College Tennis News - Sooners Advance to ITA Championships

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 8 University of Oklahoma men's tennis team (3-0) beat No. 28 Harvard (1-1) 4-0 Saturday in the championship match of an ITA Kick-Off Weekend tournament held at the Gregg Wadley Indoor Tennis Pavilion.

The victory qualifies OU for the ITA Natonal Team Indoor Championship, hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle Feb. 25-28. The Sooners hosted one of 15 ITA Kick-Off Weekend qualifying tournaments.

"We've never been to the Round of 16 (at the Team Indoor Championships), so it was a big weekend for us," OU head coach John Roddick said. "For us to come out and play very well with not too many mental lapses was good. So, all in all, I'm about as happy as I can be with the way we played this weekend."

The doubles pairings of Costin Paval and Dane Webb, and Peerakit Siributwong and Leonard Stakhovsky secured the initial point for the Sooners by topping their opponents 8-4 and 8-5, respectively.

Harvard forfeited a match, giving OU an automatic point before singles play began.

Freshman Axel Alvarez Llamas claimed the first singles point for the Sooners, beating Kelvin Lam 6-2, 6-0. ITA No. 36 Guillermo Alcorta clinched the win for OU, defeating Alex Steinroeder 6-4, 6-3.

"It's the first time since I've been here and since any of us have been here, so it's pretty exciting," Webb said. "Last year we thought we were going to make it, but we ended up losing so it was a little disappointing. It feels good to have made it this year. And hopefully we can get a few more wins when we're there."

Earlier Sunday, No. 31 Notre Dame (3-2) beat No. 30 Memphis (1-2) in the consolation round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

The Sooners next face their first road test, traveling to Bloomington, Ind. to play No. 23 Indiana University Friday, Feb. 1, at 1 p.m.

Follow @OU_Tennis on Twitter and like Oklahoma Men's Tennis on Facebook for more information on the men's tennis program.

No. 8 Oklahoma 4, No. 28 Harvard 0

Doubles

     1. Paval/Webb (OU) def. Chaudhuri/MacMaster (Harvard), 8-4
     2. Alcorta/Alvarez Llamas (OU) vs. Hu/A. Nguyen (Harvard), 7-7 dnf
     3. Siributwong/Stakhovsky (OU) def. Mahlangu/Steinroeder (Harvard), 8-5
          Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles

     1. Costin Paval (OU) vs. Shaun Chaudhuri (Harvard), 6-2, dnf
     2. Guillermo Alcorta (OU) vs. Alex Steinroeder (Harvard), 6-4, 6-3
     3. Dane Webb (OU) vs. Nicky Hu (Harvard), 4-6, 6-2, dnf
     4. Axel Alvarez Llamas (OU) def. Kelvin Lam (Harvard), 6-2, 6-0
     5. Nick Papac (OU) vs. Conor Haughey (Harvard), 6-4, dnf
     6. Forfeited by Harvard
          Order of finish: 4, 2*