Friday, 01/20/2012

HOUSTON – No. 19 Texas swept the doubles session and claimed four of six singles matches en route to a 5-2 victory over No. 39 Rice (2-1) Friday evening at The Downtown Club at The Met.

The Longhorns, playing their second indoor road match in a week, quickly claimed victories at the first and second doubles positions to nail down the doubles point and assume a 1-0 lead.  Junior Alex Hilliard and freshman Soren Hess-Olesen notched an 8-2 win over the Owls’ Harry Fowler and Justin To at first doubles.

Texas junior Daniel Whitehead and sophomore David Holiner followed with an 8-2 win over Michael Nuesslein and Christian Saravia at the second slot.  At third doubles, UT freshman Jacoby Lewis and sophomore Sudanwa Sitaram broke the serve of Rice’s Leif Berger and Sam Garforth-Bles to even their match at seven and force a tiebreaker.  Lewis and Sitaram went on to win the tiebreaker to complete the Longhorns’ doubles sweep.

“Our effort in doubles was really good tonight,” UT head coach Michael Center said.  “We were very aggressive at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles.  We were cutting a lot of points off at the net, and our energy level was really good.  I was really pleased with those two doubles teams.  At No. 3, Rice served for the match, but our guys broke them and won the tiebreaker.  Our doubles teams were very strong tonight.”

Sitaram tacked on to the Texas lead with a 7-6 (5), 6-0 win over Rice’s Garforth-Bles at third singles.  UT pushed its lead to 3-0, as Whitehead posted a 6-4, 6-3 win over the Owls’ Peter Frank at second singles.  Texas clinched the team victory at first singles, where Hess-Olesen outlasted Rice’s Fowler, 6-4, 6-4.

Freshman Lloyd Glasspool moved to 2-0 in dual-match play, as he registered a 6-2, 7-5 win over Philip Seifert at fifth singles to extend the Longhorns’ lead to 5-0.  The Owls claimed the remaining matches at sixth singles and fourth singles.

“We won four first sets, and once we got on top of them and got the momentum, we did a good job of keeping it,” Center added.  “We’ve talked about fighting and competing for every ball.  Our top three guys did a really good job tonight.  I was really pleased with their performances and the way they competed.   Lloyd (Glasspool) was very good at the end of his match today, too.  We’re fighting hard and have a lot to learn, but this was a good win for us.”

Texas returns to action next weekend when it hosts a pair of matches as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.  The Longhorns will meet Maryland on Saturday, Jan. 28 at UT’s Penick-Allison Tennis Center.  First serve is set for 10 a.m. Central.

No. 19 Texas 5, No. 39 Rice 2                
Doubles – Order of Finish:  1, 2, 3
1 Alex Hilliard/Soren Hess-Olesen (UT) def. Harry Fowler/Justin To (Rice) – 8-2
2 Daniel Whitehead/David Holiner (UT) def. Michael Nuesslein/Christian Saravia (Rice) – 8-2
3 Jacoby Lewis/Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) def. Leif Berger/Sam Garforth-Bles (Rice) – 8-7

Singles – Order of Finish:  3, 2, 1, 5, 6, 4
1 Soren Hess-Olesen (UT) def. Harry Fowler (Rice) – 6-4, 6-4
2 #112 Daniel Whitehead (UT) def. Peter Frank (Rice) – 6-4, 6-3
3 Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) def. Sam Garforth-Bles (Rice) – 7-6 (5), 6-0
4 Jonathan Chang (Rice) def. David Holiner (UT) – 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)
5 Lloyd Glasspool (UT) def. Philipp Seifert (Rice) – 6-2, 7-5
6 Michael Nuesslein (Rice) def. Joey Swaysland (UT) - 6-4, 6-4

## UT ##