Senior George Goldhoff finally got his revenge Friday against No. 13 Oklahoma.
Texas fought its way into 3-3 nail biter with the Sooners in the 2015 Big 12 Semifinals. Goldhoff, a sophomore at the time, had a chance to be the hero as he battled sophomore Alex Ghilea for a trip to the Championship. Ghilea prevailed with a tight 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory, and the Sooners went on to win the Big 12 Championship.
Goldhoff held a career record of 0-4 in singles matches against the Sooners entering Friday’s road match. And he found himself in a familiar situation when Oklahoma tied the score at three. This time he capitalized.
Texas displayed its trademarked resiliency in doubles play. Goldhoff and sophomore Leonardo Telles trailed 3-1 in their match against Oklahoma’s Spencer Papa and Jochen Bertsch before roaring back to win 6-3 and give the Longhorns a 1-0 lead.
“We got down in the doubles, but the guys did a great job of coming back,” head coach Michael Center said. “It proved to be a huge point for us tonight.”
After exchanging a pair of singles wins, the Longhorns went up 3-2 with a chance to leave Norman, Okla., with a win for the first time since 2009. But Ghilea, now a senior, kept the Sooners alive with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over sophomore Harrison Scott.
The fate of the Longhorns now rested on Goldhoff’s shoulders once again as he battled Bertsch for the series. Goldhoff imposed his will in the first set, setting the tone with a 6-2 win. Bertsch fought back with a 7-6 win to force a break.
Goldhoff exploded in the third set to win 6-1 and lift Texas over Oklahoma, snapping the team’s five-game losing streak to the Sooners.
The win also gave Center his 500th career victory as a head coach. Center is 342-125 (.732) in his 17 years with the Longhorns.
“It feels good to know I’ve had that many good players and teams and to do that for this long,” Center said. “It’s nice to win it (in Oklahoma) because I remember some tough losses here. That makes it even more special.”
Texas faces a short turnaround as they head to Stillwater on Sunday for a matchup against No. 8 Oklahoma State at 1 p.m.
“The guys got the job done tonight,” Center said. “We’ll take the win, but now we need to get ready for Sunda
