Magical Run Ends in Title Match

^#1 Virginia

^#11Oklahoma

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TULSA, Okla. – Oklahoma's remarkable run at the 2016 NCAA Championships came to an end Tuesday night as the Sooners fell to No. 1 Virginia 4-1 in the championship match. OU ends the year as the national runner-up for the third season in a row.

“I want to congratulate Virginia and their program – their players and their coaches," head coach John Roddick said. "(Virginia Head Coach) Brian (Boland) and (Virginia Assistant Coach) Dustin (Taylor) are good friends of mine, and we knew it was going to be a tough match. They're a class act. They've proven that they can win this tournament. We have to keep working and try to get over that hump. Congratulations to them. You guys saw, they outplayed us in there. That's the way it goes some nights. We did a lot of things that we try to do, we try to execute. That's all I can ask from my guys. Virginia just outplayed us. I don't feel like we gave anything away."

"We did a lot of things that we try to do, we try to execute. That's all I can ask from my guys. Virginia just outplayed us. I don't feel like we gave anything away.”
— Head Coach John Roddick

After a one-hour lightning delay, play was moved indoors Tuesday night. Oklahoma, which was making its third consecutive NCAA final appearance, dropped a close doubles point and then three of the first four singles matches in the loss.

UVA took a quick 6-2 win at number three doubles from freshman Andre Biro and senior Austin Siegel, but the Sooners rallied with a win over their own at the number two spot. Junior Alex Ghilea and sophomore Spencer Papa battled No. 14 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and Mac Styslinger on serve all the way to 5-all, before taking what became a decisive break to lead 6-5. Ghilea held serve to give OU the 7-5 win.

Papa and Ghilea ended the season on a five-match winning streak and were chosen to the NCAA Championships All-Tournament team at number two doubles.

With the first two matches split, the doubles point came down to court one. Senior Axel Alvarez and sophomore Andrew Harris stayed on serve all the way to 5-6 against No. 4 Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shane, but UVA broke the serve of Alvarez in the last game to win 7-5 and take the opening point.

“We had chances there at No. 1," Roddick said. "We lose a tight one. It came down to a couple deuce points, probably, in the doubles. The way they were hitting the ball in there, everybody was just crushing the ball. It's either going to fall your way or not. I thought (Ryan) Shane did a good job of taking backhands up the line on us. We were ready for that. He just hits it so hard that sometimes even when you're ready for it, you just out of habit nudge a little to the right and he hits it by you. It's like a pitcher in the ninth inning, and all of a sudden they're throwing 95 mile an hour heat upstairs. That was too good.”

Virginia took four first sets in singles, but OU showed signs of a comeback with first set wins on courts one and two and Ghilea and Biro pushing for third sets on courts four and six.

The Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead when No. 110 J.C. Aragone topped junior Florin Bragusi 6-3, 6-4, but Harris cut the UVA lead to 2-1 with a win at No. 1 singles. Harris was a bright spot for Oklahoma Tuesday night. The Aussie won the first set from No. 8 Ryan Shane, the 2015 individual NCAA national champion, in a tiebreaker and then dominated the second set 6-0.

“It definitely looked like, for a good bit, that there was a path to four points, even with maybe some margin for error, because we were fighting back so well," Roddick said. "That was great to see. That's where you're proud of the guys. We didn't lay down. We fought hard, and made them earn it, and they did."

The comeback was not meant to be. UVA went up 3-1 and was just a point away after No. 9 Kwiatkowski topped Papa 6-4, 6-4 at number three singles.

The decisive point came at court six for Virginia. Biro had led by two breaks in the second set but Henrik Wiersholm rallied to get back on serve. Biro broke back for 6-5 and again had a chance to serve for the set, but Wiersholm battled again, forcing a breaker. The extra frame went 7-2 to the Cavaliers, giving Virginia is second national championship in as many seasons.

Oklahoma entered the tournament as the No. 11 overall seed after a regular season of 15-10. The Sooners cruised through their regional in Norman and then won three upsets in Tulsa to reach Tuesday's final. Oklahoma has advanced to the elite eight or farther in four of head coach John Roddick's seven years at OU.

The NCAA Championships are not over for a handful of Sooners, as individual championships in doubles and singles get started on Wednesday. Alvarez will take on Georgia's Austin Smith at 5:30 p.m. CT in the first round of the 64-player singles draw on Wednesday night. He will then pair with Harris to take on Henry Craig and Alex Gasson of Denver in the first round of the 32-team doubles draw on Thursday at a time to be determined. Ghilea, who was chosen as an alternate for the singles bracket, could also see action in the draw.

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

RESULTS

DOUBLES

1. ^#4 Corinteli/Shane def. ^#24 Alvarez/Harris - 7-5
2. Ghilea/Papa def.^#16 Kwiatkowski/Stylslinger- 7-5

3. Altamirano/Aragone def. Biro/Siegel - 6-1

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

SINGLES

1. ^#97 Andrew Harris def. ^#8 Ryan Shane - 7-6(3), 6-0

2. ^#25 Axel Alvarez vs. ^#33 Collin Altamirano - 7-5, 4-3 DNF
3. ^#9 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski def. ^#82 Spencer Papa - 6-4, 6-4

4. ^#78 Alexander Ritschard vs. ^#61 Alex Ghilea - 6-1,1-6, 5-2 DNF

5. ^#110 J.C. Aragone def. Florin Bragusi - 6-3, 6-4

6. Henrik Wiersholm def. Andre Biro - 6-2, 7-6(2)

Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 6

RESULTS

Players Mentioned

Florin Bragusi

Alex Ghilea

Andrew Harris

Spencer Papa

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics