Tulsa Men Grab Strong Wins over Drake and North Dakota at Home

Friday, March 8

Tulsa, Okla.

Noon

Tulsa

Drake

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Men Grab Strong Wins over Drake and North Dakota at Home

3/8/2024 9:01:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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TULSA, Okla. — The 67th-ranked Tulsa men's tennis team began its day at the Michael D. Case Tennis looking to grab its first home wins since the home opener in January and did so with 6-1 and 4-0 victories over Drake and North Dakota in a doubleheader Friday. The Golden Hurricane improved to 6-8 overall, while the Bulldogs dropped to 8-5 and the Fighting Hawks fell to 3-12.

Tulsa began the day outside against the Bulldogs. The freshman duo of Alex Okonkwo and Victor Tosetto got things going with a 6-3 winner in the No. 3 position. Tulsa's tandems in the remaining spots also took care of business, finishing at nearly the same time to lock up the doubles score for Tulsa. It was senior Callum Gale and redshirt freshman Gus Tettamble who clinched the point for the Hurricane with a 6-2 decision at No. 2 Doubles.

Senior Thiago Pernas made it a 2-0 match in singles play when he took down Oliver Johansson 6-3, 6-2 in the second position. Both of Pernas' sets started 1-1 before taking control of each stanza at 2-1 and never trailing on the way to his first win at the Case Tennis Center since January.

Shortly after Pernas' win, the dual had to be moved to the indoor courts due to dropping temperatures and rain in the area. Before the transition, sophomore Timothy Carlsson Seger was one game away from winning his match. The Taby, Sweden, native spent no more than five minutes on the indoor courts to finish off his Bulldog opponent 6-3, 6-0.

Clinching Tulsa's team win at 4-0 was senior Pierce Rollins atop the lineup with a 6-2, 6-1 decision over Jeremy Schifris. Rollins erased a 2-0 deficit in his first set and never trailed again on the way to winning his position, snapping a five-match losing skid.

Electing to play through the end of the remaining matches, senior Volodymyr Zakharov and freshman Victor Tosetto added straight-set victories in the fourth and sixth positions, respectively, before Drake closed out the match at 6-1 with a 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 [10-6] finish at No. 5 Singles.

Later in the day, Tulsa welcomed the North Dakota Fighting Hawks for a showdown on the indoor courts of Case Tennis.

Doubles play was all Tulsa as the Hurricane grabbed a 6-1 victory in the second position and a 6-2 win in the third spot. It was Pernas and senior Volodymyr Zakharov who paired up together for the first time this season to clinch the opening doubles point for the Hurricane.

Okonkwo opened the singles scoring for TU when he took down his Fighting Hawk opponent first in a 6-1, 6-2 decision in the No. 5 position. In his first set, he took advantage of a 3-0 lead to cruise to a 6-1 finish. In set two, he erased a 2-0 deficit by rattling off six straight game points to win his head-to-head match and give Tulsa the 2-0 lead.

Following up in the fourth position was Tosetto at No. 4 Singles with a straight-set victory of his own. Against Christos Alex, Tosetto broke a 3-3 deadlock in the first set to cruise to a 6-3 finish before taking the next frame 6-1 in dominant fashion. Tosetto has now won his last three completed matches.

Clinching and ending the dual match at 4-0 for the Hurricane was Tettamble in the sixth slot, where he took down Federico Fiorda in back-to-back 6-2 set wins. Tettamble improved to 8-8 on the year and has emerged victorious in six of his last nine matches.

The Tulsa men are back in action on Sunday, March 10, as the Hurricane will host No. 34 UCF, with first serves at 10:30 a.m.

Tulsa 6, Drake 1 -----

Singles competition
1. Pierce Rollins (TLS) def. Jeremy Schifris (DRA) 6-2, 6-1
2. Thiago Pernas (TLS) def. Oliver Johansson (DRA) 6-3, 6-2
3. Timothy Carlsson Seger (TLS) def. Matija Matic (DRA) 6-3, 6-0
4. Volodymyr Zakharov (TLS) def. Markus Bolin (DRA) 6-2, 6-3
5. Matt Clegg (DRA) def. Alex Okonkwo (TLS) 6-3, 3-6, 10-6
6. Victor Tosetto (TLS) def. Aaron Dawson (DRA) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. #55 Pierce Rollins/Timothy Carlsson Seger (TLS) def. #61 Oliver Johansson/Matija Matic (DRA) 6-3
2. Callum Gale/Gus Tettamble (TLS) def. Matt Clegg/Markus Bolin (DRA) 6-2
3. Victor Tosetto/Alex Okonkwo (TLS) def. Ben Johnson/Jeremy Schifris (DRA) 6-3

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

Tulsa 4, North Dakota 0 -----

Singles
1. Callum Gale (TLS) vs. Leandro Zgraggen (UND) 6-2, 1-6, 1-2, unfinished
2. Thiago Pernas (TLS) vs. Jerall Yasin (UND) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
3. Timothy Seger (TLS) vs. Ethan Terry (UND) 4-6, 5-3, unfinished
4. Victor Tosetto (TLS) def. Christos Alex (UND) 6-3, 6-1
5. Alex Okonkwo (TLS) def. Jayho Hong (UND) 6-1, 6-2
6. Gus Tettamble (TLS) def. Federico Fiorda (UND) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
1. #55 Pierce Rollins/Timothy Seger (TLS) vs. Jerall Yasin/Leandro Zgraggen (UND) 5-2, unfinished
2. Alex Okonkwo/Victor Tosetto (TLS) def. Ethan Terry/Ange-Kevin Koua (UND) 6-2
3. Thiago Pernas/Volodymyr Zakharov (TLS) def. Federico Fiorda/Christos Alex (UND) 6-1

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (5,4,6)