Thursday, January 12
Tulsa, Okla.
6 p.m.
Tulsa
4
vs
3
Wichita State
Men’s Tennis Holds Off Shockers in Season Opener, 4-3
1/12/2017 9:12:00 PM | Men's Tennis
PDF Results
TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa Men's Tennis team held off a late run by Wichita State on Thursday evening to secure a 4-3 win at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center over the Shockers. Tulsa jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the dual before WSU knotted it up at 3-3 with one match remaining in progress.
"It's very important [to get the season opening win]," said Tulsa Head Coach Vince Westbrook. "If we're playing great right now, we're in trouble. It's the beginning of the year and we're not going to play great, we have to do what it takes to win these matches."
Okkie Kellerman and Dominic Bechard took on the Shockers' top-pairing of Miroslav Herzan and Haru Inoue in a match that saw both duos hold serve through the first five games before Herzan and Inoue broke to take a 2-4 lead in an eventual 6-2 win.
Jarod Hing and Daniel Santos extended doubles play to the deciding match from the three spot as they downed Wichita State's Eddie Stocia and Jan Poboril 6-4. Both pairs held serve to 4-4 in the match before Hing and Santos broke to take a 5-4 lead before taking the final game.
Majed Kilani and Or Ram-Harel rallied from behind to grab the doubles point from the Hurricane as they fell behind 4-0 to Jocelyn Devilliers and Murkel Dellien before winning the next six games. Kilani and Ram-Harel held WSU scoreless in the eighth game to tie things up at 4-4 on their way to a win.
In singles play, No. 6 Santos put TU ahead 2-0 with a convincing 6-2, 6-0 win over Vitor Mendes. Santos went ahead 2-1 in the first set before closing it out with four consecutive games on his way to winning the final 10 games of the match.
No. 2 Kilani tied his singles match up at 2-2 in the first set with two straight points against Miroslav Herzan, taking his first lead at 4-3 on his way to a 6-3 win. Kilani went up 4-1 in the second as he took it 6-2 to give the Hurricane a 3-0 lead in the dual.
Wichita State's first point to start off a run of three straight came in the number five matchup between Mitchell Pritchard and Eddie Stoica. Pritchard dropped the first set 6-3 before responding with a strong start in the second set that saw the junior go ahead 3-0 in the early stages. Stoica evened the set up at 4-4 in an eventual 7-5 win.
Okkie Kellerman took his opening set from Jocelyn Devilliers 6-4 and held a 3-1 advantage in the second prior to Devilliers sending the set into a tiebreak that saw him win the set 7-6 (3) on his way to taking the third 6-2.
The Shockers got another point to even the dual at 3-3 in the three matchup between Dominic Bechard and Marius Frosa. Bechard dropped the first set 6-1 but came back strong in the second, coming away with a 6-4 set win to send it to a third. The Tulsa sophomore went ahead 2-0 and eventally 4-3, but could not hold on as Frosa rallied to win the third 6-4.
The Hurricane needed a solid performance from their number one singles player and 46th-ranked Ram-Harel to come away with another key point, this one to decide the dual. Ram-Harel dominated Haru Inoue in the first set, going ahead 3-0 in a 6-2 win before a second set that reached the tiebreak and saw Inoue come out with a 7-6 (1) set win to send it the distance. Ram-Harel broke Inoue's service in the fifth game to go up 3-2 before holding. The senior would break his opponent's serve in the next attempt, holding Inoue scoreless in the seventh game that was capped off by a backhand winner down the sideline. Inoue threatened to break Ram-Harel's serve in the next game as he jumped ahead 40-15, but Ram-Harel responded with three straight points to secure the Tulsa win.
"He's [Ram-Harel] one of the best grinders out there," said Westbrook. "He's learned to transition a lot better, he's attacking better and his serve has gotten a lot bigger. His serve got him out of trouble many times tonight."
Tulsa will return to the court on Saturday when they hit the road to take on Arkansas. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
For all Tulsa men's and women's tennis news and information, visit TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Women's Tennis on Twitter and Facebook. Follow Tulsa Men's Tennis on Twitter and Facebook.
TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa Men's Tennis team held off a late run by Wichita State on Thursday evening to secure a 4-3 win at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center over the Shockers. Tulsa jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the dual before WSU knotted it up at 3-3 with one match remaining in progress.
"It's very important [to get the season opening win]," said Tulsa Head Coach Vince Westbrook. "If we're playing great right now, we're in trouble. It's the beginning of the year and we're not going to play great, we have to do what it takes to win these matches."
Okkie Kellerman and Dominic Bechard took on the Shockers' top-pairing of Miroslav Herzan and Haru Inoue in a match that saw both duos hold serve through the first five games before Herzan and Inoue broke to take a 2-4 lead in an eventual 6-2 win.
Jarod Hing and Daniel Santos extended doubles play to the deciding match from the three spot as they downed Wichita State's Eddie Stocia and Jan Poboril 6-4. Both pairs held serve to 4-4 in the match before Hing and Santos broke to take a 5-4 lead before taking the final game.
Majed Kilani and Or Ram-Harel rallied from behind to grab the doubles point from the Hurricane as they fell behind 4-0 to Jocelyn Devilliers and Murkel Dellien before winning the next six games. Kilani and Ram-Harel held WSU scoreless in the eighth game to tie things up at 4-4 on their way to a win.
In singles play, No. 6 Santos put TU ahead 2-0 with a convincing 6-2, 6-0 win over Vitor Mendes. Santos went ahead 2-1 in the first set before closing it out with four consecutive games on his way to winning the final 10 games of the match.
No. 2 Kilani tied his singles match up at 2-2 in the first set with two straight points against Miroslav Herzan, taking his first lead at 4-3 on his way to a 6-3 win. Kilani went up 4-1 in the second as he took it 6-2 to give the Hurricane a 3-0 lead in the dual.
Wichita State's first point to start off a run of three straight came in the number five matchup between Mitchell Pritchard and Eddie Stoica. Pritchard dropped the first set 6-3 before responding with a strong start in the second set that saw the junior go ahead 3-0 in the early stages. Stoica evened the set up at 4-4 in an eventual 7-5 win.
Okkie Kellerman took his opening set from Jocelyn Devilliers 6-4 and held a 3-1 advantage in the second prior to Devilliers sending the set into a tiebreak that saw him win the set 7-6 (3) on his way to taking the third 6-2.
The Shockers got another point to even the dual at 3-3 in the three matchup between Dominic Bechard and Marius Frosa. Bechard dropped the first set 6-1 but came back strong in the second, coming away with a 6-4 set win to send it to a third. The Tulsa sophomore went ahead 2-0 and eventally 4-3, but could not hold on as Frosa rallied to win the third 6-4.
The Hurricane needed a solid performance from their number one singles player and 46th-ranked Ram-Harel to come away with another key point, this one to decide the dual. Ram-Harel dominated Haru Inoue in the first set, going ahead 3-0 in a 6-2 win before a second set that reached the tiebreak and saw Inoue come out with a 7-6 (1) set win to send it the distance. Ram-Harel broke Inoue's service in the fifth game to go up 3-2 before holding. The senior would break his opponent's serve in the next attempt, holding Inoue scoreless in the seventh game that was capped off by a backhand winner down the sideline. Inoue threatened to break Ram-Harel's serve in the next game as he jumped ahead 40-15, but Ram-Harel responded with three straight points to secure the Tulsa win.
"He's [Ram-Harel] one of the best grinders out there," said Westbrook. "He's learned to transition a lot better, he's attacking better and his serve has gotten a lot bigger. His serve got him out of trouble many times tonight."
Tulsa will return to the court on Saturday when they hit the road to take on Arkansas. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.
For all Tulsa men's and women's tennis news and information, visit TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Women's Tennis on Twitter and Facebook. Follow Tulsa Men's Tennis on Twitter and Facebook.
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