Austin, Texas – No. 7 Texas Men's Tennis defeated Pepperdine, 5-2, on Friday at the Texas Tennis Center to get back in the win column and move to 6-1 for the season.
The Longhorns captured five singles victories, including juniors No. 65 Micah Braswell at No. 4, No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, No. 25 Siem Woldeab at No. 3, No. 112 Cleeve Harper at No. 5 for the clinch, and senior Nevin Arimilli at No. 6. Those wins lifted Texas past the Waves after having fallen in the doubles point earlier in the match.
Trailing, 1-0, after doubles, Braswell got the Longhorns on the board and evened the overall match with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Eric Hadigian. It was Hadigian who took an early lead with an opening game deuce-point break that he pushed to 2-0 on serve, but two games later, Braswell answered with his own deuce-point break as part of a 5-0 run to take control of the set. Hadigian got one game back on serve, but Braswell closed it out with a hold in the following game. Hadigian started the second set with another deuce-point win, but this time it was a hold as the first four games stayed on serve. Braswell then secured the only break of the frame for a 3-2 lead that he maintained to the 6-4 finish.
Moments later, Spizzirri vaulted Texas into the team lead with a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 89 Tim Zeitvogel. Both players broke the other's serve to start the match with Zeitvogel striking first on a deuce point. Spizzirri broke right back, held and broke again for a 3-1 lead, but Zeitvogel grabbed another deuce-point break and then held to even it. The next three games were then on serve with Zeitvogel holding on a deuce point at 4-4, but after Spizzirri held to move back into the lead, he came up with one more break to take the set. In the second, Spizzirri jumped out to a 3-0 lead, including deuce-point wins in each of the first two games. Zeitvogel picked up one game on serve, but Spizzirri took the following two to extend to 5-1. Although Zeitvogel stayed alive with a deuce-point break to get to 5-2, Spizzirri broke again for the victory.
The next match off the court was one of only two to reach three sets as Woldeab rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Eero Vasa. In the first set, Vasa held on a deuce point, and after that, all but one game stayed on serve, which went to Vasa at 4-2 on the way to his 6-3 win. In the second, Vasa broke Woldeab in the first game and held for 2-0, but it was all Woldeab from there as he went on a 7-0 run that included deuce-point breaks at 2-2 and 6-2, along with a deuce-point hold to open the third. That set stayed on serve up to a 3-2 lead for Woldeab when he began a 4-0 run to close the match.
The clinch for Texas then came from Harper, who topped Maxi Homberg, 6-4, 7-5. It was Homberg who picked up the first break for a 2-1 lead that he extended to 3-1 on serve, but Harper got the break back two games later for 3-3. Homberg regained the lead with another break on a deuce point, however Harper closed on a 3-0 run that including two breaks and a deuce-point hold. Homberg began the second set with a deuce-point break and a hold, and after Harper held for 2-1, there were three-straight breaks with the first two coming at deuce. That evened the score at 3-3 and put it back on course where it would stay until Harper collected the break he needed to prevail at 7-5 and secure the overall match for Texas at 4-1.
With two matches remaining, Pepperdine cut the score to 4-2 with an extremely competitive 7-6 (6), 7-5 win by No. 104 Daniel De Jonge over No. 33 Bailly at No. 2. De Jonge opened on a 3-0 run with two breaks, the second of which came at deuce. Bailly got one of the breaks back and held for 3-2 and then put the set back on serve with another break at 4-4. That's where the rest of the set would stay despite both of Bailly's remaining service games going to deuce, resulting in a tiebreaker. There, Bailly won the first point on serve, but De Jonge put together a 5-0 run for what appeared to be a commanding lead. However, Bailly responded with a 4-0 run of his own to tie it. The players exchanged the next three points starting with De Jonge before he put together two straight to take the frame at 8-6. In the second set, De Jonge took a 2-0 lead with a break in the second game before Bailly answered with a break in the third and a hold to even it. The rest of the set then stayed on serve until De Jonge got a break in the final game to win at 7-5.
That left one match on the court where senior Nevin Arimilli had forced a third set against Pietro Fellin. With that set tied at 3-3 and the rest of the matches concluded, the two moved a superbreaker to determine the contest, which Arimilli prevailed in, 10-8, to complete a 2-6, 6-3, 4-3 (8) win. In the first set, Arimilli held his opening serve, but Fellin set out on a 4-0 run that included a deuce-point break at 2-1. Arimilli got a break back at 4-2 and could have cut further into the lead, but Fellin broke again at deuce for 5-2 before serving out the set. The first game of the second set was also a deuce-point break for Fellin, but Arimilli broke back to start a 3-0 run that had a deuce-point hold between the two breaks. The next two games would also be breaks until Arimilli held his serve for a 5-2 lead, and the last two games were also on serve to his win. In the third set, after Fellin held his first service game, Arimilli went on a 3-0 run with a break on Fellin's next serve. Fellin then held for 3-2 and broke on a deuce point to even it and set up the superbreaker. In the breaker, Arimilli jumped out a 3-0 lead that he would never relinquish, despite Fellin getting back within one on two occasions at 4-3 and 9-8. However, Fellin was unable to return Arimilli's final serve to end the match.
Earlier in doubles, Pepperdine took the point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3. At No. 1, the No. 4 duo of Harper and Spizzirri fell to No. 38 Zeitvogel and De Jonge, 6-3. The Longhorns had gotten up a break at 3-1, but the Waves came back with a 5-0 run capped by the lone deuce point of the match for the win.
A few minutes later at No. 3, senior Chih Chi Huang and junior Eshan Talluri were downed by Fellin and Hadigian, 6-4. That match also only had one deuce point, which went to Texas for a break at 2-0, before they extended their lead to 3-0 on serve. Pepperdine answered the 3-0 run with one of their own to tie it, and after the Longhorns regained the lead at 4-3, the Waves put together another 3-0 run to the win.
In the unfinished match at No. 2, Woldeab and Bailly were leading Vasa and Homberg, 5-3. Texas broke in the opening game and used a deuce-point hold for 2-0. Pepperdine later claimed back-to-back deuce points for a hold and a break to even it at 3-3, but the Longhorns answered the break for 4-3 and extended to 5-3 on a deuce point before play stopped.
The Longhorns return to the court on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center to face No. 18 Arizona for the second time this season. The Wildcats had visited Austin for the ITA Kickoff Weekend with Texas winning that match, 4-0, on Jan. 29 at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center.
#7 Texas 5, Pepperdine 2
Singles – Order of Finish (4,1,3,5,2,6)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #89 Tim Zeitvogel (PEPP) 6-4, 6-2
2. #104 Daniel De Jonge (PEPP) def. #33 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 7-6 (6), 7-5
3. #25 Siem Woldeab (UT) def. Eero Vasa (PEPP) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
4. #65 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Eric Hadigian (PEPP) 6-3, 6-4
5. #112 Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Maxi Homberg (PEPP) 6-4, 7-5
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Pietro Fellin (PEPP) 2-6, 6-3, 4-3 (8)
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. #38 Tim Zeitvogel/Daniel De Jonge (PEPP) def. #4 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-3
2. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) vs. Eero Vasa/Maxi Homberg (PEPP) 5-3, unf.
3. Pietro Fellin/Eric Hadigian (PEPP) def. Chih Chi Huang/Eshan Talluri (UT) 6-4
