No. 12 Men's Tennis preview: NCAA Second Round
12 seed (No. 12) Texas vs. No. 34 LSU
When: Saturday, May 7, 2022, 12 p.m. CT
Where: Texas Tennis Center, Austin, Texas
Team Records: Texas (17-10, 3-2 Big 12), LSU (16-11, 4-8 SEC)
Live Stats: https://hookem.at/TTCNorthStats
Live Video: https://hookem.at/MTN-Watch (TennisOne App)
Updated Team Stats
Tournament Schedule
All times Central
Friday, May 6 – First Round
10 a.m.: No. 12 Texas def. Idaho, 4-0
10 a.m.: No. 34 LSU def. No. 22 SMU, 4-3
Saturday, May 7 – Second Round
12 p.m.: No. 12 Texas vs. No. 34 LSU
Notes
-Ninth-Straight Time in the Second Round
Texas swept Idaho, 4-0, in the first round to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the ninth-straight time dating back to 2013 and discounting 2020 when the tournament wasn't held due to the pandemic. The Longhorns won the doubles point at Nos. 3 and 1 and followed with singles wins by Siem Woldeab at No. 4, Chih Chi Huang at No. 6, and Cleeve Harper at No. 5.
-Texas earns No. 12 overall seed for 2022 NCAA Tournament
The Longhorns earned their 30th consecutive bid to the NCAA Championships and their 39th overall selection since the NCAA bracketed tournament was introduced in 1977. They have compiled a 68-37 (.648) all-time record in the tournament. Texas hosts the opening rounds of the NCAA Championships for a fifth-straight year and for the seventh time in the last eight years in which the tournament has been held. It was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic. Along with winning the 2019 National Championship, the Longhorns were the national runners-up in 2008, and additionally made it to the semifinals in 1993, 2006, 2009 and 2021. They have reached at least the round of 16 in each of the last seven years with four quarterfinals appearances in 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2021 in that span.
-LSU Series: LSU leads, 9-5
LSU leads the all-time series with Texas, 9-5, with the teams last meeting in 2004 in Austin, a match LSU won, 5-2. LSU has won the last five meetings, however the previous three were played in 2001, '03, and '04, while the two before that came in 1991. The Longhorns' last win came in 1990, which was a 5-4 decision in Austin. The teams have met twice in NCAA Tournament play with the Tigers taking both, 4-2 in the second round in 2001 in Baton Rouge, and 5-2 in the first round in 1987 in Athens, Ga.
-Texas vs LSU in 2021-22 tournament play
N/A
-ITA Team Rankings
Texas is ranked No. 12 in the latest 2022 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Top 25 Coaches Poll released on May 4. The No. 14 ranking on Feb. 9 marked first week Texas had been outside of the top 10 after 43-straight weeks in dating back to the beginning of the 2019 season. However, the Longhorns have remained in the top 15 for 60-straight weeks going back to April 17, 2018. LSU is No. 34 in the poll, which had been voted on by the ITA National Ranking Committee until Feb. 23 when it shifted to computerized rankings.
-ITA Individual Rankings
Texas has six listings in the most recent ITA individual rankings that were released May 4 with four in singles and two doubles pairs.
Texas
Singles
No. 26 Micah Braswell
No. 34 Pierre-Yves Bailly
No. 69 Eliot Spizzirri
No. 92 Richard Ciamarra
Doubles
No. 4 Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper
No. 8 Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab
LSU
Singles
No. 29 Ronnie Hohmann
Doubles
N/A
-Trending
Micah Braswell
Braswell has won 15 of his last 18 singles decisions with his only losses coming to Adrian Boitan of Baylor twice, who was unranked at the time but is now No. 5, and No. 7 Stefan Dostanic of USC, along with only one unfinished match in that stretch. That match was even at 3-3 in the third set against No. 44 Luc Fomba of TCU, but Braswell also registered several wins against ranked opponents, including No. 8 Cannon Kingsley of Ohio State, No. 47 Tristan McCormick of Georgia, No. 50 Mason Beiler of Oklahoma, No. 51 Melios Efstathiou of Wake Forest, No. 87 Hugo Hashimoto of Columbia, and defending NCAA Singles National Champion Sam Riffice of Florida, who was ranked No. 92 at the time. Fifteen of his last 16 matches have come at No. 1, however he missed the match at No. 1 TCU on April 9, along with the Big 12 Tournament due to injury. Despite that, he was still named to the All-Big 12 First Team in singles and earned a bid to the NCAA Singles Championships.
Eliot Spizzirri
Spizzirri is regaining his form after being hampered by a wrist injury on his left non-racket hand since September. He did not play singles in the fall and missed singles play in four matches as he has made his way back into the lineup. However, he has now won eight of his last 10 singles decisions, including over No. 30 Peter Makk of USC and No. 44 Trent Bryde of Georgia with the only losses coming to No. 10 Juan Carlos Aguilar of TCU and in a third-set tiebreaker to Max Verboven of Oklahoma State. He was recently named the All-Big 12 Second Team in singles. His only action this fall was doubles play at the ITA All-Americans and he had seen limited time in doubles early in dual match play with several different partners as the Longhorns had to mix and match doubles due to a number of injuries. However recently, he paired back up with his traditional partner Siem Woldeab and they have won eight of their last 10 decisions, including a 7-6 (3) victory over the No. 11 pair of Sander Jong and Lui Maxted that clinched the point against TCU, and a 6-3 win over the No. 15 pair of Matias Soto and Juampi Mazzuchi of Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament that led to being named to the All-Tournament Team at No. 2 doubles. The duo has also since been named to the All-Big 12 Second Team and received a bid to the NCAA Doubles Championships as a 5-8 seed, which qualifies them for All-America selection by the ITA. He also partnered with Chih Chi Huang to defeat No. 3 James Trotter and Justin Boulais of Ohio State, and with Richard Ciamarra for a 6-3 victory over No. 19 Ben Draper and Robert Maciag of Wake Forest. He additionally has paired with Pierre-Yves Bailly and Evin McDonald in dual matches this year.
Pierre-Yves Bailly
True freshman Pierre-Yves Bailly arrived at Texas in January and made an immediate impact. Playing at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 at various times, Bailly rose as high as No. 17 in the singles rankings, including wins over No. 3 Ben Shelton of Florida, whom he also took to three sets in an earlier defeat, and No. 50 Trey Hilderbrand of UCF. However, he missed four dual matches midway through the season due to injury and returned six matches ago in the first meeting against Oklahoma. He has now won his last five singles decisions capped by a 7-5, 6-1 win over No. 43 Matias Soto of Baylor at the Big 12 Tournament, propelling him to a spot on the All-Tournament Team at No. 2 singles. He was then also selected as Big 12 Freshman of the Year, to the All-Big 12 Second Team and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Championships. In doubles, with Eliot Spizzirri limited with an injury, Bailly was paired with Siem Woldeab and played eight out of his 10 doubles contests with him before his injury forced him from the lineup.
Richard Ciamarra
Ciamarra is 12-9 in dual match singles play with ranked wins over No. 48 Sven Lah of Baylor, No. 53 Herman Hoeyeraal of Arizona, No. 79 Philip Henning of Georgia, No. 98 Raphael Perot of Texas A&M, No. 107 Andy Andrade of Florida, and No. 118 Max McKennon of Arizona State this season. Prior to an injury to Cleeve Harper, Ciamarra and Harper had become a staple in the Texas doubles lineup, rising to No. 12 in the ITA rankings at the time. However, an injury for Harper forced Ciamarra into a number of different spots with different partners, including Eliot Spizzirri, Siem Woldeab and Micah Braswell. Now ranked No. 4 in the nation, he and Harper have reunited for 10 of the last 11 matches, with all but one at No. 1, with three 6-4 wins against the No. 2 pair of Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley of TCU, and twice over Alex Martinez and Welsh Hotard of Oklahoma, who were No. 46 in the first meeting and No. 79 in the second, along with a 7-5 victory over Sebastian Nothhaft and No. 45 Tyler Zink of Oklahoma State. That led to their earning the Big 12 Individual Championship at No. 1 doubles and All-Big 12 First Team honors. They have also been seeded No. 4 in the NCAA Doubles Championships which qualifies them for All-American status by the ITA. In the fall, he and Harper had made a run to the finals of the ITA Texas Regionals and have twice defeated the duo of Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel of UCF, first when they were ranked No. 3 there, and later when they were No. 22 at the Miami Spring Invite.
Siem Woldeab
Woldeab has won seven of his last 11 singles matches, with seven of those coming at No. 4, including wins over No. 48 Andrew Rogers of Pepperdine and No. 116 Bradley Frye of USC, and another at No. 5 where he defeated No. 125 Jordan Hasson of Oklahoma. He also came up just short in three sets to No. 11 JJ Tracy of Ohio State in that stretch. Against Frye, Woldeab rallied after losing his first set 6-1, to take the second set 6-1 and then play a tiebreaker in the third where he came up with clutch play to overcome a 3-1 deficit for an 8-6 win that helped Texas to a 4-3 win on the road against the No. 9 Trojans. Much like everyone in doubles, due to several injuries in the lineup, Woldeab has played with a number of different partners. With Spizzirri out, Woldeab had seemed to find a consistent partner in Pierre-Yves Bailly, but after Bailly was also injured, he then paired with Richard Ciamarra and Evin McDonald. He most recently reunited with Spizzirri to win eight of their last 10 decisions, including a 7-6 (3) victory over the No. 11 pair of Sander Jong and Lui Maxted that clinched the point against TCU, and a 6-3 win over the No. 15 pair of Matias Soto and Juampi Mazzuchi of Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament. That led them to being named to the All-Tournament Team at No. 2 doubles. The duo has also since been selected to the All-Big 12 Second Team and received a bid to the NCAA Doubles Championships as a 5-8 seed, which qualifies them for All-America selection by the ITA.
Cleeve Harper
Harper had played a majority of his singles matches at No. 5 this season before missing five recently with an injury. He had won five of his last six matches before that, returning against Baylor on April 1 and has won five of seven with one loss against the Bears coming in a third-set superbreaker. In the Big 12 Tournament he defeated Juampi Mazzuchi of Baylor and had his other match against Joseph Chen of Oklahoma State go unfinished while leading, resulting in his being named to the All-Tournament Team at No. 6 singles. He had missed the contest with UCF on Feb. 13 and attempted to return for ITA Indoors where he played two of the three before again sitting against Wake Forest. In doubles, he has played all but one of 22 dual matches with Richard Ciamarra, capped recently with a 6-4 win over the No. 2 pair of Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley of TCU, along with two wins over Welsh Hotard and Alex Martinez of Oklahoma, who were No. 46 in the first meeting and No. 79 in the second, and a 7-5 victory over No. 45 Sebastian Nothhaft and Tyler Zink of Oklahoma State. That led to their earning the Big 12 Individual Championship at No. 1 doubles and All-Big 12 First Team honors. They have also been seeded No. 4 in the NCAA Doubles Championships which qualifies them for All-American status by the ITA. In the fall, he and Ciamarra had made a run to the finals of the ITA Texas Regionals and have twice defeated the duo of Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel of UCF, first when they were ranked No. 3 there, and later when they were No. 22 at the Miami Spring Invite.
Chih Chi Huang
Huang missed all of fall play due to injury, however he returned for dual match play and was slotted first at No. 6 and then at No. 5 as the lineup shifted due to injuries. His biggest win of the season has come against No. 26 James Trotter of Ohio State, while he also contributed a clutch performance against Ryder Jackson of USC, clinching the match for Texas in a 4-3 comeback on the road. Those are part of his winning eight of his last 10 decisions. Huang had been part of the most stable doubles pair for the Longhorns, partnering with Micah Braswell for all but two dual matches until an injury for Braswell caused him to miss the last five, leading to Huang pairing with Evin McDonald twice and Eshan Talluri four times. Prior to that, Huang and Braswell spent time at all three positions due to other shifts in the doubles lineup. In one of the matches he didn't play with Braswell, he and Spizzirri paired for a 6-1 win over No. 3 James Trotter and Justin Boulais of Ohio State.
Evin McDonald
McDonald has entered the singles lineup at No. 6 on several occasions, but none bigger this season than when he clinched the match against Pepperdine with a three-set win. The clinch came at 4-1 on the way to a 5-2 win for Texas, but the remaining two matches had the potential to go either way. He won his second straight match against UTRGV after that. McDonald has also seen spot time in doubles, pairing with Chih Chi Huang and Siem Woldeab on three occasions each in dual match play, and Eliot Spizzirri once.
Eshan Talluri
Recently Talluri has recently seen his first dual match action of the season, posting four doubles victories and one in singles. He won both his singles and doubles matches against UTRGV, pairing for a 6-0 win with Evin McDonald, and then partnered with Chih Chi Huang for two wins against Oklahoma State and one against Idaho in the NCAA Tournament.
Nevin Arimilli
Arimilli had greatly improved his level of play over the fall and early spring, even playing at No. 5 at Arizona State and taking a 6-4, 6-4 victory that helped Texas to the team win. However, he suffered a wrist injury after the Columbia match on Jan. 29 and has not yet returned.
-Lineup Flux
Primarily due to injuries, below is the number of different players who have appeared at each singles position and pairs combos in doubles this year.
No. 1 Singles: 3
No. 2 Singles: 4
No. 3 Singles: 4
No. 4 Singles: 5
No. 5 Singles: 5
No. 6 Singles: 6
No. 1 Doubles: 6
No. 2 Doubles: 9
No. 3 Doubles: 9
-Berque at the Helm
Bruce Berque is in his fourth season as the head coach at Texas having taken over midway through the 2019 season. From there, he has led the Longhorns to a 69-21 overall record (.767) that includes 24-6 last season with an appearance in the Final Four and a share of the Big 12 regular season title, 13-3 in a season shortened by the pandemic in 2020, and 15-2 in 2019 en route to the guiding Texas to its first team National Championship. The Longhorns also earned the Big 12 regular season championship that year. Texas finished ranked in the top four in all three of the previous seasons at No. 3 in 2021, No. 4 in 2020 and No. 1 in 2019.
-Postseason Honors
Texas has picked up several postseason accolades already this season including Pierre-Yves Bailly as Big 12 Freshman of the Year, making him the second-straight (Micah Braswell) and sixth overall Longhorn to earn that honor.
NCAA Individual Championships: Micah Braswell (singles at-large), Pierre-Yves Bailly (singles at-large), Eliot Spizzirri (singles alternate), Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (doubles 4 seed), Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (doubles 5-8 seed)
All-Big 12: Micah Braswell (first-team singles), Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (first-team doubles), Pierre-Yves Bailly (second-team singles), Eliot Spizzirri (second-team singles), Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (second-team doubles)
Big 12 All-Tournament Team: Pierre-Yves Bailly (No. 2 singles), Cleeve Harper (No. 6 singles), Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (No. 2 doubles)
Big 12 Individual Champion: Richard Ciamarra/Cleeve Harper (No. 1 doubles)
-Academic All-Big 12
In addition to the on-court honors, the Longhorns posted seven honorees to the 2022 Academic All-Big 12 Tennis Team. That number is second only to last year's eight for most in program history, and it also led the conference for the second-straight year. Of the seven, six earned first-team recognition, including Nevin Arimilli, Micah Braswell, Cleeve Harper, Evin McDonald, Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab, while Chih Chi Huang was named to the second team. All of those players except Braswell made the team for at least the second-straight time with it being the third-straight for Arimilli, Harper and Huang. Braswell was a true freshman a year ago and was not eligible just as Pierre-Yves Bailly was not this year or Richard Ciamarra due to being a graduate transfer. The only other was Eshan Talluri who had the needed GPA, but was just shy in participation percentage.
-Texas at the Big 12 Championships
Longhorns swept Oklahoma State, 4-0, in the quarterfinals this year to reach the semifinals again, their fourth in a row. Texas won the doubles point and then received singles victories from Richard Ciamarra at No. 3, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2 and Chih Chi Huang at No. 5. The Longhorns were then edged, 4-2, by No. 4 Baylor in a match that had opportunities to go either way. Texas had several matches come down to third sets or tiebreakers, including the deciding match of the doubles point, which came down to a tiebreaker, along with three other singles tiebreakers that all went the Bears' way. After Baylor pulled out the doubles point, the Longhorns won a pair of singles matches by Cleeve Harper at No. 6 and No. 41 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2.
-Regular Season Finale
Texas closed the regular season with a 5-2 win at No. 52 Oklahoma State on April 16. The Longhorns won the doubles point for the fifth-straight match by taking Nos. 3 and 1, then followed with singles wins by Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, Chih Chi Huang at No. 6, Micah Braswell at No. 1 for the clinch, and Cleeve Harper at No. 5. The only two defeats came at Nos. 3 and 4 where the matches were decided in a third-set tiebreaker and a third-set superbreaker, respectively.
-Red River Sweep
The Longhorns put together a solid performance across the board with a 7-0 road sweep of No. 38 Oklahoma on April 14. Texas won the deciding match of the doubles point in a tiebreaker at No. 2 and went on to six singles wins by Richard Ciamarra at No. 4, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3, Chih Chi Huang for the clinch at No. 6, Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, Cleeve Harper at No. 5 and Micah Braswell at No. 1.
-Big Doubles Point at TCU
Texas won a tremendous doubles point at No. 1 TCU on April 9, topping two top-15 opponents with Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper downing No. 2 Luc Fomba and Jake Fearnley, while Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab topped No. 11 Sander Jong and Lui Maxted in a tiebreaker to take the point. TCU won four singles matches from there, but the Longhorns' lineup was without Micah Braswell to add to the long list of injuries. Pierre-Yves Bailly was also one game away from possibly defeating No. 18 Fomba at No. 1.
-Doubleheader Rebound
After the loss to Baylor, the Longhorns rebounded with a pair of sweeps as part of a doubleheader two days later, including a 7-0 victory over Texas Tech and a 4-0 win over UTRGV. Against the Red Raiders, Texas won the doubles point and won all of their singles matches but one in straight sets, before again winning doubles against UTRGV and taking three in singles in straight sets.
-Tough Big 12 Opener
The Longhorns fell to Baylor, 6-0, in their Big 12 opener on April 1 with the Bears clinching doubles at Nos. 2 and 3, along with five singles matches at all but No. 3 that went unfinished.
-Red River Victory
Texas earned a 5-2 Red River win over No. 30 Oklahoma on March 27 at the Texas Tennis Center. It was the Longhorns' eighth-consecutive win in the series against the Sooners in what was technically a non-conference match before the beginning of Big 12 play. The two teams will meet again in Norman on April 14 for the conference match. Texas won an extremely close doubles point that saw the last two matches on the court go to tiebreakers, but had already taken a win at No. 1 before adding one of the tiebreakers at No. 2. It marked only the third time Oklahoma had lost the doubles point in 17 matches this season. The Longhorns then posted singles wins from Micah Braswell at No. 1, Siem Woldeab at No. 5, and Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3 to clinch, along with Chih Chi Huang at No. 6 for the fifth point.
-Woldeab Earns First Big 12 Player of the Week Honor
Siem Woldeab was named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week ending March 20. It marked Woldeab's first conference weekly honor of the season and the third time a Longhorn has earned the award this year, along with Richard Ciamarra and Micah Braswell. Woldeab helped lead Texas to a 2-0 record on a west coast trip that included wins at No. 9 USC and No. 21 Pepperdine. For the week, Woldeab posted a 3-1 record overall, registering two ranked singles wins over No. 116 Bradley Frye of USC and No. 48 Andrew Rogers of Pepperdine, his highest-ranked win in dual match play this season.
-Spring Break West Coast Sweep
The Longhorns swept their two-match west coast trip with a 5-2 win over No. 21 Pepperdine in Malibu on March 18. Texas won the doubles point and then received singles wins from Siem Woldeab at No. 4, Micah Braswell at No. 1, Evin McDonald at No. 6, who clinched it for the Longhorns at 4-1, and Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3.
-Comeback in L.A.
Texas rallied from a 3-1 deficit to top No. 9 USC, 4-3, in Los Angeles on March 15. During the comeback, the Longhorns captured three-straight singles matches in which they started down a set. Trailing, 2-0, Richard Ciamarra got the Longhorns on the board with a win at No. 2. After USC extended its lead to 3-1, the Texas victories came from Siem Woldeab at No. 4, who won his match in a dramatic third-set tiebreaker, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3, and junior Chih Chi Huang, who clinched it at No. 5.
-Just Edged by No. 2
Texas was edged by No. 2 Ohio State, 4-3, at the Texas Tennis Center on March 12. The Longhorns pushed the Buckeyes to the third set of the final singles match in attempting to rally from a 3-0 deficit, but came up just short in the comeback attempt. Texas collected singles wins from Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3, Micah Braswell at No. 1 and junior Chih Chi Huang at No. 5, after falling in an extremely close deciding match of the doubles point. The Longhorns continued to be shorthanded, missing Pierre-Yves Bailly, Cleeve Harper and Nevin Arimilli due to injury.
-SEC Road Trip
The Longhorns played consecutive road matches against SEC opponents, coming up just short, 4-3, at No. 15 Georgia on March 1, and then topping No. 28 Texas A&M by the same score on March 9. The Longhorns had clinched the match against the Aggies at 4-1 by taking the top four singles matches by Micah Braswell at No. 1, Richard Ciamarra at No. 2, Eliot Spizzirri at No. 3 and Siem Woldeab at No. 4. At Georgia, Texas posted singles wins from Spizzirri at No. 4, Braswell at No. 2 and Ciamarra at No. 3, along with having two match points by Woldeab at No. 6 that the Bulldogs fended off before winning at No. 1 to take the match.
-ITA National Team Indoor Championships
Texas appeared in the ITA Indoor Nationals for the fourth-straight season, and the seventh in the last nine, only missing in 2016 and 2018 in that stretch. The Longhorns topped fourth-seeded No. 5 Florida, 4-3, on Feb. 18 to reach the quarterfinals for the third time in the last four years before falling to fifth-seeded No. 4 TCU, 4-0, on Feb. 19, and eighth-seeded No. 6 Wake Forest, 4-2, in a consolation match on Feb. 20. Texas reached the semifinals of the tournament in 2019 and the quarterfinals in 2020.
-Texas and Wake Forest Meet Again
Texas and Wake Forest met at this year's ITA Indoors for the first time since the 2019 NCAA Championship final. The Longhorns opened with a strong doubles point despite Cleeve Harper being out of the lineup. They then received a singles win from Micah Braswell, while Wake Forest posted four singles victories at Nos. 3-6 to take the match. Trailing 3-2 overall, Texas had an opportunity to overcome the deficit down to the end with Eliot Spizzirri attempting to break at No. 4 to get his third set back on serve, but a final deuce point went to the Demon Deacons. The remaining match that went unfinished had Pierre-Yves Bailly just beginning a third set at No. 2.
-Big 12 Foe in Seattle
The Longhorns fell 4-0 to fifth-seeded No. 4 TCU in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Indoor Championship on Feb. 19. Despite the score, Cleeve Harper and Siem Woldeab were leading their matches when play stopped, while Micah Braswell was even in his. Richard Ciamarra also came close to winning a second-set tiebreaker that would have extended both his match and the overall one, but fell just short.
-Texas Avenges Loss to Florida
Texas and Florida squared off for the second time this season after Florida won, 4-3, on Jan. 16 in Austin. The Longhorns returned the favor with a 4-3 win of their own on Feb. 18 at the ITA National Indoor Championships in Seattle. Texas won the doubles point and recorded singles wins by Micah Braswell at No. 1 and Richard Ciamarra at No. 3, along with the clincher by freshman Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2 that broke a 3-3 overall tie. Bailly's win came over No. 3 Ben Shelton, while Braswell topped defending NCAA Singles Champion Sam Riffice.
-Sweeping Up Rice and UCF
Texas completed its second sweep of the weekend with a 4-0 victory over UCF on Feb. 13 at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns won the doubles point and followed with singles victories by Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, Siem Woldeab at No. 5, and Micah Braswell at No. 1. Bailly returned to the lineup after not playing in the previous match and picked up a top-50 win with a 6-1, 6-4 decision over No. 50 Trey Hilderbrand. Texas had opened the weekend with a 7-0 sweep of Rice on Jan 11. The Longhorns used the doubles point and four straight-sets singles wins from Woldeab at No. 4, Cleeve Harper at No. 5, Braswell at No. 1, and Chih Chi Huang at No. 6, along with two more third-set superbreaker wins from Richard Ciamarra at No. 3, and Eliot Spizzirri at No. 2.
-Non-Conference in Waco
The Longhorns traveled to Waco to face No. 2 Baylor on Feb. 7 in a match that had originally been scheduled for Feb. 4 but was rescheduled due to travel conditions with winter weather. Richard Ciamarra won his singles match and the Longhorns were close in two other singles matches by Pierre-Yves Bailly and Cleeve Harper that went to superbreakers, along with the doubles point, but ultimately fell 6-1.
-Braswell Makes It Back-to-Back Big 12 Players of the Week for Texas
Micah Braswell was named Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week ending January 30, the conference. It marks Braswell's first conference weekly honor of the season and the second of his career. It was also the second-straight week a Longhorn earned the award after senior Richard Ciamarra did so the week before.
-Sweeping the ITA Kickoff Weekend
Texas hosted the ITA Kickoff Weekend for the eighth-straight year going back to the 2014 season when the Longhorns traveled to Nashville. The Longhorns produced 4-0 sweeps in both of their matches against Columbia and Oregon and have advanced in the ITA Indoor Nationals in each of the last four seasons, and seven out of the last nine, only missing in 2016 and 2018 in that stretch.
-Ciamarra Earns First Big 12 Player of the Week Honor
Richard Ciamarra picked up his first Big 12 Player of the Week honor since joining the Longhorns this season as a graduate transfer. Ciamarra went 4-0 with two ranked singles wins against No. 14 Arizona and RV Arizona State after having to move up in the lineup due to injuries. That also included two doubles victories with partner Cleeve Harper. It was also the first weekly honor for the Longhorns this season after two weeks of play.
-Arizona Swing
The Longhorns dropped their first match of their Arizona road trip to No. t-14 Arizona, 4-3, in Tucson on Jan. 21. It was the first road dual match of the season for Texas, which rallied for three singles victories following the Wildcats' clinch. The wins came from Cleeve Harper at No. 5, Richard Ciamarra at No. 4 and Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 3. However, they rebounded for a 6-1 win over Arizona State two days later, sweeping all six singles matches from Micah Braswell at No. 2, Harper at No. 4, Nevin Arimilli at No. 5, Evin McDonald at No. 6, Ciamarra at No. 3, and Bailly at No 1.
-So Close Against No. 1
Texas posted singles wins at Nos. 1, 2 and 4 against No. 1 Florida, but were edged, 4-3, by the defending champion Gators on Jan. 16 at the Texas Tennis Center. The singles victories included Eliot Spizzirri at No. 1, Micah Braswell at No. 2 and Richard Ciamarra at No. 4 after Florida had won the doubles point in a tiebreaker of the deciding third match in which they led by three points.
-25th-Straight Season-Opening Win
The Longhorns took their season opener over UTSA, 6-1, on Jan. 14 at the Texas Tennis Center. It marked the 25th-straight season-opening victory for the Longhorns dating back to 1998. Texas used the doubles point and five singles wins from Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 2, Richard Ciamarra at No. 3, No. 105 Siem Woldeab at No. 4, No. 73 Cleeve Harper at No. 5, and Chih Chi Huang at No. 6. Eliot Spizzirri did not play singles, but did partner with Woldeab at No. 1 doubles for a win to help secure that point.
-Miami Spring Invite
The Longhorns began the spring season with individual play against opponents from No. 9 Georgia, No. 11 UCF and Miami. The tournament had been designed for round robin competition, however only two members of the Hurricanes were available to play. Additionally, weather cancelled a majority of the singles matches on the second day. For Texas, the results were highlighted by freshman Pierre-Yves Bailly picking up a win over No. 16 Trey Hilderbrand of UCF in his first singles match as a Longhorn, along with the No. 13 pair of Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper topping the No. 22 duo of Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel of UCF.
-Challenging Non-Conference Schedule
The Longhorns had 14 non-conference dual matches scheduled this season against teams that appeared in the top-40 of the ITA national rankings, including home matches with No. 1 Florida (L, 4-3, Jan. 16), RV Columbia (W, 4-0, Jan. 29), No. 3 Ohio State (L, 4-3, Mar. 12) and No. 30 Oklahoma (W, 5-2, Mar. 27), road contests at No. t-14 Arizona (L, 4-3, Jan. 21), RV Arizona State (W, 6-1, Jan. 23), No. 2 Baylor (L, 6-1, Feb. 7), No. 15 Georgia (L, 4-3, Mar. 1), No. 28 Texas A&M (W, 4-3, Mar. 9), No. 9 USC (W, 4-3,Mar. 15), and No. 21 Pepperdine (W, 5-2, Mar. 17), and neutral site matches against No. 5 Florida (W, 4-3, Feb. 18), No. 4 TCU (L, 4-0, Feb. 19) and No. 6 Wake Forest (L, 4-2, Feb. 20) at the ITA Indoors. Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma were prior to Big 12 play and non-conference.
-Back from the Final Four
In the fourth season under head coach Bruce Berque, Texas returned almost all of its regular singles and doubles lineups from a team that reached the Final Four of last year's NCAA Championships. Of the retuning players, Eliot Spizzirri earned All-America honors in both singles and doubles last season, while Siem Woldeab did so in doubles and was a second-team All-Big 12 selection in singles. Micah Braswell was also second-team all-conference in singles and named the unanimous Big 12 Freshman of the Year, while Cleeve Harper shared the Big 12 Individual Championship at No. 4 singles. Chih Chi Huang and Evin McDonald return after playing majority of the matches at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively, as do Nevin Arimilli and Eshan Talluri.
-Two New Faces
Texas added two new faces in graduate transfer Richard Ciamarra (Notre Dame), who arrived in the fall, and freshman Pierre-Yves Bailly, who joined the team this spring. Ciamarra was a 2020 ITA All-American in singles and a three-time All-ACC selection and ranked as high as No. 6 in singles and No. 28 in doubles in 2021. Bailly has been the top junior player in Belgium and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Juniors, along with the second round of the Roland Garros Juniors, in 2021.
-Summer/Fall Wrap-up
Eliot Spizzirri and Chih Chi Huang both missed all of fall singles play due to injury with Huang also missing doubles, but Spizzirri played limited doubles at the ITA Fall Nationals. Richard Ciamarra and Siem Woldeab were also working through injuries in the fall. However, over the summer, Spizzirri won the singles title of the ITF Futures in Decatur, Ill. for his first pro singles title, along with winning the doubles title at the ITF Futures in Champaign, Ill., the week before. He then earned a singles qualifying wild card to the U.S. Open and advanced to the second round with a win over ATP No. 163 Alejandro Tabilo. After that, he received a doubles main draw wild card at the U.S. Open. Later in the fall, Spizzirri and Woldeab reached the quarterfinals of the ITA Fall Nationals, and Spizzirri later paired with former Longhorn Colin Markes to make the semifinals of the DropshotLLC Pro Tennis Open in Austin. Micah Braswell posted eight singles wins in the fall, including reaching the semifinals of the ITA Texas Regionals where he came up just short in three sets to No. 18 Juan Carlos Aguilar. Cleeve Harper picked up his first pro title, taking the M15 Cancun with partner Liam Draxl. Prior to that, Harper and Ciamarra reached the finals of the ITA Texas Regionals shortly after advancing to the round of 16 at the ITA All-American Championships. January enrollee Pierre-Yves Bailly also captured his first pro singles title at the Monastir 15K in Tunisia and additionally reached the doubles final there in November 2021.
-Year Five at the Texas Tennis Center
Texas opened its fifth year of play at the Texas Tennis Center this year and is 9-3 so far with the only losses coming to top-five teams by 4-3 scores against No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Ohio State, and 6-0 to No. 4 Baylor, giving the Longhorns a 57-8 (.876) overall record in its history. Texas posted a 14-2 mark in 2021, which included wins over No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 9 Florida and No. 15 Arizona. In a shortened season in 2020, UT recorded a 9-0 record with wins against No. 8 Stanford, No. 18 Georgia and No. 21 Florida State. The Longhorns finished 2019 at 15-1, including wins over No. 1 Ohio State, No. 6 Baylor and No. 12 Columbia, along with three NCAA Tournament victories. The lone loss that year came to No. 15 USC. During its inaugural season, Texas posted a 10-2 record, including winning the 2018 Big 12 Tournament.
