Sunday, 04/14/2013

FORT WORTH, Texas - University of Texas men's tennis rallied to defeat TCU, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center at Bartzen Varsity Courts.

With team points tied, 3-3, the dual match came down a seven-point tiebreaker between Daniel Whitehead and Orlando Superlano in the third set of No. 3 singles. Whitehead came back from a 4-0 deficit in the deciding tiebreaker to defeat Superlano and clinch the win for the Longhorns (14-6, 2-1 Big 12).

"One of the most dramatic finishes I have ever been apart of," head coach Michael Center said. "Down 4-0 (in the tiebreaker), saved match points, aces - it was an incredible college match."

Two of the sets in Whitehead's match with Superlano went to a tiebreaker and both went to the senior Longhorn, who now has five match-clinching wins this season (Tulsa, TAMU-CC, Michigan, Rice, TCU).

"Down 4-0 is not the start you want in a tiebreaker to seven points, but I just tried to stick around," Whitehead said. "It's hard to win out those final points - they can go either way sometimes. I'm just happy they have been going my way lately."

TCU (16-7, 1-2) started the day by winning the doubles point at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Ben Chen and Whitehead lost for the first time when playing No. 1 doubles this season to 69th-ranked Nick Chappell and Will Stein.

After falling behind 2-0 in team points, 41st-ranked Søren Hess-Olesen put Texas on the board with a straight set win over 92nd-ranked Chappell.

"The way Lloyd played in his second and third set is the best I've seen him play," coach Center said. "He played with a lot of heart and determination. Daniel was the hero at the end, but for Lloyd to beat Arnau Dachs and perform the way he did was tremendous."

In all, the Longhorns closed the match by winning four of the last five singles matches, including all three that went to a third set.

"It was a team win today," Center said. "We had some spectacular moments individually, but that was a great team win."

Texas hosts Baylor on Wednesday, April 17 in Austin. It will be the last of eight matches televised on Longhorn Network.

Coach Michael Center on TCU coach David Roditi:
"David Roditi is like a son to me - he is the Godfather to my son, he is like part of my family. It was hard. We tried to stay away from each other during the match today. He is doing an unbelievable job with the program and the atmosphere here. I was happy for us and sad for him. They are going to get better and better, there is no doubt."

Results

No. 16 Texas 4, TCU 3
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Fort Worth, Texas - Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center (Bartzen Varsity Courts)

Doubles
1. #69 Nick Chappell/Will Stein (TCU) def. Ben Chen / Daniel Whitehead (UT) - 8-6
2. Max Stevens/JT Sundling (TCU) vs. Chris Camillone / Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) - 7-7, unf.
3. Arnau Dachs/Orlando Superlano (TCU) def. David Holiner / Søren Hess-Olesen (UT) - 8-4
Order of finish: 3, *1

Singles
1. #41 Søren Hess-Olesen (UT) def. #92 Nick Chappell (TCU) - 6-4, 6-4
2. Lloyd Glasspool (UT) def. Arnau Dachs (TCU) - 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
3. #99 Daniel Whitehead (UT) def. Orlando Superlano (TCU) - 7-6(7-5), 2-6, 7-6(11-9)
4. Facundo Lugones (TCU) def. #96 Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) - 6-4, 6-3
5. JT Sundling (TCU) def. Nick Naumann (UT) - 7-6(7-2), 6-2
6. David Holiner (UT) def. Rodolfo Bustamante (TCU) - 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 1, 5, 2, 6, *3