Longhorns split matches on Sooner State roadtrip

Wes Maulsby

March 28, 2011

Texas’ inconsistent season continued with an up-and-down weekend during a trip to Oklahoma as it opened conference play. The Longhorns split their pair of matches, losing to Oklahoma and defeating Oklahoma State.

On Sunday, the No. 6 Longhorns went into Stillwater and were able to overwhelm an Oklahoma State team that limped into the match after losing two in a row to SMU and Texas A&M. At 3-7 overall, the Cowboys were in desperate need for a win to try to stay afloat in the fledgling conference season. Texas started the match by taking two out of the three doubles matches to claim the point, and take the lead. Texas’ fifth-ranked duo of senior Ed Corrie and junior Jean Andersen were able to take Oklahoma State’s No. 13 tandem. A win from the pair of Daniel Whitehead and Vasko Mladenov gave Texas the doubles point.

In their losses this season, the Longhorns were not able to get enough singles wins to take the match. That would not be the case against the Cowboys as Texas proceeded to take all but one of the singles points for a 6-1 win. Senior Kellen Damico was the strongest part of Texas’ singles play, losing only three matches while taking the point in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.

The Longhorns didn’t play as well Friday against Oklahoma. The Sooners, now 10-4 after losing to A&M on Sunday, took the doubles point to put Texas behind going into singles play for just the second time this season. Texas’ top three were all able to take their points with Damico, again, leading the way with another 6-1, 6-2 win. Corrie and Andersen were both able to take their points in straight sets. Mladenov and freshman Sudanwa Sitaram both lost tiebreakers in the third set that would have given the Longhorns the win.

Texas will take the court again this weekend against its last non-conference opponent, Rice, on Saturday in Austin.