Tech Deals Sooners Second Big 12 Loss

^#10 Texas Tech

^#8 Oklahoma

Gallery

Results

2016 Stats

NORMAN – The 8^th-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team fell 4-1 to No. 10 Texas Tech on Sunday. The match was played indoors due to inclement weather.

The Sooners played one of their most tightly contested doubles points of the year on Sunday. All three courts went to tiebreakers before TTU eventually took the matches on courts two and three by margins of 7-2 and 7-5 in their respective breakers.

“I thought we started off well in doubles," head coach John Roddick said. "That has been a problem we've had. We started well, we just have to finish it. Losing two breakers, and then the other one in a breaker, there isn't a lot to be upset with. Both teams played a good point and Texas Tech just won it. We'll take starts like that every time.”

Andrew Harris was a bright spot for Oklahoma. The junior from Melbourne, Australia, won his third match in a row, taking down Hugo Dojas 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 2 singles spot. Harris has only recently returned to singles play after sitting out for nearly a full year to rehab a knee injury. In 2015, Harris climbed as high as No. 5 in the nation, earned All-America honors in singles and was named the National Player to Watch.

"These last three matches he has been very sharp and beaten some very good players," Roddick said. "Before he came to college he had a long layoff, about 10 months, and came back very quickly. He has done that twice now. He is a great ball striker so once you can move again and get your tennis fitness under yourself you can play good tennis pretty quickly. A lot of credit to Andrew to be able to get thrown into the mix of the Big 12 regular season and to play as well as he is. That is a great effort.”

Harris's win leveled the dual at 1-all, but the tie wouldn't last. Just moments later Tech picked up a win at line one singles when senior Axel Alvarez fell 6-3, 6-4 to 18^th-ranked Felipe Soares. Alvarez moved to 7-7 on the year with the loss.

“In singles you give credit to Texas Tech," Roddick said. "They came out and played hard and played with more energy that we did. They kind of took it to us. We have to have more energy. This is the first time I haven't seen much energy from our guys. Tech kind of took our will away so give them credit for playing that well."

The Red Raiders stretched the lead with a win at No. 6 singles. Freshman Max Mora fell 6-2, 6-4 to Bjorn Thomson, giving Texas Tech a 3-1 lead. Mora fell to 12-6 on the year, but is still tied with fellow freshman Andre Biro for the team lead in singles wins at 12. The clinching win for Texas Tech came on court four where junior Alex Ghilea fell 6-4, 6-3 to Jolan Callieau.

"We can learn from this," Roddick said. "We've played a lot better in the last 45 days and we aren't going to let one match slow that down. We just have to get back to work this week and play at a high level."

Oklahoma is back in action this week as it travels to Stillwater, Okla., the site of this year's Big 12 Championships, for its regular season finale against the Cowboys of Oklahoma State. The match is slated for a noon CT start.

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

RESULTS

DOUBLES

1. ^#46 Alvarez/Harris vs. ^#82 Sendegaya/Thomson - 6-6(3-5) DNF

2. Curry/Soares def. Ghilea/Papa - 6-6(2)
3. DiLaura/Dojas def. Biro/Mora - 6-6(5)

Order of finish: 2, 3

SINGLES

1. ^#18 Felipe Soares def. ^#23 Axel Alvarez - 6-3, 6-4
2. Andrew Harris def. Hugo Dojas - 6-3, 6-1

3. Papa vs. Alex Sendegaya - 3-6, 4-5, DNF

4. Jolan Calliaue def. ^#46 Ghilea - 6-4, 6-3

5. Bragusi vs. Connor Curry - 7-5, 2-1, DNF

6. Bjorn Thomson def. Mora - 6-2, 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 1, 6, 4

RESULTS

DOUBLES

SINGLES

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Players Mentioned

Alex Ghilea

Andrew Harris

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics