No. 1 (1 seed) Texas vs. No. 8 (9 seed) South Carolina
When: Thursday, May 18, 2023, 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT
Where: USTA National Campus, Lake Nona, Fla.
Team Records: Texas (25-3, 5-0 Big 12), South Carolina (22-6, 8-4 SEC)
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Web Broadcast: Cracked Racquets (YouTube)
Updated Team Stats
NCAA Championship Central
Notes
-Texas earns No. 1 overall seed in NCAA Championship
Texas earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Championship, marking the first time in program history UT has been the top seed in the tournament, which dates back to 1977, after having been the No. 2 seed in 2019. It is also the third time in the last four years the Longhorns have been a top-four seed, along with being No. 4 in 2021. It was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic. The Longhorns garnered their 31st consecutive bid to the NCAA Championships and their 40th overall selection since the NCAA bracketed tournament was introduced. They have compiled a 72-38 (.654) all-time record in the tournament. Texas hosted the opening rounds of the NCAA Championships for a sixth-straight year and for the eighth time in the last nine years in which the tournament has been held. Along with winning the 2019 National Championship, the Longhorns were the national runners-up in 2008, and additionally made it to the semifinals in 1993, 2006, 2009 and 2021. They have also now reached the quarterfinals 18 total times in program history, three times in the last four tournaments, and in five of the last nine, including 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2021.
-South Carolina Series: Texas leads, 7-1
Texas and South Carolina have met eight times since 1975 with the last coming in 2021, a 4-3 comeback win by the Longhorns in the NCAA Round of 16 on the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona. UT used four singles victories by Micah Braswell at No. 2, Cleeve Harper at No. 4, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 and Evin McDonald at No. 6 to overcome a 3-0 deficit. The previous meeting came in 2013, a 4-1 win by the Longhorns during the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Lexington, Ky. It was the last of three-straight meetings (2013, 1991, 1986) that came in the state of Kentucky with the other two during National Team Indoors, making it the state in which the two teams have faced each other the most. Prior to that, the teams met each year from 1978-81 with the first and last of those in Austin, one in Madison, Wisc., at the ITA Team Championships (1979) and once in Columbia, S.C. (1980). The Gamecocks victory in the series came in 1978, which was a 5-4 decision in Austin.
All-Time Series
2021: 4-3 W, Orlando, Fla. (NCAA Round of 16)
2013: 4-1 W, Lexington, Ky. (ITA Kickoff)
1991: 6-2 W, Louisville, Ky. (National Indoors)
1986: 5-2 W, Louisville, Ky. (National Indoors)
1981: 5-4 W, Austin, Texas
1980: 7-2 W, Columbia, S.C.
1979: 6-3 W, Madison, Wisc. (ITCA Team Championships)
1978: 4-5 L, Austin, Texas
Last Meeting
#4 Texas 4, #13 South Carolina 3
Monday, May 17, 2021
USTA National Campus • Orlando, Fla. (NCAA Round of 16)
Singles – Order of Finish (5,3,2,4,1,6)
1. #23 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #2 Daniel Rodrigues (SC) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
2. #38 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #22 Connor Thomson (SC) 6-3, 6-4
3. #67 Toby Samuel (SC) def. #75 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-4, 6-3
4. #108 Cleeve Harper (UT) def. #54 Raphael Lambling (SC) 6-2, 6-4
5. Jake Beasley (SC) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-3, 6-2
6. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Thomas Brown (SC) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. #13 Connor Thomson/Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. #11 Siem Woldeab/Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-2
2. Jake Beasley/Toby Samuel (SC) def. #78 Chih Chi Huang/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-3
3. Micah Braswell/Payton Holden (UT) vs. #80 Phillip Jordan/Raphael Lambling (SC) 5-1, unf.
-Texas vs. South Carolina in 2022-23 tournament play
Miami Spring Invitational
#3 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. James Story (SC) 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5)
Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Lucas da Silva (SC) 7-6 (4), 6-4
Connor Thomson (SC) def. #13 Siem Woldeab (UT) 7-5, 6-5, ret.
Raphael Lambling (SC) def. Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 7-6 (6), 7-5
#56 Casey Hoole (SC) def. #104 Evin McDonald (UT) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Jake Beasley (SC) def. Nevin Arimilli (Texas) 6-3, 6-2
Chih Chi Huang/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Lucas da Silva/Connor Thomson (SC) 8-4
Raphael Lambling/Casey Hoole (SC) def. Nevin Arimilli/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 8-2
James Story/Jake Beasley (SC) def. Eliot Spizzirri/Evin McDonald (UT) 8-3
ITA All-American Championships
(SF) #37 Toby Samuel/Connor Thomson (SC) def. #16 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri (UT), 6-2, 6-4
Commodore Invitational
(F) #37 Toby Samuel (SC) def. #98 Siem Woldeab (UT), 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
Evin McDonald (UT) def. Lucas da Silva (SC), 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
-ITA Team Rankings
Texas was No. 1 in the latest computer rankings released May 4 by the ITA. The ranking is a return to the top spot for the Longhorns, which prior to this season, they last held in February of 2020. It's also the 75th-straight week in the top 15 dating back to April 2018. Meanwhile, South Carolina is No. 8.
-ITA Individual National Rankings
Texas had six listings in the ITA individual rankings that were released May 4 with four in singles and two doubles pairs. All four in singles were in the top 65 and one in the top five of doubles.
Texas
Singles
No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri
No. 28 Pierre-Yves Bailly
No. 54 Siem Woldeab
No. 61 Micah Braswell
Doubles
No. 3 Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri
No. 75 Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly
South Carolina
Singles
No. 10 Toby Samuel
No. 16 Connor Thomson
No. 102 Casey Hoole
No. 116 James Story
No. 122 Raphael Lambling
Doubles
No. 1 Toby Samuel/Connor Thomson
No. 48 Jake Beasley/James Story
-Trending
Eliot Spizzirri
The 2023 Big 12 Player of the Year and a first-team All-Big 12 selection in both singles and doubles, Spizzirri is now 33-4 overall in singles and 20-1 in dual matches, all of which have been at the No. 1 line. He became the first Longhorn since 2015 to ascend to No. 1 in the ITA singles rankings on Feb. 8 and has maintained that since. He has also been named the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Singles Championships and the No. 3 seed in the Doubles Championships, guaranteeing him All-America status in both when the ITA releases those later in the year. They will be the fourth and fifth All-America honors of his career and the second time he's earned them in both singles and doubles after doing so in 2021. His only four losses this year have come against Ethan Quinn of Georgia in tournament play, who later reached No. 1, Nishesh Basavareddy of Stanford, who later was ranked No. 2, in the final of the ITA Fall National Championships, and No. 77 Rafa Izquierdo Luque of NC State. Spizzirri lost twice to Quinn in the fall, but later avenged those by defeating him when Quinn was No. 1 in a dual match win over Georgia. Spizzirri is now 24-1 against all ranked singles players, including 16-0 against the top-50, and 11-0 versus the top-25. In doubles, he and Cleeve Harper are 23-13 overall and 18-9 in dual matches, all of those at No. 1, including seven top-20 wins. They have registered wins in 10 of their last 12 matches. At the ITA Indoor Nationals, Spizzirri was named the Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Tournament Team at No. 1 singles. He was also tabbed to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team at No. 1 singles and was the No. 1 singles position champion in the conference. Additionally, he has been named the Big 12 Player of the Week five times this season, which ties his own Big 12 single-season mark from 2021, and a record 10 times for his career.
Pierre-Yves Bailly
Bailly missed fall play with an injury, but has returned in the spring to garner first-team All-Big 12 honors in singles and second-team accolades in doubles, along with the conference No. 2 singles championship. He has posted a 14-8 overall record in singles, including 12-7 in dual matches, primarily at No. 2 where he is 11-5. Bailly has won eight of his last 10 decisions, including coming up with one of his most impressive wins of the season when he defeated No. 16 Luc Fomba of TCU in straight sets to help defeat the top-ranked Horned Frogs in Fort Worth. He later clinched a second win over TCU that secured the outright Big 12 regular season title by downing No. 90 Jack Pinnington. He was also leading No. 26 Peter Makk of USC, 7-5, 5-2, when their match went unfinished. Bailly's highest ranked win of the season was another straight-sets victory over No. 10 Philip Henning of No. 12 Georgia in January. He also clinched matches at No. 41 Baylor, over No. 18 Arizona, and the Longhorns' other win over a No. 1 when they topped Ohio State at the ITA Indoors. In doubles, Bailly has paired with Siem Woldeab in every dual match, compiling a 14-7 record with all but one of those wins coming at No. 2, while the other was at No. 3. They have also won eight of their last 11 decisions. The duo has combined for three top-50 wins, including the one match at No. 3, which was over No. 43 Jonah Braswell and Lucas Greif of Florida, along wins against No. 29 Rafa Izquierdo Luque and Joseph Wayand of NC State, and No. 33 Brian Cernoch and Benjamin Kittay of North Carolina. They have clinched six doubles points against Florida, Arizona, Wake Forest, Texas A&M and twice against Oklahoma.
Micah Braswell
Limited by injury recently, Micah Braswell returned to the singles lineup against Baylor on April 8 after missing the four previous matches and has won five of his last six decisions. He put together a solid win in his return, downing No. 53 Finn Bass, 6-2, 6-2, and followed with a victory over No. 25 Luc Fomba of TCU. He is now 16-11 overall this year and 12-9 in dual matches, primarily at No. 3 where he is 10-6. Of his 16 wins, eight have been against ranked opponents, including No. 9 JJ Tracy in the Longhorns' win over No. 1 Ohio State at the ITA Indoors. Braswell also clinched the match against No. 14 Arizona in the ITA Kickoff that sent Texas to the ITA Indoors with a win over No. 117 Gustaf Strom. In doubles, Braswell was not in the lineup to start the season, but returned with traditional partner Chih Chi Huang at No. 3, first for the match against Arizona in the ITA Kickoff and then for the rematch against the Wildcats in the regular non-conference match on Feb. 12. He remained in the doubles lineup through March 22 when he stopped due to his injury, registering a 5-3 record with Huang that has included three clinches in the second match against Arizona, followed by Michigan and Texas A&M. He again returned to doubles against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship semifinals.
Siem Woldeab
Woldeab, who earned second-team All-Big 12 honors in both singles and doubles, is 28-10 overall and 17-7 in dual matches this year, playing mostly at No. 4 where he is 10-6, but has also registered a 6-1 mark at No. 3. He got off to a blistering start in fall play, winning 11 of his first 12 matches with all but one of the wins coming against top-100 opponents, five of those against top-50 foes and two in the top 15. In dual match play, he is 4-2 against ranked players. In doubles, Woldeab has paired with Pierre-Yves Bailly in every dual match, compiling a 14-7 record with all but one of those wins coming at No. 2, while the other was at No. 3. They have also won eight of their last 11 decisions. The duo has combined for three top-50 wins, including the one match at No. 3 which was over No. 43 Jonah Braswell and Lucas Greif of Florida, along with wins against No. 29 Rafa Izquierdo Luque and Joseph Wayand of NC State, and No. 33 Brian Cernoch and Benjamin Kittay of North Carolina. They have clinched six doubles points against Florida, Arizona, Wake Forest, Texas A&M and twice against Oklahoma.
Cleeve Harper
Harper has played through injury this season, notching an 18-10 overall singles record and a 15-6 dual match mark, mostly at No. 5 where he is 12-3, clinching the last two NCAA dual matches against Pepperdine and North Carolina. He has missed three singles contests in dual matches, but has played in all 28 in doubles. He and Eliot Spizzirri earned first-team All-Big 12 honors and the conference No. 1 doubles championship and are 18-9 in dual matches this season with all coming at No. 1, including seven top-20 wins. Overall, the duo is 23-13 in doubles contests this year and has registered wins in 10 of their last 12 decisions, including clinching two of the NCAA matches so far against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and North Carolina.
Nevin Arimilli
Arimilli has emerged as a regular at No. 6 singles line where he is 7-2 in this season, along with going 3-1 at No. 5 where he won the conference position co-championship. He has played singles in the last 15 matches, winning seven out of his nine decisions and clinching a string of three straight against Stanford, NC State and UCF. Against NC State, the overall match came down to his court where he emerged in a third-set tiebreaker after rallying from a 5-3 deficit in the breaker with four-straight points. He has also played in 19 of the last 21 duals. One of his best matches of the season came in the team's win over No. 3 TCU on April 15 to win the Big 12 regular season championship, which was also Senior Day. Arimilli's point evened the overall match at 2-2 on the way to the win.
Chih Chi Huang
Huang was limited in the fall while returning from injury, but began the dual match season at No. 6 singles, also playing some at No. 5 with others out of the lineup, and is 2-4 in duals, winning his first two matches at Florida and against UTSA. He has played in all 28 dual matches in doubles with 27 of those coming at No. 3 where he first paired with Eshan Talluri in six before reuniting with Micah Braswell for the next 10 after playing one earlier contest with Braswell. He had a 5-5 combined record in those and was 5-2 with Braswell (now 5-3), including three clinches in the second match against Arizona, followed by Michigan and Texas A&M. With Braswell injured and out for the next six doubles matches, he paired with Evin McDonald for a tiebreaker win at No. 3 to help Texas win the doubles point against the Trojans, and then clinched the point with McDonald against the Cowboys and Red Raiders. They also won at Baylor to give them victories in all four of their conference decisions and were rewarded with the No. 3 doubles title. Braswell returned to doubles with Huang against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship semifinals, but McDonald joined Huang in the final in a match that went unfinished in a tiebreaker against No. 18 Sander Jong and Lui Maxted of TCU. McDonald has played with Huang in all three NCAA Tournament matches with the duo clinching doubles against Pepperdine to move to 5-0.
Evin McDonald
McDonald is 14-7 overall in singles this year and 6-3 in duals, all coming at No. 6. He has won his five of his last six matches, including clinches over Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. His highest ranked win came in the fall over No. 113 Wojtek Marek of USC. With Micah Braswell injured, he saw his first dual match action in doubles combining with Chih Chi Huang at No. 3 to help secure the point versus USC, and then clinching against Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. They also won at Baylor to give them victories in all four of their conference decisions and were rewarded with the No. 3 doubles title. McDonald joined Huang again in the final of the Big 12 Championship in a match that went unfinished in a tiebreaker against No. 18 Sander Jong and Lui Maxted of TCU. He has since played with Huang in all three NCAA Tournament matches with the duo clinching doubles against Pepperdine to move to 5-0.
Eshan Talluri
Talluri has developed his game, especially in doubles, going 8-4 in the fall with Siem Woldeab before moving into the dual match lineup for six of the first seven matches at No. 3 with Chih Chi Huang. He also went 9-5 in singles in tournament play, capped by a straight-sets win over No. 21 Blake Croyder of Georgia at the Miami Spring Invite, 6-1, 6-4.
-Berque at the Helm
Bruce Berque is in his fifth season as head coach, having taken over midway through 2019. From there, he has led the Longhorns to an 95-25 overall record (.792), including 25-3 this season with the Big 12 regular season championship and the program's first appearance in the finals of the ITA National Indoors Championship. During an injury-plagued 2022, the team still managed an 18-11 mark with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. His overall record at UT also includes a 24-6 mark in 2021 with an appearance in the Final Four, 13-3 in a pandemic shortened 2020, and 15-2 in 2019 en route to the guiding Texas to its first team National Championship. UT also earned the Big 12 regular season championships in 2019 and 2021. Texas finished ranked in the top four in three of those years at No. 3 in 2021, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in 2019, while ranking No. 12 in 2022.
-Opening NCAAs with a trio of sweeps
The Longhorns advanced the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals with a trio of sweeps in the Austin Regional and Super Regional at the Texas Tennis Center – 4-0 over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on May 6, 4-0 over No. 32 Pepperdine on May 7, and 4-0 over No. 14 North Carolina on May 13. It marked the 10th-straight year Texas has reached the second round, the ninth-straight to the Round of 16 and three of the last four in the quarterfinals. Against TAMCC, the Longhorns won the doubles point at Nos. 2 and 1 and followed with singles wins by Evin McDonald at No. 6, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, and Micah Braswell at No. 2 for the clinch. Against the Waves, Texas took doubles at Nos. 1 and 3, and then got singles victories from Braswell at No. 3, Siem Woldeab at No. 4, and Cleeve Harper at No. 5 to clinch. The Longhorns mirrored those victories against the Tar Heels with the lone exception of earning a win at No. 2 doubles instead of No. 3.
-NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships
Texas had three singles players and one doubles pair selected to compete individually in the 2023 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. The singles players are Eliot Spizzirri, who was named the top seed, along with Pierre-Yves Bailly and Siem Woldeab, while the doubles team is Spizzirri with junior Cleeve Harper as the 3 seed. Additionally, Micah Braswell was named one of 10 alternates for a singles bid should there be withdrawals. With Spizzirri in singles and the duo of Spizzirri and Harper in doubles both earning seeded positioning, they are automatically qualified for All-America status by the ITA.
-Pulling in the Big 12 honors
Texas earned several Big 12 Men's Tennis postseason awards, including Eliot Spizzirri as Player of the Year, five All-Big 12 selections with three of those on the first team, and a conference-leading six individual champions. Spizzirri became the sixth Longhorn to be named the Big 12 Men's Player of the Year with the last being Christian Sigsgaard, who shared the honor in 2019. The others include Søren Hess-Olesen in 2014, Dimitar Kutrovsky in 2010, Travis Helgeson in 2006 and Jean Simon in 2002. The All-Big 12 team honorees included first-team selections in Spizzirri and sophomore Pierre-Yves Bailly in singles and the duo of Spizzirri and junior Cleeve Harper in doubles. Junior Siem Woldeab earned second-team accolades in singles, while the pair of Woldeab and Bailly was also on the second team in doubles. The conference also honored individual champions at each position based on record in conference play, and Texas garnered a league-leading six with no other team having more than two. In singles, the Longhorns had a champion at the top three lines, including Spizzirri at No. 1, Bailly at No. 2, and Woldeab at No. 3 as a co-champion. Senior Nevin Arimilli was then also a co-champion at No. 5. In doubles, it was Spizzirri and Harper at No. 1, along with the combo of senior Chih Chi Huang and junior Evin McDonald at No. 3.
