Sooners Face First Conference Defeat at TCU

⁹Texas Tech

¹⁴Oklahoma

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – The No. 14 OU men's tennis team faced its first Big 12 defeat Friday at the hands of No. 9 TCU, 4-2.

With the loss, OU moves to 17-3 on the year and 2-1 in conference action. TCU improves to 15-3 and 2-0 in the Big 12.

The Sooners gave up the doubles point for the third straight match. No. 40 Alex Bakshi and Jake Van Emburgh were defeated by TCU's No. 6 Guillermo Nunez and Alex Rybakov, 6-4, in the top spot.

On court three, OU's James Davis and Max Stewart fell to No. 63 Bertus Kruger and Reese Stalder, 6-4, and TCU took the opening point.

When play was abandoned, the Sooners' No. 61 Ferran Calvo and Adrian Oetzbach were locked in at 5-5 with Alastair Gray and Trevor Johnson on court two.

In singles, OU's Max Stewart was defeated by Reese Stalder, 6-2, 601, to give TCU a 2-0 lead in the match.

No. 40 Alex Bakshi put OU on the board quickly, notching the team's first singles win over No. 17 Rybakov, 6-3, 6-2, from the No. 1 line. With his win Bakshi improves to 3-0 in singles action in conference play, and has won his last five matches straight.

Oetzbach fell to the Horned Frogs' No. 70 Johnson on court two, 6-3, 7-5, to extend TCU's lead to 3-1.

OU's No. 75 Calvo fired back, recording a 6-4, 6-1, win over No. 48 Gray at No. 4 singles to bring the Sooners back within one point of TCU in the match. The victory was good for Calvo's first win over a ranked opponent this season.

At No. 6, the Sooners' freshman Stefano Tsorotiotis was defeated by Kruger 6-2, 6-4, and the Horned Frogs clinched the match.

When play was abandoned, No. 123 Van Emburgh was in a third set with TCU's No. 83 Guillermo Nuñez, trailing, 5-4. 83 Nuñez took the first frame, 6-2, before Van Emburgh rallied to capture the second and send the court to a deciding set.

The Sooners continue Big 12 play at No. 19 Texas Sunday at 4 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.

For updates, follow @OU_MTennis on Twitter.

Singles Results

#45 Alex Bakshi (OU) def. #17 Alex Rybakov (TCU) 6-3, 6-2
#70 Trevor Johnson (TCU) def. Adrian Oetzbach (OU) 6-3, 7-5
#83 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) vs. #123 Jake van Emburgh (OU) 6-2, 4-6, 5-4, unfinished
#75 Ferran Calvo (OU) def. #48 Alastair Gray (TCU) 6-4, 6-1
Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Max Stewart (OU) 6-2, 6-1
Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Stefano Tsorotiotis (OU) 6-2, 6-4

Doubles Results

#6 Guillermo Nuñez/Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #40 Alex Bakshi/Jake van Emburgh (OU) 6-4
Alastair Gray/Trevor Johnson (TCU) vs. #61 Ferran Calvo/Adrian Oetzbach (OU) 5-5, unfinished
#63 Bertus Kruger/Reese Stalder (TCU) def. James Davis/Max Stewart (OU) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,1,2,4,6)