UCLA
Oklahoma (3rd Round)
Bruins Edged by No. 1 Oklahoma, 4-3 at NCAA Championships
May 14, 2015 | Men's Tennis
Waco, Texas - The No. 16-seeded UCLA men's tennis team gave top-ranked Oklahoma all it could handle in the NCAA Round of 16 on Thursday, coming up just short in a 4-3 loss to the Sooners at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Complex. The loss ends the Bruins' season at 17-10 overall. The win puts the Sooners (27-2) into Saturday's quarterfinals where they will meet the winner of eighth-seeded Georgia and ninth-seeded Texas.
NCAA TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
Thursday's match, which took nearly five hours to complete (4:52), featured three rain delays and one stoppage for lightning. There was no delay to start the match and Oklahoma, which has had its struggles in doubles this season, didn't have any issue moving out to a 1-0 lead with a pair of 8-4 wins at court Nos. 1 and 2. The Sooners, which also owned a 6-4 lead at the No. 3 spot when play was suspended, moved out to early breaks at all three courts and never looked back.
"I was pretty unhappy with our doubles to be quite honest," said UCLA head coach Billy Martin. "We just came out a little flat and did not play good doubles. I don't know if it was the delays or what, but we just didn't seem to play well. Both teams had to deal with the delays so that's definitely not an excuse. It just would have been nice to play a little better and give us that added confidence heading into singles."
Already down 0-1, things began to look worse for the Bruins in singles action, as Oklahoma would take first sets on four of six courts. The only two courts where UCLA was able to do some damage was at the top 2 positions, as third-ranked Mackenzie McDonald (court No. 1) and No. 36 Dennis Mkrtchian (court No. 2) were able to win first sets.
Following another rain delay, the third of the match, Oklahoma then began to impose its will, as the top-ranked team in the county took a pair of singles wins to move out to a 3-0 lead. Straight-set wins by Spencer Papa (court No. 5) and Alex Ghilea (court No. 4) suddenly brought the Sooners within a point of clinching the match.
It was at that point, however, that UCLA began to make its move. Already up a set, McDonald was able to hold off a late rally by top-ranked Axel Alvarez, putting UCLA on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 win to cut the lead to 3-1. McDonald is the only player to beat Alvarez this year in a dual match, as the Sooner junior was 23-0 heading into Thursday's contest.
"That was very high-level tennis," said Martin of the McDonald-Alvarez showdown. "That could easily be an NCAA singles final coming up here in the next week or so. It will be interesting to see how those two players progress in the individual championships. That was a fun match to watch and it was good to see Mackie rise to the occasion and get that win for us."
With the momentum clearly shifting, the Bruins were beginning to take control at the remaining three courts. Another weather delay, this time for lightning, would soon follow and it was at that point that officials decided to complete the match indoors.
"It I had my choice, it would have been nice to have been able to stay outdoors and have the matches that hadn't started yet go inside," said Martin. "But I've been around long enough to know that you just kind of do what you are told. I didn't even question it. I haven't been told the reasoning for sending us indoors after so many delays to keep us outside, but I guess I'll find out later. And we ended up winning two matches indoors so I can't say it hurt us."
When play resumed indoors, Mkrtchian was up a set and tied at 4-4 in the second set at court No. 2, No. 118 Martin Redlicki was up a break and serving at 3-2 in the third set at court No. 3, and Joseph Di Giulio was tied at 1-1 in the third set with Oklahoma's Florin Bragusi. Redlicki would be next off, cutting the lead to 3-2 with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory over 44th-ranked Dane Webb. Mkrtchian would soon follow, taking his second tiebreak of the day in a 7-6(1), 7-6(3) win over seventh-ranked Andrew Harris. Harris actually had three set points with Mkrtchian serving to stay in the second set at 5-6.
With the score now tied at 3-3, all attention then turned to court No. 6, where Di Giulio and Bragusi were in a tight third set. Bragusi was able to break Di Giulio in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. He would then hold for the rest of the match, eventually taking the set 6-4 to help Oklahoma avoid the upset.
"I was very happy with the way we competed," added Martin. "We had some chances even in that last match. Had some chances to go up a break early in that third set and just didn't get it. It's frustrating because we've lost so many 4-3 matches this year in this exact same scenario. I guess it's a bit typical of the type of year we've had. It was a good effort today and I'm proud of our guys for hanging in there. But all in all, to come that close and not get it is disappointing."
UCLA still has three players competing in the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships, which run from May 20-25 at the Hurd Tennis Complex. McDonald is seeded No. 3 in singles and will be joined in the 64-player draw by Mkrtchian. McDonald and Redlicki are also in the 32-team doubles draw.
NOTES: Billy Martin was aiming to bring home his 500th career coaching victory on Thursday. He now takes a 499-106 record into the 2016 season ... UCLA's loss in the round of 16 marks the team's earliest exit from the NCAA Tournament since falling to Baylor, 4-3 at Stanford in 2011 ... Oklahoma also knocked UCLA out of last year's NCAA Tournament in Athens, Ga., posting a 4-2 win in the semifinals ... One of Oklahoma's two losses this year was to Texas Tech, a team the Bruins beat 4-0 in the NCAA Second Round ... With the win, Oklahoma evened the all-time series between the two schools at 2-2.
NCAA Round of 16
#1 Oklahoma 4, #16 UCLA 3
May 14, 2015 at Waco, Texas (Hurd Tennis Complex)
| Doubles |
| 1. #57 Harris/Ghilea (OU) def. #12 McDonald/Redlicki (UCLA) 8-4 |
| 2. Papa/Webb (OU) def. #86 Di Giulio/Sell (UCLA) 8-4 |
| 3. Alvarez/Jose Salazar (OU) vs. Mkrtchian/Rapp (UCLA) 6-4, unfinished |
Oklahoma Wins Doubles Point
| Singles |
| 1. #3 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. #1 Axel Alvarez (OU) 6-4, 6-4 |
| 2. #36 Dennis Mkrtchian (UCLA) def. #7 Andrew Harris (OU) 7-6(1), 7-6(3) |
| 3. #118 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #44 Dane Webb (OU) 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 |
| 4. #103 Alex Ghilea (OU) def. Karue Sell (UCLA) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 5. Spencer Papa (OU) def. Austin Rapp (UCLA) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 6. Florin Bragusi (OU) def. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 |
| Match Notes |
| UCLA 17-10; National ranking #16 |
| Oklahoma 27-2; National ranking #1 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (5,4,1,3,2,6) |
Players Mentioned
