No. 9 Texas tennis earned a spot in next month’s ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a pair of weekend wins at the Edgar O. and Melanie A. Weller Tennis Center in Austin. 

Texas hosted one of 15 four-team tournaments around the country for the annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

The Longhorns defeated Drake by a 4-1 count Saturday before claiming a 4-2 victory against Oregon in the second round the following day. 

After losing the initial doubles point against the Ducks, Texas rattled off four singles wins to put the series away. The team only dropped two singles matches over the two-day span.  

“Tough match today for Texas,” Texas head coach Michael Center said after Sunday’s victory. “I give Oregon a lot of credit. I thought they did some really nice stuff.”

Down 1-0 to Oregon, freshman Yuya Ito posted a 6-2, 6-0 win over Akihiro Tanaka at fourth singles to even the score. Then, sophomore Harrison Scott added a 6-1, 6-2 win over Jayson Amos at third singles to give Texas the lead. 

The two teams exchanged wins at fifth and sixth singles, leaving the outcome of the match to the first two singles points. 

Texas senior George Goldhoff rallied back from 3-2 in the third set against Oregon’s Simon Stevens at second singles. 

Goldhoff held serve and broke Stevens to go up 4-3. The Ducks’ player quickly answered with a break of his own to even the set.

Tied at four apiece, Goldhoff delivered an overhead smash to take the game, opening up a 5-4 lead that eventually sealed the win for the Longhorns.

“At the end, George just really stepped up,” Center said. “(He) showed tremendous grit and heart. Great to have a senior out there in that moment, and I was really proud of him the way he finished it off.” 

The 6-1 Longhorns continue play on Saturday with a home match against Virginia Tech, followed by a doubleheader against Purdue and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.