Chicago – No. 7 Texas Men's Tennis topped No. 1 Ohio State, 4-3, on Saturday at the XS Tennis Village in Chicago to advance to the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. It marks the first time the Longhorns have reached the semifinals since 2019.
Texas will next face a Michigan team that eliminated it from last year's NCAA Tournament in the Round of 16. That match will take place at 3:30 p.m. CT on Sunday.
Despite dropping the doubles point, the eighth-seeded Longhorns rallied for four singles victories, including senior Nevin Arimilli at No. 6, juniors No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1 and No. 65 Micah Braswell at No. 3, and sophomore No. 33 Pierre-Yves Bailly for the clinch.
After the doubles point and a singles win by Ohio State at No. 4 gave the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead, Arimilli got Texas on the board with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Andrew Lutschaunig. In the first set, Lutschaunig held his opening serve, but Arimilli followed with back-to-back deuce-point wins as part of a 3-0 run for the lead. That would be all Arimilli would need as the rest of the set stayed on serve. In the second, Arimilli once again won back-to-back deuce points, this time starting him on a 4-0 run. Lutschaunig then got one game back on serve, but the final two were Arimilli's to close out his win and cut the overall margin to 2-1.
The remaining matches all went to three sets with Spizzirri the next one off following his 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 win over Justin Boulais. The first four games of the match stayed on serve until Spizzirri earned the first break on a deuce point for a 3-2 lead. That would start a string of four-straight deuce-point games, the next two of which were also breaks before Spizzirri held for 5-3. The final two games were on serve to give Spizzirri the set, as were the first five of the second set, leaving Boulais with a 3-2 lead. That game also started a 4-0 run for Boulais, the last of which was on a deuce point, to send it to a third set. That would belong to Spizzirri as he swept the frame, winning deuce points for 1-0, 5-0 and match point to even the overall score.
Texas would take its first lead a short time later as Braswell defeated No. 9 JJ Tracy, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. Tracy used a deuce-point break in the second game to establish a 3-0 lead, but Braswell produced one of his own to pull within 4-3. However, Tracy broke back immediately and then held to complete the set. The second set was all Braswell, as each player held their opening serve but Braswell then went on a 5-0 run that included three deuce points to force a third set. Although Braswell took a 3-1 lead using a deuce-point break at 2-1, Tracy got the break back at 3-3 and then moved ahead, 4-3, on serve. Braswell then held on a deuce point and broke for a 5-4 lead, but Tracy responded with a deuce-point break to tie it again. From there, though Braswell would break and serve it out to give Texas a 3-2 lead.
Ohio State later tied the match as junior No. 112 Cleeve Harper was downed by No. 75 Robert Cash, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5. Despite four deuce points, the whole set stayed on serve until Harper finally snapped the string with a deuce-point break to take the set. In the second, Cash picked up a break in the first game, and although Harper held his next serve on a deuce point, that would be his only game in the stretch as Cash pushed out to a 5-1 lead. Harper got one more game back on serve, but Cash held in the following game to send it to the third. There, after consecutive deuce-point holds by the players, Cash earned the first break at 3-2 and then increased it to 4-2 on serve. Harper had a chance to tie on a deuce point, but it went to Cash for a 5-3 lead before Cash broke one last time for his win and a 3-3 overall tie.
That left all eyes on court 2, where Bailly clinched for Texas against Cannon Kingsley, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-2. Kingsley got out to a 3-0 lead on the strength of a deuce-point break in the second game, but Bailly came right back with a 3-0 run of his own, the last two of which he won at deuce. Even though there were also deuce points in the next two games, the rest of the set stayed on serve to a tiebreaker. In the breaker, Kingsley jumped out to a 5-1 lead which he maintained to the 7-4 win. The second set also went to a tiebreaker as it stayed on serve up to 4-4 despite four deuce points. However, the fifth deuce would be the first break, which came from Kingsley, and it started a stretch of four-straight breaks to go to another tiebreaker. Much like the first one, a solid lead was established, but this time it was Bailly with a 4-1 edge. Kingsley got one more point, but Bailly closed it out from there for a deciding third set. Bailly then carried that momentum into the third, storming out to a 4-0 lead. Kinglsey held his next two service games with the first coming on a deuce point, but Bailly served out from there to send his teammates streaming onto his court.
The earlier singles match at No. 4 was a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win by No. 28 James Trotter over junior No. 25 Siem Woldeab. Trotter broke on a deuce point and held in the opening two games, and after the next three games were all on serve, Trotter used two deuce points to break and hold, and also start a 3-0 run to his win. The second set then stayed on serve all the way to the tiebreaker where Trotter to a 2-0 lead that he never relinquished to his win.
All of that followed doubles where Braswell and senior Chih Chi Huang produced an efficient 6-2 win over Tracy and Kingsley at No. 3. With the match even at 2-2, the Longhorns generated a 4-0 run, including one deuce point that was for a break at 4-2.
Ohio State then evened doubles with a 6-4 win by the No. 25 pair of Lutschaunig and Trotter against the No. 4 duo of Harper and Spizzirri at No. 1. The Buckeyes got the only break of the match on a deuce point at 2-1, and although there would be three more deuce points, the rest of the match stayed on serve to their win.
That left it to No. 2 where Woldeab and Bailly had put together a 4-0 run to rally all the way back from being down 5-1 and to eventually force a tiebreaker. There had been five deuce points in the match to that point with the Buckeyes breaking the Longhorns' serve three-straight times at deuce. The deuce points finally started to go Texas' way as they took the next two at 5-2 and 5-5 during the comeback. However, the tiebreaker belonged to Ohio State as they went on a 5-0 run to end the match.
#7 Texas 4, #1 Ohio State 3
Singles – Order of Finish (4,6,1,3,5,2)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. Justin Boulais (OSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-0
2. #33 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Cannon Kingsley (OSU) 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-2
3. #65 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #9 JJ Tracy (OSU) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5
4. #28 James Trotter (OSU) def. #25 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-2, 7-6 (3)
5. #75 Robert Cash (OSU) def. #112 Cleeve Harper (UT) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
6. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Andrew Lutschaunig (OSU) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1,2)
1. #25 Andrew Lutschaunig/James Trotter (OSU) def. #4 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-2
2. Justin Boulais/Robert Cash (OSU) def. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Siem Woldeab (UT) 7-6 (2)
3. Chih Chi Huang/Micah Braswell (UT) def. JJ Tracy/Cannon Kingsley (OSU) 6-2
