Tulsa Dominates SMU 4-1 to Conclude Regular Season

Monday, April 15

Tulsa, Okla.

5:00 p.m.

Tulsa

SMU

Photo by: Bill Powell

Tulsa Dominates SMU 4-1 to Conclude Regular Season

4/15/2024 9:10:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score (PDF)Season Results (PDF)

TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa men's tennis team entered the Michael D. Case Tennis Center Monday intending to pick up their fifth consecutive win and earn their first win over a nationally ranked opponent this season, and the Golden Hurricane did just that, dominating No. 40 SMU in singles play for a 4-1 team victory in an exciting regular-season finale. The Hurricane will begin the American Athletic Conference Championship in Tulsa this week (April 18-21) with a 14-12 record, while the Mustangs will open tournament play at 17-9 with a combined road and neutral mark of 4-7.

SMU claimed the doubles point with 6-3 and 6-2 wins in the Nos. 2 and 3 spots, respectively. Louis Cloud and Trevor Svajda clinched the 1-0 advantage for the Mustangs in the second position, leaving No. 37 Pierce Rollins and Timothy Carlsson Seger unfinished up 5-4 at the top of the lineup.

The Hurricane turned the tide against the Mustangs in singles action, grabbing straight-set victories at the Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 positions.

Senior Pierce Rollins—ranked No. 80 in the country—got things started at the No. 1 position for Tulsa. Against the country's 33^rd-ranked singles player Trevor Svajda, Rollins trailed only once and took 3-0 and 4-1 leads in both set wins to earn his best win of the season in a 6-1, 6-2 result. Rollins has won six matches in a row atop the lineup for the Hurricane.

Senior Callum Gale gave Tulsa the lead at 2-1 when he took down Eric Hadigian at the No. 3 slot, 6-2, 7-5. Gale built a 3-0 lead and never looked back to claim the first set, and then erased a 3-0 deficit and broke the 5-5 deadlock to win the second frame.

Tulsa's next two points came within less than a minute of each other in the No. 4 and 5 positions. Finishing first was sophomore Timothy Carlsson Seger in the fifth spot, who battled through five tie scores in the first set before escaping 7-4 in the tiebreaker set at six games all. He held the momentum in the second set, winning the first game and never looking back on the way to a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 finish over Maks Silagy.

Clinching and ending the action at 4-1 for the Hurricane was senior Volodymyr Zakharov in the fourth position against Julian Steinhausen. Zakharov started the first set up 5-0 before closing out 6-1. Then, he took control of the second stanza at 4-3 and never looked back, running away with the position with a final score of 6-1, 6-4 to lock up Tulsa's regular-season finale victory.

The AAC will announce seedings and pairings for the conference championship Monday night.

Singles
1. #80 Pierce Rollins (TLS) def. #33 Trevor Svajda (SMU) 6-1, 6-2
2. Thiago Pernas (TLS) vs. #97 Adam Neff (SMU) 6-1, 5-7, 0-0, unfinished
3. Callum Gale (TLS) def. Eric Hadigian (SMU) 6-2, 7-5
4. Volodymyr Zakharov (TLS) def. Julian Steinhausen (SMU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Timothy Seger (TLS) def. Maks Silagy (SMU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
6. Alex Okonkwo (TLS) vs. Jerry Barton (SMU) 5-7, 6-3, 3-1, unfinished

Doubles
1. #37 Pierce Rollins/Timothy Seger (TLS) vs. #28 Huntley Allen/Adam Neff (SMU) 5-4, unfinished
2. Louis Cloud/Trevor Svajda (SMU) def. Callum Gale/Gus Tettamble (TLS) 6-3
3. Julian Steinhausen/Maks Silagy (SMU) def. Alex Okonkwo/Victor Tosetto (TLS) 6-2

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