National Championship Rematch in Tulsa

¹¹Oklahoma

¹Virginia

NCAA Final | May 24 | 7 p.m. CT | Tulsa, Okla.

Michael D. Case Tennis Center

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NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR NCAA FINAL

WEATHER UPDATE

6:30 p.m. CT: Play is officially set to begin at 7 p.m. CT and will take place indoors.

5:30 p.m. CT: The match has been delayed due to lightning. No official word on start time or indoor/outdoor yet.

THE MATCHUP

The 11th-seeded Oklahoma men's tennis team has advanced to the NCAA final for the third consecutive year and will take on No. 1-seed Virginia on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT in Tulsa, Okla., at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa. Live scoring and live streaming video will be available at TulsaHurricane.com and NCAA.com.

LAST TIME VS. VIRGINIA

Oklahoma is facing Virginia for the second time this season. OU fell 4-3 to the Cavs in a regular season matchup in March. Virginia took the doubles point in that match and the teams split the singles 3-3 with OU winning at numbers one, three and six. OU played the Cavs for the national title in 2015 as well. The Sooners entered the match with several players battling injury and fell 4-1 to finish as the national runner-up for the second year in row.

MATCHUPS AT A GLANCE
	^#11Oklahoma	^#1Virginia
2016 Record	20-10 (3-2)	29-4
2015 Result	29-3 (NCAA Final)	29-3 (NCAA Champions)
Singles Ranks	#24, #61, #82, #97	#8, #9, #33, #78, #110
Doubles Ranks	#25, #39, #62	#4, #16

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS

Virginia is playing in the NCAA final for the fifth time in the last six years, having claimed the national championship in 2013 and 2015. UVA has been ranked No. 1 for most of the year and sits at 29-4. The Cavs claimed the regular season ACC title but lost in the final match of the ACC tournament to Wake Forest. UVA has given up just three total points in the NCAA tournament so far.

SINGLES
No. 8 - Ryan Shane

No. 9 - Thai-Son Kwiatkowski

No. 33 - Colin Altamirano

No. 78 - Alexander Ritschard

No. 110 - J.C. Aragone

DOUBLES
No. 4 - Luca Corintelli/Ryan Shane
No. 16 - Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Mac Styslinger

SOONERS RANKED

SINGLES
No. 24 - Axel Alvarez

No. 61 - Alex Ghilea

No. 82 - Papa Spencer

No. 97 - Andrew Harris

DOUBLES

No. 25 - Axel Alvarez/Andrew Harris

No. 39 - Axel Alvarez/Spencer Papa

No. 62 - Alex Ghilea/Andrew Harris

^#7 Georgia

^#11Oklahoma

NCAA Semifinal | May 23 | Tulsa, Okla.

Michael D. Case Tennis Center

Recap

^#3 UCLA

^#11Oklahoma

NCAA Quarterfinal | May 22 | Tulsa, Okla.

Michael D. Case Tennis Center

Highlights

Recap

⁶ Wake Forest

¹¹Oklahoma

NCAA Round of 16 | May 20 | Tulsa, Okla.

Michael D. Case Tennis Center

Highlights

Recap

THE ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR

The Sooners were dominant in sweeping Wake Forest 4-0 on Friday night. OU won the doubles point and then swept all six first sets before finishing the match with singles wins from Andrew Harris, Spencer Papa and Alex Ghilea.

OU's quarterfinals round win over No. 3-seed UCLA came in much more dramatic fashion. The Sooners won the doubles point after Alex Ghilea and Spencer Papa won a tiebreaker at line two doubles. In singles, OU split first sets 3-3 with the Bruins and jumped out to a 3-1 lead with wins from Spencer Papa and Florin Bragusi. UCLA leveled the match at 3-all with wins at one and two singles, leaving the match to court six. Freshman Andre Biro played the hero Sunday night. He overcame a loss in the first set to force a third, but trailed 2-0 early in the final frame. Biro would win six of the next seven games in the third, breaking his opponent at 5-3 to claim the win and clinch OU's spot in the semis. Details for both matches are available above.

Monday's semifinal win over Georgia was more of the same. OU took doubles with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 and then split the first sets with the Bulldogs in singles. UGA did its best to break through stealing the match at No. 2 singles in three sets, but on court four Alex Ghilea forced a third set of his own. After singles wins from Andre Biro and Florin Bragusi, the dual was tied at 3-all with just Ghilea left. Ghilea broke his opponent early in the third set and then dictated the pace from there, winning 6-2 to send OU to the national title match.

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS

In addition to the team championship, the Sooners will potentially have three student-athletes in contention at the doubles and singles competitions this weekend. Senior Axel Alvarez was chosen as an at-large selection for the NCAA Singles Championship, which begins on May 25 following the conclusion of the team championship. Junior Alex Ghilea was chosen as an alternate for the 64-player field and can find his way into the bracket if other players withdraw. Alvarez will also pair with junior Andrew Harris to compete in the double competition, as the duo was chosen as an at-large team for the 32-pair draw.

Junior Alex Ghilea celebrates with teammates after his clinching win at No. 4 singles in the 2016 Semifinals against Georigia. Ghilea's three-set win gave OU a 4-3 win over Gerogia.

THREE STRAIGHT

The Sooners are making their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA final. The Sooners have advanced to at least the NCAA quarterfinals round in four of head coach John Roddick's seven years at the helm for Oklahoma.

In 2015, the Sooners grabbed a dramatic 4-3 win over UCLA in the round of 16 before taking down Georgia in the quarterfinal. The semifinals round saw OU narrowly claim a 4-3 win over TCU with Alvarez winning his singles match in a second-set tiebreaker to clinch the match. Eventual national champion Virginia, a team the Sooners beat at home in the regular season, was too much for Oklahoma in the final, topping OU 4-1.

The Sooners' 2014 trip to the final was a program first. OU cruised through the first three rounds without giving up a point, before taking down North Carolina and UCLA 4-2 in each of the next two rounds. In the championship, the Sooners fell 4-2 to USC despite racing out to a 2-0 lead.

AN ALL-TIMER

Senior Axel Alvarez won his singles match in the Sooners' opening match of the Big 12 Championship against Texas two weeks ago. The win put Alvarez in first place alone in Oklahoma history in career wins (he now has 218) and career singles wins (he now has 119). The senior will leave OU as perhaps the best Sooner tennis player in history.

In addition to his records, a year ago he became the first Sooner ever to be named ITA National College Player of the year, collegiate tennis's highest individual award, was named Big 12 Player of the Year, became the first Sooner ever to be ranked No. 1 in singles and also the first ever to earn the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Singles Championship.

RETURN TO FORM

Junior Andrew Harris has returned to singles play for Oklahoma and has done so in convincing fashion. Harris had been sidelined with a knee injury since the conclusion of the 2015 season. Since reentering the OU lineup, Harris has jumped out to a 6-3 record, including a six-match win streak. His last three wins have each come at the No. 1 singles position, a spot he is likely to retain throughout the NCAA championship.

Harris made his debut in the ITA singles rankings three weeks ago, appearing at No. 91. After sitting out the Big 12 Championship he is currently ranked No. 97. The Melbourne, Australia, native is looking to recapture his 2015 form. A year ago he rose as high as No. 5 in the ITA singles rankings and earned All-America honors in singles as well as being name the ITA National Player to Watch.

EARLY IMPACT

One reason for OU's success this season has been the singles play of its talent duo of freshmen, Andre Biro and Maxime Mora. The duo has racked up 18 and 13 wins in dual play, respectively, to lead the team. Biro, who has won six matches in a row and 11 of his last 12 completed matches, clinched OU's quarterfinals win with a come-from-behind, three-set win at number six singles on Sunday. The duo also pairs in doubles, seeing action as OU's No. 3 team for much of the year.

Freshman Andre Biro celebrates his clinching win in the quarterfinals. Biro leads the Sooners in dual-play singles wins this season with 17.

BIG 12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Sophomore Spencer Papa picked up his first career Big 12 Player of the Week honor on April 7. The Edmond, Okla., native won five total matches in a span of three duals, including two ranked wins in singles to push OU to a perfect 3-0 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.

BNP PARIBAS OPEN

The Sooners earned a split against a pair of ranked teams at the 2016 BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Challenge presented by Oracle in Indian Wells, Calif. Oklahoma fell 4-1 to No. 12 USC on the first day of play, but rebounded the following day with a 4-3 win over No. 14 California. Against the Golden Bears, OU won the doubles point, but with one match left the dual was knotted at 3-all. Ghilea delivered the clinching win by upsetting No. 10 Andre Goransonn at No. 3 singles to clinch the win for OU.

PLAYING IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Oklahoma will continue to lead collegiate tennis in televised matches this season, as the Sooners have already played four matches on live TV this season. 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 also played live on Fox against No. 4 Ohio State and Baylor. The Sooners also played live on ESPN3 in its win over No. 22 Florida State. The Sooners played a total of seven televised matches in 2015.