Austin – No. 1 Texas Men's Tennis captured the Big 12 regular season title with a 5-2 win over No. 3 TCU on Saturday in front of a record crowd at the Texas Tennis Center of 1,332. It marks the third regular season conference championship in the last four years and the 10th overall in program history, including six outright.
"I'm super happy for the program and super happy for the guys, because they've really done this all year long, and what I really wanted for them tonight was for them to do exactly that," head coach Bruce Berque said. "After doubles where TCU played really well, and we didn't play as well, I was a little concerned, but man did we step up in the end on so many courts. I'm so happy for the way they competed and for earning the championship, which is what they really wanted, against a great TCU team."
After the Horned Frogs won the doubles point, the Longhorns picked up five singles wins from junior Cleeve Harper at No. 5, senior Nevin Arimilli at No. 6, junior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, sophomore No. 26 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2 for the clinch, and junior No. 78 Micah Braswell at No. 3.
"The feeling is unbelievable," Bailly said. "Doing this for this team – we've been dreaming about this for the whole season and putting the work in for the whole season, and to finish like this is incredible. I was about to cry at the end, and I can't even describe my feelings right now."
It was also Senior Day for Arimilli and Chih Chi Huang, who were honored before the match.
"There were a lot of emotions going through me," Arimilli said. "I think almost every person I knew in Austin came out to support me down on court 6. With so many emotions it was tough at the beginning to get settled in, but once I did, I was enjoying every second, even when I wasn't winning, having all of my friends and family there to support me was incredible. Pedro Vives is a really good player, and I knew I was going to have to bring out my best. I had a little lull in the second, but overall, I thought it was my best match of the year mentally and physically, so I was really happy with the result and to be able to help the team."
After doubles, it was Harper who was first off the singles court to even the overall score with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 70 Sebastian Gorzny. It was Gorzny who would break first on a deuce point and then hold for a 2-0 lead, but Harper responded with a 5-0 run capped by a deuce-point hold before the last two games stayed on serve to his win. In the second, Gorzny was again the first to break, this time for a 4-2 lead, but like the first set, Harper again answered with a run, this time 4-0 for the match.
TCU later regained the lead when junior No. 38 Siem Woldeab fell to No. 60 Sander Jong, 6-2, 5-7, 6-0 at No. 4. Jong closed the first set on a 4-0 run after it was tied, 2-2, and then broke for a 3-1 lead in the second. Woldeab broke back and held on a deuce point to even it, and the set stayed on serve until Woldeab broke again for a 6-5 lead and then served it out in the next game. However, the third set belonged to Jong who closed on a 6-0 run.
A short time later, the Longhorns evened it against with Arimilli's 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Vives. Arimilli captured the only two breaks of the first set for a 3-2 lead on a deuce point and then to close at 6-3. In the second, Vives got out to a 5-1 lead that he maintained to a 6-2 win to force a third set. There, after both players held their opening serve starting with Arimilli on a deuce point, he set out on a 5-0 run for the victory that he bookended with another deuce-point win.
That left three matches on the court that had all gone to third sets with the first to get home being Spizzirri with his 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over No. 15 Jake Fearnley. After Fearnley broke and held for a 2-0 lead, Spizzirri came back with a pair of deuce points to even it. However, Fearnley broke back again for 3-2 and the set stayed on serve from there to his win. In the second, Spizzirri broke first to go up 3-1 and consolidated it on serve for 4-1. After he pushed that to 5-2, Fearnley went on a 3-0 run for 5-5 that included a deuce-point break for 5-4 to stay alive in the set. The last two games then stayed on serve to a tiebreaker where Spizzirri jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Fearnley answered with a 3-0 run of his own, but Spizzirri put together another one for a 6-3 lead en route to his 7-4 win to force a third set. There, Spizzirri broke in the opening game and held for a 2-0 lead. Although Fearnley won back-to-back deuce points to tie it, those would be his last as Spizzirri closed on a 4-0 run for the win and the first overall lead for Texas at 3-2.
Moments later, Bailly did the honors with the clinch with his 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 win over No. 90 Jack Pinnington. Bailly broke first on a deuce point in the second game, which he then made 3-0 on serve. He later broke again to extend to 5-1, and that started a string of three breaks in the last three games for the players and Bailly's 6-2 win. In the second set, Pinnington broke first on a deuce point for 3-2, but Bailly broke right back. The set then stayed on serve until Pinnington broke again for a 6-5 lead and then served out from there. However, the third set was controlled by Bailly, who took a 2-0 lead. Even though Pinnington broke on a deuce point to cut it to 2-1, Bailly answered the deuce-point break to start a 4-0 run to the clinch and send his teammates streaming onto his court as conference champions.
"We've been in this situation before, and we had to be confident in ourselves," Bailly said. "I got off to a really good start in singles, and we had a huge crowd, so I tried to get them involved. Once the second set ended, Eliot, Micah and I were the only guys left on the court, so the only thought that went through my head was just to keep fighting every point and being focused and try to get the win for the team. That's all I was thinking – do everything I can to fight for the team and get the clinch."
That left it to Braswell to close out, which he did with a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (3) top-25 win over No. 25 Luc Fomba. Braswell broke first for 3-2 and consolidated it to 4-2 with a deuce-point hold. After Fomba got the break back on a deuce point for 4-4, the set stayed on serve to a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Fomba won the first point on serve, but it would his only lead as it was either tied or a one-point advantage for Braswell until Braswell captured consecutive points for a 6-4 lead that he turned into a 7-5 win. He then looked to be well positioned in the second set when he got out to a 3-0 lead on the strength of two deuce point wins for a break and a hold, but Fomba rallied for a 6-0 run for the set. In the third, Braswell opened by again winning consecutive deuce points for a break and a hold, and then broke again on another for 3-2 after Fomba had come back to even it. Fomba got the break back for 4-4 to put it back on serve until another tiebreaker, but there, Braswell grabbed a mini-break on the first point and did not look back as he moved out to a 4-1 lead on the way to the 7-3 win.
Earlier in doubles, TCU took the point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1. In the match at No. 2, the No. 78 pair of Woldeab and Bailly fell to Vives and Gorzny, 6-3. The Horned Frogs claimed the only break of the match for 4-2 on a deuce point on the way to the win.
At No. 1, the No. 2 duo of Harper and Spizzirri came up short against the No. 4 pair of Fearnley and Fomba, 6-4. There was also only one break in that match, which also came on a deuce point, with TCU taking it for a 4-3 lead. The Longhorns had two chances to get the break back with deuce points on both of the Horned Frogs' next two service games, but Fearnley and Fomba held both times, including on match point.
In the remaining match, senior Chih Chi Huang and junior Evin McDonald were leading the No. 16 duo of Jong and Lui Maxted, 6-5, when play stopped. TCU earned a break in the opening game, but Texas broke back to even it, 4-4, with the rest of the match staying on serve.
Texas (21-2, 5-0) will next head to the Big 12 Tournament in Lawrence, Kansas, which starts on Friday, April 21, but as the top seed, the Longhorns will have an opening round bye and play in the semifinals on Saturday, April 22.
#1 Texas 5, #3 TCU 2
Singles – Order of Finish (5,4,6,1,2,3)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #15 Jake Fearnley (TCU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
2. #26 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. #90 Jack Pinnington (TCU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
3. #78 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #25 Luc Fomba (TCU) 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3)
4. #60 Sander Jong (TCU) def. #38 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-2, 5-7, 6-0
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #70 Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Pedro Vives (TCU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1)
1. #4 Jake Fearnley/Luc Fomba (TCU) def. #2 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-4
2. Pedro Vives/Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. #78 Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-3
3. Chih Chi Huang/Evin McDonald (UT) vs. #16 Lui Maxted/Sander Jong (TCU) 6-5, unf.