Wednesday, 03/13/2013

NORMAN, Okla. - The No. 28 Florida State men's tennis team upset No. 7 Oklahoma (10-4) Tuesday night 4-2 in a match that lasted over four hours. The Seminoles are now 12-3 this season after winning at the Headington Family Tennis Pavilion.

"We had such an unbelievable effort from all the guys tonight," said head coach Dwayne Hultquist. "It was a long match, but it's a huge win for us. It puts us in good position the rest of the season. We have a lot of work to do with the ACC schedule ahead of us, but we're on fire right now. Oklahoma is a good team and started to come back, but we were able to hold them off."

Florida State came out in doubles with a quick 8-1 win on court three by sophomore Dominic Cotrone and junior Blake Davis. With doubles tied 1-1, seniors Anderson Reed and Jordan Kelly-Houston upset the No. 56 doubles team of Guillermo Alcorta and Axel Alvarez Llamas in a tight 9-7 match on court two.

"During doubles, Dominic and Blake were just on fire in their match," continued Hultquist. "It was a battle at court two with Jordan and Anderson. They were holding serve the whole way, but Jordan had a strong point for us to come back and win the doubles point."

In singles play, the Sooners tied up the match when Alvarez Llamas defeated Davis 6-2, 6-4 on court four. The undefeated freshman Michael Rinaldi extended his spring record to 10-0 to give the Seminoles a 2-1 lead. Rinaldi topped Peerakit Siributwong 6-1, 7-5 on court six.

"This is a monumental victory for us," said Rinaldi. "I'm so proud of every guy on this team. Jordan clinching the match in the third set was unbelievable. We proved how good we can be tonight."

Oklahoma bounced back one again when No. 17 Costin Paval defeated No. 110 Cotrone 6-3, 7-6(5) on court one. Reed was one of three Seminoles to win the first set, but he lost the second to force a third set. The Seminole came back to defeat Leonard Stakhovsky 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.

After being down 4-2 in the first set, Kelly-Houston battled back to force a tiebreaker. After winning the first set, he fell in the second. During a close third set, it was fitting for the match point to come down to a third set tiebreaker. After playing for more than four hours, the Seminole took the lead and clinched the match 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-5 (5).

"I was just happy to bring it home for the team," said Kelly-Houston. We play college tennis for this kind of moment. To come out on top against a top 10 team on the road makes the hard work we put in that much more gratifying."

For more information, check back to Seminoles.com. You can also follow the team at Twitter.com/FSU_MTennis.

Results
No. 28 Florida State 4, No. 7 Oklahoma 3

Doubles
1. No. 44 Paval/Webb (OU) def. No. 22 Bucaro/Lock (FSU), 8-2.
2. Reed/Kelly-Houston (FSU) def. No. 56 Alcort/Alvarez Llamas (OU), 9-7.
3. Cotrone/Davis (FSU) def. Formentera/Siributwong (OU), 8-1.
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2

Singles
1. No. 17 Costin Paval (OU) def. No. 110 Dominic Cotrone (FSU), 6-3, 7-6 (5).
2. No. 44 Guillermo Alcorta (OU) def. Benjamin Lock (FSU), 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-4.
3. Jordan Kelly-Houston (FSU) def. Dane Webb (OU), 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-6 (5).
4. Axel Alvarez Llamas (OU) def. Blake Davis (FSU), 6-2, 6-4.
5. Anderson Reed (FSU) def. Leonard Stakhovsky (OU), 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
6. Michael Rinaldi (FSU) def. Peerakit Siributwong (OU), 6-1, 7-5.
Order of finish: 4, 6, 1, 5, 3*, 2