Tulsa Men's Tennis Dominates Singles in 4-3 Win over Arkansas

Wednesday, February 19

Case Tennis Center

6:00 pm

Tulsa

Arkansas

Photo by: Campbell Rogerson

Tulsa Men's Tennis Dominates Singles in 4-3 Win over Arkansas

2/19/2020 10:08:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats

TULSA, Okla. - Ezequiel Santalla's win at No. 5 singles clinched the dual match for the Tulsa men's tennis team, 4-3, over Arkansas on Wednesday night at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of TU. With the win, the Golden Hurricane improve to 6-3 overall, while the Razorbacks drop to 4-4.

All four TU points came in singles action. Santalla secured one of three come from behind three-set wins. He improved to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in the No. 5 spot with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Melvin Manuel.

No. 56-ranked Kody Pearson fought back in the top spot, as he snapped a three-match losing streak with a 6(1)-7, 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Maxim Verboven. Pearson now stands at 11-8 on the year with a 4-3 mark in the No. 1 position.

The third Hurricane to erased a one-set deficit was Connor Di Marco. After falling to Nico Rousset in the first set at No. 4 singles, the freshman dominated the final two sets for the win, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Stefan Hampe posted Tulsa first point on the scoreboard with a straight-sets win over Josh Howard-Trapp at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-4.

The Golden Hurricane will depart for Ithaca, New York this weekend, where they are scheduled to play No. 16 Cornell (6-1) and Binghamton (3-5) on Sunday. Tulsa will first take on the Big Red at 8 a.m. CT, followed by the Bearcats at 12 noon CT.

Head coach Vince Westbrook was pleased with his team's performance vs. the Razorbacks.

"A lot of the matches we're going to play now and moving forward will be just like this," Westbrook said. "It will be even, everyone's gotta show up. ... "A match can turn around in a second. Going to court 5 and we're down 4-1, things can turn on a dime in a second. It was an exciting college match."

Neither match will be available via live stats or live stream.

For all Tulsa men's tennis news and information, visit TulsaHurricane.com. Be sure to follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Tulsa 4, Arkansas 3
Singles
1. No. 56 Kody Pearson (Tulsa) def. Maxim Verboven (Arkansas), 6(1)-7, 6-2, 6-2
2. No. 111 Alex Reco (Arkansas) def. Jarod Hing (Tulsa), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. Stefan Hampe (Tulsa) def. Josh Howard-Tripp (Arkansas), 6-1, 6-4
4. Connor Di Marco (Tulsa) def. Nico Rousset (Arkansas), 1-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. Ezequiel Santalla (Tulsa) def. Melvin Manuel (Arkansas) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
6. Enrique Paya (Arkansas) def. Juan Pablo Cenoz (Tulsa), 7-6(4), 6-2

Doubles
1. Connor Di Marco/Kody Pearson (Tulsa) vs. Maxim Verboven/Enrique Paya (Arkansas), unfinished
2. Alex Rico/Nico Rousset (Arkansas) def. Jarod Hing/Boriss Kamdem (Tulsa), 6-2
3. Jose Dominguez Alonso/Melvin Manuel (Arkansas) def. Ezequiel Santalla/Daniel Siddall, 6-3

Order of Finish: Singles - (3, 4, 2, 1, 6, 5); Doubles - (2, 3)