No. 1 ranked ITA player Eliot Spizzirri was in a tight set against Yassine Dlimi in the early going, but he didn’t let that stop him from quickly taking control and leveling up the team’s energy down the stretch. Using a combination of backhand drop shots, down-the-line shots, and volleys, he exhibited a wonderful display of attacking tennis as he spurred an extremely hyped crowd of both players and fans looking on.
His efforts incited a dominant win over the No. 34 UCF Golden Knights on a beautiful Friday evening as the Longhorns up their win streak total to four after defeating No. 40 Georgia, No. 47 USC, and most importantly, a sweep of No. 1 and then-undefeated Ohio State.
Pierre-Yves Bailly and Eshan Talluri set the tone early as the Longhorns’ No. 2 doubles team easily handled the Golden Knights’ pair of Liam Branger and Lleyton Cronje with a score of 6-2. However, the other two Texas pairs didn’t have it as easy. Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab, the new No. 1 pair ever since the Ohio State match, went back and forth with Dlimi and Paul Colin, while Cleeve Harper and Micah Braswell struggled early, falling behind as far as 1-5.
Harper and Micah battled back to break twice and make the score 4-5, but it was a moot point, as Spizzirri and Woldeab finished the job to clinch the doubles point. With Texas up 5-4 and Dlimi serving, it looked like the set would ensue; however, at 40-30, Dlimi double-faulted and on the deciding deuce point, Spizzirri slapped the return to Colin at the net, which he was unable to volley, as the ball fell into the net to put Texas up, 1-0.
Singles continued extremely strong for the Longhorns, as Woldeab was in full command against Branger with a 6-2 first-set win as he continued his exceptional post-injury play, while Bailly got off to a blistering 5-0 start before winning 6-2, as well. Harper followed suit with another 6-2 first-set victory, giving Texas control of the match.
Micah was unable to consolidate his solid early start as Francisco Llanes claimed the first set, leaving his undefeated singles season in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Jonah Braswell battled back on Court 5 from 3-0 down to even the first set at 4-4, before breaking again at 5-5 and consolidating to win a hard-fought first set.
The second set action was no different, as Spizzirri elevated his game to consolidate a 6-4 first set win with a dominant second set sweep, and from there, it didn’t take long for Texas to claim the match as both Bailly and Harper won their matches with strong final service games, finishing a 4-0 sweep of the Golden Knights.
After a quick turnaround, the Longhorns will look to continue their best stretch of the season as they try to avenge their loss to TCU on Sunday at the Texas Tennis Center in front of what should be a packed crowd.
