Tulsa Upsets #4 Texas, 4-3

Friday, January 20

Tulsa, Okla.

6 p.m.

Tulsa

Texas

Tulsa Upsets #4 Texas, 4-3

1/20/2017 9:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Riley Ubben

TULSA, Okla. – The University of Tulsa Men's Tennis team upset No. 4-ranked Texas 4-3 on Friday evening at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in a match that went down to the wire. Junior Mitchell Pritchard picked up the final point needed as he won his match in three sets over Julian Zlobinsky.

"My hats off to Mitch Pritchard, who had to take a year off last year after winning the Cal-Berkeley match for us after having to go into surgery and not being able to play the rest of the year," said Tulsa Head Coach Vince Westbrook. "He seems to be back and doing what he does best. At the bottom of the lineup, I think he's one of the toughest guys in the country."

The Hurricane (4-1 overall) earned the doubles point to open up the match as all three contests were tight throughout, setting the stage for the eventual deciding match in singles play.

Jarod Hing and Daniel Santos moved to 5-0 on the year in doubles play as they battled back from down 1-2 to defeat Zlobinsky/Harrison Scott 6-4. Another unbeaten pair in Majed Kilani and Or Ram-Harel took 3-1 lead over George Goldhoff/Leo Telles by way of a Kilani ace on their way to a point-clinching 6-3 win.

Ram-Harel, No. 46-ranked in singles play, opened up Tulsa's singles scoring with a win over No. 6 Christian Sigsgaard. Ram-Harel fell behind 3-0 in the opening set before steadily chipping away, eventually tying the set at 5-5 for the first time on his way to a 7-6 (2) win in a tiebreak. The senior kept the momentum on his side as he closed out a straight sets win with a 6-2 showing in the second.

"If you give the guy [Ram-Harel] a ball anywhere in the mid-court, he's going to punish you with it," said Westbrook. "He's a big, strong guy. As he started pressuring in the tiebreaker, he started to serve better and he started to be able to return and put more balls in the court."

Kilani did some battling back of his own after dropping the first set 6-1 to #36 Yuya Ito. The sophomore came back with a 7-5 win in the second before dominating the third 6-2.

Dominic Bechard looked to join Ram-Harel and Kilani as come from behind winners, but could not pull off the comeback as he fell in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.

With everything tied up at 3-3, Pritchard continued his battle against Julian Zlobinsky on court five. After splitting the first two sets 7-6 (5), 4-6, Pritchard held serve on a forehand in the third to remain ahead 5-3 and would hold again to seal the victory.

Tulsa will be back in action on Sunday at the Case Tennis Center when they host No. 7-ranked TCU at 3 p.m.

Singles
1. #46 Ram-Harel (TU) def. #6 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 7-6 (2), 6-2
2. Majed Kilani (TU) def. #36 Yuya Ito (UT) 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
3. George Goldhoff (UT) def. Dominic Bechard (TU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
4. #47 Harrison Scott (UT) def. Okkie Kellerman (TU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Mitchell Pritchard (TU) def. Julian Zlobinsky (UT) 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4
6. Leo Telles (UT) def. Daniel Santos (TU) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles
1. Okkie Kellerman/Dominic Bechard (TU) vs. Yuya Ito/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 6-6, unfinished
2. Or Ram-Harel/Majed Kilani (TU) def. George Goldhoff/Leo Telles (UT) 6-3
3. Daniel Santos/Jarod Hing (TU) def. Julian Zlobinsky/Harrison Scott (UT) 6-4

PDF Results

For all Tulsa men's tennis news and information, visit TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Men's Tennis on Twitter and Facebook.