COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The University of Texas men's tennis team swept Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA Championship on Friday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
The 21st-ranked Longhorns (17-8) improved to 14-1 when playing in the Championship's round of 64 without dropping a set against the Islanders (17-8). Texas is 11-0 against Corpus Christi, including a 2-0 series advantage this season.
NCAA Championship First and Second Rounds
College Station, Texas - Mitchel Tennis Center
Texas 4, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0
Second Round: Texas vs. Texas A&M - Saturday, 3 p.m. CT
"Today I was looking if we could really control the match from start to finish," head coach Michael Center said. "I'd seen some improvements in practice the last two weeks, but you never know until you see it in competition. I think it was important for us to control the doubles, which I thought we did. Then we really emphasized taking that momentum and getting on top of them in the first sets, and getting all six first sets."
Texas earned the doubles point with victories at the No. 3 and No. 1 positions. Søren Hess-Olesen and Lloyd Glasspool finished first at No. 3 doubles with an 8-2 victory. The duo is now 4-1 in doubles during the dual match season. 41st-ranked Chris Camillone and David Holiner played doubles for the first time since April 5 and clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 victory.
When earning the doubles point, Texas now has an 11-1 record this season.
The Longhorns all but wrapped up a berth in the second round after all six singles courts won their first sets.
Senior Daniel Whitehead worked quickly at No. 3 singles, defeating Matt Westmoreland in straight sets (6-1, 6-1) to give Texas a 2-0 lead. Freshman Nick Naumann soon followed with a win over Javier Pujol (6-3, 6-1) at No. 5 singles.
Sophomore Søren Hess-Olesen clinched the 4-0 win for the Longhorns at No. 1 singles by defeating Peter Nagy (6-0, 6-3). It was the first match-clinching win for the 37th-ranked Hess-Olesen.
Junior David Holiner, who was a late placement in No. 6 singles, faced a 4-1 deficit in his first set and rallied to win 7-5. Holiner went on to win 11 of the next 13 games against Guillaume Rauseo before Texas clinched the match.
Texas advances to face Texas A&M in the Second Round of the NCAA Championship on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.
Results
No. 21 Texas def. No. 59 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 4-0
Singles
No. 1 - No. 37 Soren Hess-Olesen (UT) def. Peter Nagy (A&M-CC) - 6-0, 6-3
No. 2 - No. 122 Lloyd Glasspool (UT) vs. Gergo Weidinger (A&M-CC) - 6-3, 5-3 (unf.)
No. 3 - No. 108 Daniel Whitehead (UT) def. Matt Westmoreland (A&M-CC) - 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 - Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) vs. Ricardo Mayagoitia (A&M-CC) - 6-4, 4-4 (unf.)
No. 5 - Nick Naumann (UT) def. Javier Pujol (A&M-CC) - 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 - David Holiner (UT) vs. Guillaume Rauseo (A&M-CC) - 7-5, 5-1 (unf.)
Order of finish: 3, 5, *1
Doubles
No. 1 - No. 41 Camillone/Holiner (UT) def. Nagy/Weidinger (A&M-CC) - 8-4
No. 2 - Chen/Whitehead (UT) vs. Westmoreland/Mayagoitia (A&M-CC) - 7-5 (unf.)
No. 3 - Glasspool/Hess-Olesen (UT) def. Maingot/Rauseo (A&M-CC) - 8-2
Order of finish: 3, *1
