WACO, Texas -- Senior All-Americans Lloyd Glasspool and Søren Hess-Olesenconcluded their banner careers at The University of Texas with a win in the NCAA Doubles Championship title on Monday at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center. The duo became the 2015 NCAA Doubles Champions by defeating Texas Tech's Hugo Dojas and Felipe Soares, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
"To see two outstanding seniors win a national championship in their last match at Texas is an amazing feeling," head coach Michael Center said. "They played with no fear today and had so much determination and grit to finish their careers strong."
Glasspool and Hess-Olesen are the sixth Longhorn pair to win an NCAA Doubles title and the first since 1944 -- 71 years ago.
Before the match started, Mother Nature played her part in delaying Glasspool and Hess-Olesen's destiny by moving competition indoors due to rain and forcing a two-hour suspension due to a tornado warning. Fans and competitors finally emerged from shelter within the adjacent Ferrell Center for a 4:45 p.m. first serve at Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
"We were both excited from the minute we woke up," Hess-Olesen said. "No matter what time it would have been, we would have been ready. This was our last college match ever, and it is not often when you play for a national title. We were ready no matter the circumstances."
Glasspool and Hess-Olesen began the match with a commanding 6-1 first-set victory. Entering Monday, Texas Tech's Dojas and Soares had held serve on every opportunity en route to four straight-set victories leading up to the title match. The Longhorns reversed that trend by breaking Dojas/Soares twice in the first set alone.
"We came out very strong," Glasspool said. "We made a lot of first serves and a lot of returns. We were pretty dominant in the first set, and I think they lacked a little bit of energy because we came out so strong."
Texas Tech broke UT's serve early in the second set to take a 2-0 advantage. Both teams held serve for the remainder of the set for a 6-3 second-set equalizer for the Red Raiders.
The deciding set featured three consecutive breaks -- two from Texas and one from Texas Tech -- before the Longhorns clinched the NCAA Doubles title with a 6-3 third-set victory.
"The third set was like a roller coaster ride," Hess-Olesen said. "We broke and went up 4-2, and I got pretty nervous and didn't make first serves. They got back, and then Lloyd played unbelievable in the last two games and got us through."
Glasspool and Hess-Olesen improve to 7-1 all-time in the NCAA Doubles Championship. Their five straight wins in this year's bracket began by defeating USC's No. 2 seed Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz in the round of 32, and proceeded with four consecutive wins over Big 12 opponents from TCU, Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Texas Tech.
LONGHORNS IN THE NCAA DOUBLES FINAL
• Glasspool and Hess-Olesen are the 12th Texas duo to compete in the NCAA Doubles Championship final, and the sixth to capture the title. UT has won doubles national titles in 1923, 1924, 1931, 1943, 1944, and 2015.
• UT has advanced to the doubles final in two of the last three years.
• Chris Camillone and David Holiner were the last Longhorn duo to advance to the NCAA Doubles Championship final in 2013.
1923 - Lewis White / Louis Thallheimer *
1924 - Lewis White / Louis Thallheimer *
1931 - Bruce Barnes / Karl Kamrath *
1943 - John Hickman / Walter Driver *
1944 - John Hickman / Felix Kelley *
1955 - Sam Giammalva / John Hernandez
1978 - Gary Plock / Kevin Curren
1985 - Charles Beckman / Royce Deppe
1990 - Mitch Michulka / Michael Penman
1995 - Chad Clark / Trey Phillips
2013 - Chris Camillone / David Holiner
2015 - Lloyd Glasspool / Søren Hess-Olesen *
* - NCAA Doubles champion
GLASSPOOL/HESS-OLESEN IN NCAA DOUBLES
• Glasspool and Hess-Olesen are now 7-1 in the NCAA Doubles Championship.
2014
R32: #16 Glasspool/Hess-Olesen (Texas) def. #22 Orkin/Watson (Florida) 6-3, 6-4
R16: #16 Glasspool/Hess-Olesen (Texas) def. #67 Craig/Gasson (Denver) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
QF: #3 Kobelt/Metka (Ohio State) def. #16 Glasspool/Hess-Olesen (Texas), walkover
2015
32: #19 Glasspool/Hess-Olesen (Texas) def. #2 Hanfmann/Quiroz (USC) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
16: #19 Glasspool/Hess-Olesen (Texas) def. #30 Johnson/Norrie (TCU) 6-4, 6-0
QF: #19 Glasspool/Hess-Olesen (Texas) def. #24 Kadhe/Sude (Oklahoma State) 6-4, 6-2
SF: #19 Glasspool/Hess-Olesen (Texas) def. #8 Galeano/Lenz (Baylor) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
F: #19 Glasspool/Hess-Olesen (Texas) def. #22 Dojas/Soares (Texas Tech) - 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
