OU Men’s Tennis Falls To No. 59 Louisiana, 4-3

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Courtesy: SoonerSports.com

The Oklahoma men’s tennis team (9-1) fell to No. 59 Louisiana in a close 4-3 match on Saturday at the UTA Tennis Center in Arlington, Texas. The loss marks OU’s first defeat of the season.

“The doubles point hurt us in this match,” said head coach Paul Lockwood. “We had three opportunities to win and we just didn’t come through. We fought hard and we will continue to improve as the season progresses.”

In singles play, the Sooners tied with the Ragin’ Cajuns, 3-3. Juniors Ondrej Fukala (Prerov, Czech Republic) and Lee Gregg (Altus, Okla.) celebrated straight-set wins over their opponents. Freshman newcomer Marek Velicka (Prerov, Czech Republic) swept by Louisiana-Lafayette’s Shaun Ellison in the first set, but had to fight harder in the second set to defeat his opponent, 6-3, 7-6. The three Sooners remain undefeated in singles play this season.

Junior Silviu Tanasoiu (Sibiu, Romania) and sophomores Alexei Ivanov (Izhevsk, Russia) and Tommy Garrison (Enid, Okla.) all fell to their foes after facing tough three-set matches.

The Sooners fate was determined in doubles play after they were upset by Louisiana-Lafayette, 1-2. Ivanov and junior Matt Long (Ft. Worth, Texas) posted the only doubles win after overcoming Louisiana-Lafayette’s Ivan Kovalev and Marc Castellana with a tight 9-7 finish at the No. 1 spot. Fukala and Tanasoiu suffered their first loss of the season to Louisiana-Lafayette’s Robin Ley and Shaun Ellison, 8-6.

Oklahoma hosts Cameron on Wed., March 10, and regional opponent Southwest Missouri State on Fri., March 12, at the OU Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman. Both matches will begin at 2 p.m. Admission is free.

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Louisiana 4, Oklahoma 3

Saturday, March 6, 2004
UTA Tennis Center, Arlington, Texas

Singles
1. Evghenii Corduneanu (ULL) def. Alexei Ivanov (OU), 6-7, 6-4, 6-1
2. Ondrej Fukala (OU) def. Amanjot Singh (ULL), 6-3, 6-2
3. Marek Velicka (OU) def. Shaun Ellison (ULL), 6-3, 7-6
4. Robin Ley (ULL) def. Tommy Garrison (OU), 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
5. Marc Castellana (ULL) def. Silviu Tanasoiu (OU) , 4-6, 7-6, 6-1
6. Lee Gregg (OU) def. Ivan Kovalev (ULL), 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
1. Ivanov/Matt Long (OU) def. Kovalev/Castellana (ULL), 9-7
2. Corduneanu/Singh (ULL) def. Garrison/Velicka (OU), 8-6
3. Ley/Ellison (ULL) def. Fukala/Tanasoiu (OU), 8-6

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Ragin' Cajun netters take win over Oklahoma

ARLINGTON, Texas — Louisiana’s Ragin' Cajun tennis team took its third straight victory here Saturday, and more importantly took its second win in a row over a ranked team with a comeback 4-3 victory over Oklahoma.

The 59th-ranked Ragin’ Cajuns (5-4) won the doubles point and then took three of the six singles matches against the 75th-ranked Sooners (9-1).

The Cajuns dropped the first set in all six singles matches but rallied for the three needed wins, including a 6-7, 6-3, 6-1 win by 53rd-ranked Evghenii Corduneanu over Alexei Ivanov in singles.

Robin Ley took a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 win over Tommy Garrison at No. 4 and Marc Castellana beat Silviu Tanasoiu 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in the No. 5 match for the Cajuns’ other singles wins.

Corduneanu and Amanjot Singh teamed for an 8-6 win over Garrison and Marek Velicka and Ley and Shaun Ellison beat Tanasoiu and Ondrej Fukala 8-6 to give the Cajuns the doubles point.

UL faces Texas-Arlington today at 11 a.m. in its next dual match.

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