OU Meets No. 24 Michigan in First Road Match

¹⁸Oklahoma

²⁴Michigan

Saturday, Feb. 2 | 6 p.m. | Ann Arbor, Mich. | Varsity Tennis Center

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NORMAN – The Oklahoma men's tennis team hits the road for the first time this season to face No. 24 Michigan in Ann Arbor Saturday. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CT.

Last Time Out

In its last weekend of competition, OU swept Drake 4-0 before falling to then-No. 17 Notre Dame 4-2, both at the Headington Family Tennis Center.

Against Drake, OU won the doubles point before Stefano Tsorotiotis, Mason Beiler and Ferran Calvo cruised to singles victories. Spencer Papa and Jake Van Emburgh earned an upset win in doubles, making quick work of No. 27 Vinny Gillespie and Barny Thorold at the No. 1 line for a 6-1 victory.

Oklahoma gave up its first doubles point of the season against Notre Dame, but two Sooners rallied to earn singles wins. At the top spot, redshirt senior Papa took down No. 16 Ledbedev 6-3, 6-4. Papa never trailed in the match.

Bakshi outlasted Nefve in a three-setter on court three. Bakshi gave up the first set 6-3, but won the second in a tiebreaker 7-6 (4). Bakshi rolled past Nefve 6-2 in the third to get a win for the Sooners.

Scouting OU

The Sooners checked in at No. 18 in the latest ITA team rankings. In singles, Papa leads OU from the top spot, where he has compiled a 4-0 record on the season. At No. 2 singles, Van Emburgh is 2-0 and has won his last five matches straight dating back to fall competition.

Nine of OU's 11 players have competed in singles action this season, combining for a total of 24 victories through six matches.

In doubles, Papa and Van Emburgh lead the way for OU with a 4-1 mark on court one.

Saturday's contest will mark the Sooners' second straight top-25 matchup.

Papa Big 12 Player of the Week

Papa was named Big 12 Player of the Week for his performances against Notre Dame and Drake. The honor was the third career conference award for Papa, who was last named player of the week on Feb. 28, 2017. The nod is the first for Oklahoma this season.

Scouting the Wolverines

No. 24 Michigan is 1-2 on the season. The Wolverines downed North Carolina State 4-1 before falling to No. 11 Baylor 4-1 during ITA Kickoff Weekend.

Connor Johnstos leads the team with a 2-1 singles record, playing primarily at the No. 4 spot. In doubles, Mattias Siimar and Andrew Fenty 2-0 on court one and sit at No. 35 in the latest ITA release.

Michigan will host Cornell Friday.

All-Time Series

OU has won the last three contests with Michigan. The last meeting between the Sooners and the Wolverines was in Norman in 2017 when then-No. 16 OU held off No. 19 Michigan 4-1 in the first round of ITA Kickoff Weekend.

Match Info

The match is set to begin at 6 p.m. CT. Live stats will be available for the contest.

Up Next

OU returns to the Headington Family Tennis Center Saturday, Feb. 9 to host Cornell.

For updates, follow @OU_MTennis on Twitter or like Oklahoma Men's Tennis on Facebook.