Completed Event: Men's Tennis versus Alabama on March 22, 2026 , Win , 4, to, 0
Final
Men's Tennis
4
vs Alabama
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University of Oklahoma Athletics
Friday, March 31
Norman, Okla.
6:00 PM
University of Oklahoma
3
vs
4
Texas
OU Shows Fight in Narrow Loss to Texas
March 31, 2017 | Men's Tennis
6Texas
4
3
13Oklahoma
The Sooners, led by head coach Nick Crowell and ranked No. 13 in the Oracle/ITA team rankings, were dealing with the absence of star Andrew Harris to an injury, but OU fought until the very end against the 18-4 Longhorns.
After Texas took the doubles point to earn the early 1-0 lead, Oklahoma fought back in singles.
Nobody was more impressive on the night than junior Spencer Papa. The Edmond, Okla., native defeated No. 16 Christian Sigsgaard at line one singles, 6-1, 6-1, to tie the dual at 1-1. The win pushed Papa, ranked 28th in singles, to 6-4 at No. 1 singles this year.
From there, the dual went back and forth, with each team taking turns netting points. After Texas took a 2-1 lead, OU knotted it right back up at 2-2 when No. 97 Florin Bragusi defeated No. 29 Yuya Ito 6-4, 7-5 at No. 4 singles.
Texas went up 3-2, but another veteran, senior and No. 49 Alex Ghilea, tied the dual again with his 7-6, 6-4 victory over No. 46 Harrison Scott. With the wins, Bragusi moved to 12-3 in singles while Ghilea extended his singles record to 13-3.
Coach Crowell was pleased with the way his veterans' exemplary performances.
“I think it just showed their leadership,” Crowell said. “They didn't drop a set at one, two or three, that's an unbelievable effort. Those guys were so strong mentally – nothing got to them. They came ready to play tonight and I'm super proud of those guys.
"I was really proud of our effort level. We have to come back to work tomorrow, work hard, get better and we're hungry for an opportunity against TCU."
- Head Coach Nick Crowell
The dual came down to court four, where freshman Jochen Bertsch trailed George Goldhoff, 6-2, 5-2. The Mannheim, Germany, native would battle his way back and keep Oklahoma alive, defeating Goldhoff in a tiebreaker to take the set 7-6 (7-4). Goldhoff, an experienced senior for the Longhorns, finished off the match in set three however with a 6-1 win.
Despite the loss, coach Crowell was pleased with his team's effort, especially by the freshman Bertsch.
“Our guys fought extremely hard,” Crowell said. "I was really proud of our effort level. We made improvements from our spring break trip over the last 12 days but just came up short tonight. Texas is a good team, and with that last match, Goldhoff is a senior, he played No. 1 last year and that was a big challenge.
Crowell added, “J.B. (Bertsch) did an unbelievable job of fighting back from down match point in the second set and he gave us an opportunity to win the match. We have to come back tomorrow, work hard, get a little better and we're hungry for an opportunity against TCU.
The loss puts the Sooners at 12-7 on the season, with six of the seven losses coming against top-10 foes.
Oklahoma has one more weekend match at the Headington Family Tennis Center, as the Sooners will continue Big 12 play and take on No. 16 TCU at 2 p.m. CT on Sunday. As always for regular season matches, admission for all fans will be free.
For more information on Oklahoma men's tennis, follow the team on Twitter @OU_MTennis.
Players Mentioned
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Saturday, March 30
Thursday, March 28
Saturday, March 23
Thursday, March 21
