New York, N.Y. – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis (8-2) swept No. 4 South Carolina (4-5), 5-0, on Sunday afternoon in a consolation match at the ITA National Indoor Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Texas claimed a dramatic doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, and then picked up singles wins at Nos. 5, 1, 2 and 4 from seniors Cleeve Harper, No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri, and No. 2 Micah Braswell, and junior No. 53 Pierre-Yves Bailly, respectively, with Bailly finishing just after Braswell's clinching point. It secured a second win and second-straight sweep in this year's tournament after the Longhorns topped No. 13 Michigan, 4-0, on Saturday.
In doubles, Micah Braswell and freshman Gilles-Arnaud Bailly were the first to finish as they defeated Jelani Sarr and Sean Daryabeigi, 6-3, on No. 3. Texas got off to a fast start with a break in the opening game and a hold to go up 2-0. The match remained on serve from there until Texas came up with a deuce-point break for the 6-3 win.
The No. 5 pair of Spizzirri and Harper then fell to Casey Hoole and Toby Samuel, 6-4, on No. 1. After both teams held to open the match at 1-1, South Carolina got a deuce-point hold to go up 2-1 in what was the first of four consecutive games to reach deuce point, all of which stayed on serve. With the score knotted, 4-4, the Gamecoks managed to break to go up 5-4 and served out the match in the following game.
That left it to No. 2 between Texas' Pierre-Yves Bailly and senior Eshan Talluri, and South Carolina's Lucas Andrade Da Silva and James Story. After the match opened with both teams holding, the Gamecocks went on a 3-0 run to take a 4-1 lead. However, the Longhorns answered with their own 3-0 run and tied things up at 4-4. After trading runs, both teams held serve the next four games to send it to a tiebreaker, including Texas fending off a match point for South Carolina at deuce leading 5-4. In the breaker, the Gamecocks got out to a 2-0 lead, but Texas answered with consecutive points to even it. After some back and forth, South Carolina took a 5-4 lead, but Texas went on a 3-0 run to win the tiebreaker and earn the doubles point with the 7-6 (5) victory.
In singles play at No. 4, Harper defeated Da Silva, 6-2, 6-1, to give Texas a 2-0 lead. After both players held their first two service games to open the first set at 2-2, Harper took off on a 9-0 run.He closed out the first set in dominating fashion by not allowing a single point through the final two games, and established a 5-0 second-set lead. Da Silva finally managed to hold to get on the board and make it 5-1, but Harper served out the match in the next game.
On No. 1, Spizzirri defeated No. 50 Samuel, 6-3, 6-2, to give Texas a 3-0 lead. Samuel got out to a 2-0 lead in the first set, but Spizzirri earned a deuce-point hold and a deuce-point break to tie it before holding for a 3-2 lead. Samuel picked up a deuce-point hold on the next game, but Spizzirri responded with another set of consecutive deuce-point wins to go up, 5-3, before serving out the set. In the second, Spizzirri got off to a hot start with a 4-0 run before Samuel was able to hold to for 4-1. Samuel held his next serve on a deuce point for 5-2, but Spizzirri served for the match in the ensuing game and closed it out.
A few minutes later on No. 2, Micah Braswell clinched for Texas with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Hoole. Braswell went on a 4-0 run to begin the match, opening with a deuce-point break and a deuce-point hold, and the rest of the set stayed on serve en route to his 6-2 win. In the second set, Braswell once again got out to a 4-0 lead. However, Hoole managed to battle back with a 3-0 run that included two deuce-point holds to make it 4-3. However, rest of the match stayed on serve, clinching the win for Texas at 4-0.
Seconds later, Pierre-Yves Bailly closed out the scoring with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 76 Sarr at No. 4. After Sarr earned a hold and a break on consecutive deuce points early in the first set to go up 3-1, Bailly found his groove and went on a 6-0 run, closing out the first set with a deuce-point break and starting the second set with a hold for 1-0. After Sarr held in the next game, Bailly finished on a 5-0 run to take the match, totaling 11 of the final 12 games overall, and giving the Longhorns the 5-0 margin of victory.
Two matches then remained unfinished. On No. 3, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly was up 6-3, 5-3 on James Story and was three points away from a win. The first set stayed on serve up to a 4-3 lead for Bailly when he collected the set's only break for 5-3 before serving it out. Bailly broke for the second-straight time to begin the second set, and the match stayed on serve the rest of the way until play stopped with him holding a 5-3 lead.
At No. 6, sophomore No. 37 Jonah Braswell dropped the only singles set for the Longhorns, 6-3, in the first set to Sean Daryabeigi, but Braswell led 4-1 in the second and was in the midst of a 3-0 run when was stopped.
Up next, the Longhorns will host St. Johns on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. at the Texas Tennis Center.
#3 Texas 5, #4 South Carolina 0
Singles – Order of Finish (5,1,2,4)
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #50 Toby Samuel (SC) 6-3, 6-2
2. #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. Casey Hoole (SC) 6-2, 6-4
3. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) vs. James Story (SC) 6-3, 5-3, unf.
4. #53 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. #76 Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-3, 6-1
5. Cleeve Harper (UT) def. Lucas da Silva (SC) 6-2, 6-1
6. #37 Jonah Braswell (UT) vs. Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 3-6, 4-1, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1,2)
1. Casey Hoole/Toby Samuel (SC) def. #5 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-4
2. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Eshan Talluri (UT) def. Lucas da Silva/James Story (SC) 7-6 (5)
3. Micah Braswell/Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Carter Morgan/Jelani Sarr (SC) 6-3
