Torpegaard

No. 17 Hugo Di Feo

No. 32 Chris Diaz

No. 45 Herkko Pollanen

DOUBLES

No. 13 - Ralf Steinbach/Martin Joyce

No. 19 - Herkko Pollanen/Mikael Torpegaard

MAKING HISTORY

Alvarez made history over the weekend, joining 2015 graduate Dane Webb as just the second Sooner in program history to reach the 200-win mark for his career. The senior picked up a doubles and singles win against No. 17 Memphis on Monday and now boasts 201 total wins (90 doubles, 111 singles).The Sooners' top man is nearing a pair of OU records, needing just four wins in singles to tie Oliver Lorin's record for career singles wins (115) and just 11 total wins to tie Webb's record for career wins (212).

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 early-season match with Wake Forest, Oklahoma will also play on live TV against No. 4 Ohio State on Sunday and against No. 5 Baylor on April 15 at 6 p.m. CT. The Sooners played a total of seven televised matches in 2015.

BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Alvarez was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Feb. 24. The Asturias, Spain, native picked up a dominant, straight-sets win over No. 97 Carlos Bautista of No. 22 Tulsa to help propel the Sooners to a 4-1, road win a week ago. The honor was the first player of the week award this season for OU.

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. With a road matches against No. 1 UNC and No. 22 Tulsa and a pair of matches against No. 5 Wake Forest under its belt, Oklahoma also travels to national contenders TCU and Texas and hosts Ohio State and Baylor. OU will also play neutral site matches against defending NCAA 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 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.

DYNAMIC DUO

Against No. 7 North Carolina, junior Andrew Harris, who had missed time due to injury, made his season debut in pairing with fellow junior Alex Ghilea in doubles. Perhaps OU's best duo, Harris and Ghilea faced the nation's top ranked doubles team of Robert Kelly and Brett Clark at number one doubles. The Sooner pair rode a pair of breaks to a 6-4 victory that helped propel OU to the doubles point win. In 2015, Harris and Ghilea were both named All-Big 12 in doubles and were the only duo to go unbeaten in league play. Oklahoma's top duo currently ranks 35th nationally and sports a 2-1 record in dual play.