Sooners Claim Three ITA Regional Awards

NORMAN – Coming off of a 20-win season, the Oklahoma men's tennis team racked up three regional awards, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced Monday.

Head coach Nick Crowell was named the Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year after leading the Sooners to a 20-6 record on the year and the team's ninth consecutive NCAA appearance, as well as the ninth straight NCAA Regional hosting honor. Through two seasons at the helm for the Sooners, Crowell is 37-17 in dual matches and 7-1 against regional opponents.

OU also went 13-1 at home during the regular season, the team's best record at the Headington Family Tennis Center since 2015.

During the 2017-18 season, Crowell recruited and rotated nine new players in the lineup after graduating the majority of the team the previous season. Despite being projected to finish sixth in the conference after All-American Spencer Papa suffered an injury prior to the start of the season, the Sooners flourished in the face of adversity and finished tied for second place in the Big 12.

Under Crowell's tutelage, newcomer Alex Bakshi and freshman Jake Van Emburgh collectively brought home all three of the Big 12 Conference's player awards: Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

OU's signature win in 2018 came as a thrilling 4-3 victory over then-No.5 Texas A&M, who went on to clinch the SEC regular season title, in a match played at the USTA National Campus. The Sooners also upset No. 14 Oklahoma State in the final contest of the regular season, taking down their in-state rival, 4-3, on the road. The win was one of just two Big 12 matches in 2018 in which the visiting team came out on top.

Bakshi was named ITA Central Region Player to Watch, the honor given to a nationally or regionally ranked player who is anticipated to be one of the top returning regional players the following year.

The transfer, who joined the Sooners in August, compiled a 15-3 record in dual matches, including a 6-3 mark against ranked opponents. Bakshi also closed out the regular season with a seven-match winning streak and notched 10 straight-sets victories on the year.

Bakshi concluded Big 12 Conference action with a perfect, 4-0 record at the No. 1 line, with all of those wins over ranked opponents. The Tblisi, Georgia, native was tabbed the league's Player of the Year as well as Newcomer of the Year, and was named to the singles first team.

Over the course of the season, Bakshi worked his way up from a ranking of No. 108 to his current standing at No. 30. After racking up three combined singles and doubles wins over ranked opponents during the first week of Big 12 play, Bakshi jumped 40 spots in the ITA release from No. 85 to No. 45.

Jake Van Emburgh was tabbed ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year after a wildly successful freshman campaign that saw him a 16-3 record, good for the team-high in singles wins. Like Bakshi, Van Emburgh also went undefeated (3-0) in Big 12 play, appearing primarily at the No. 2 line in league matches to garner the conference's Freshman of the Year award and was named to the singles second team.

Strong in the clutch, Van Emburgh clinched both of the Sooners' statement wins over Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, taking down then-No. 17 Valentin Vacherot to put away OU's victory over the Aggies.

"Both Alex and Jake are very deserving of these prestigious awards. They were very consistent all year long and came through in big moments for us as a team," said Crowell. "They improved all year long and we are looking to build off this foundation next season."

Bakshi and Ferran Calvo travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. for the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships, where they will play in the 64-player singles tournament beginning Wednesday. Times and draws are yet to be announced.

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