Harris Named Big 12 Player of the Week

NORMAN – Oklahoma men's tennis earned its first individual honor of the 2017 season on Tuesday, as senior Andrew Harris was named the Big 12 Player of the Week.

Harris, a 2015 All-American in singles and the 2015 ITA National Player to Watch, went 4-0 at ITA Kick-Off Weekend in No. 16 Oklahoma's wins over No. 19 Michigan and 17^th-ranked Illinois.

"Andrew had a great week and won all four matches against high quality opponents," head coach Nick Crowell said. "It's great to see Andrew elevating his game in the big moments."

The Melbourne, Australia, native won in straight sets in both his singles wins over the weekend. Playing at the No. 1 spot, he bested Illinois' Aleks Vukic (6-3, 6-1) and the 50^th-ranked singles player in the nation, Kevin Wong of Michigan (6-4, 6-1). While currently unranked, Vukic is widely considered one of the best players in the nation.

In doubles, Harris paired up with teammate Spencer Papa to defeat Michigan's sixth-ranked duo of Wong and Jathan Malik, 6-1. On Sunday, the two were victorious over Illinois' duo of Gui Gomes and Alex Jesse, 6-3.

Harris is now a two-time Big 12 Player of the Week honoree, as the senior also won the award for the week of March 31, 2015 when, as a sophomore, he defeated the No. 4-ranked player in the nation in singles to help the Sooners topple No. 10 Texas. This marks the first individual award a Sooner has received under Crowell.

The Sooners are back in action this weekend as they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday to take on the No. 25 Razorbacks at 6 p.m. CT. Oklahoma returns home the following weekend for a pair of matches. OU takes on Wichita State at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, Feb. 10 and then faces Alabama on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 1 p.m. CT. As always, admission for regular season matches is free.