Razorbacks upend Sooners in nail-biter
Jimmy Carter
Issue date: 2/23/09 Section: Sports
The No. 46 Arkansas tennis team knocked off interstate rival Oklahoma on Friday with a heart-pounding 5-2 win.
The win over the 57th-ranked Sooners was the Hogs first win over a ranked team in three tries this season.
"That was a very tough, very good college dual match," Arkansas coach Robert Cox said. "We got to the third point, but boy, getting that fourth point was awfully tough. Oklahoma's so well-coached and such a good, fighting team."
Tyler Tarnasky capped a comeback of sorts - the Hogs saw four players lose their first singles sets - with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Oklahoma's Blake Boswell that gave the Hogs a 4-2 lead, clinching the match.
"Honestly I try not to think too much," Tarnasky said. "I try to just realize that when you're out there everyone's pulling for you and you've got your teammates behind you. Really just play to win, because then if you do that you, shouldn't feel any pressure."
Match point came on a controversial call that saw the judge overrule Boswell's call that Tarnasky's serve was out, sparking an outrage from Sooners coaches and players as the Hogs players rushed the court.
"On match point, [the judge] made an overrule on Oklahoma," Cox said. "I thought [Tarnasky] hit a good serve. It was such a high-kicker I think Oklahoma thought it was going to come down out. But it dipped down in there pretty good."
Arkansas won the doubles point when the No. 3 singles combo of Tarnasky and junior Bradwin Williams defeated David Pultr and Boswell 8-6.
"We were playing a team that was very evenly matched with us, and it came down to a couple of really long deuce games," Tarnasky said. "We were able to run a few good plays and get out of those games. Those close games were probably the difference in the match."
Blake Strode - the No. 14 singles player in the country - pushed the Hogs' lead to 2-0 with his 6-2, 6-2 victory over Sergey Avdeyev in No. 1 singles. But OU answered right back when George Chanturia won the No. 5 singles match 6-2, 6-2.
The Hogs encountered some adversity in the early stages of the singles matches with four players losing their first set. The Razorbacks showed some resolve, as three of the four players came back to win their second set.
"There definitely was a moment there when things got kind of scary," Strode said. "It was great for all the guys to bounce back after those first set losses and come back strong. I think it shows a pretty tough team."
Arkansas moved to within one point of clinching the match with Matt Hogan's 7-5, 7-6 win in No. 3 singles. The win left the Hogs needing one victory in the final three matches to capture the win.
The Sooners closed the gap to 3-2 with Ionut Beleleu's 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Dmitry Lebedev in a match that saw several controversial calls go against Lebedev and the Hogs.
"Those things will go against us about half the time, but we just have to go with what the official says," Cox said.
The win over the 57th-ranked Sooners was the Hogs first win over a ranked team in three tries this season.
"That was a very tough, very good college dual match," Arkansas coach Robert Cox said. "We got to the third point, but boy, getting that fourth point was awfully tough. Oklahoma's so well-coached and such a good, fighting team."
Tyler Tarnasky capped a comeback of sorts - the Hogs saw four players lose their first singles sets - with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Oklahoma's Blake Boswell that gave the Hogs a 4-2 lead, clinching the match.
"Honestly I try not to think too much," Tarnasky said. "I try to just realize that when you're out there everyone's pulling for you and you've got your teammates behind you. Really just play to win, because then if you do that you, shouldn't feel any pressure."
Match point came on a controversial call that saw the judge overrule Boswell's call that Tarnasky's serve was out, sparking an outrage from Sooners coaches and players as the Hogs players rushed the court.
"On match point, [the judge] made an overrule on Oklahoma," Cox said. "I thought [Tarnasky] hit a good serve. It was such a high-kicker I think Oklahoma thought it was going to come down out. But it dipped down in there pretty good."
Arkansas won the doubles point when the No. 3 singles combo of Tarnasky and junior Bradwin Williams defeated David Pultr and Boswell 8-6.
"We were playing a team that was very evenly matched with us, and it came down to a couple of really long deuce games," Tarnasky said. "We were able to run a few good plays and get out of those games. Those close games were probably the difference in the match."
Blake Strode - the No. 14 singles player in the country - pushed the Hogs' lead to 2-0 with his 6-2, 6-2 victory over Sergey Avdeyev in No. 1 singles. But OU answered right back when George Chanturia won the No. 5 singles match 6-2, 6-2.
The Hogs encountered some adversity in the early stages of the singles matches with four players losing their first set. The Razorbacks showed some resolve, as three of the four players came back to win their second set.
"There definitely was a moment there when things got kind of scary," Strode said. "It was great for all the guys to bounce back after those first set losses and come back strong. I think it shows a pretty tough team."
Arkansas moved to within one point of clinching the match with Matt Hogan's 7-5, 7-6 win in No. 3 singles. The win left the Hogs needing one victory in the final three matches to capture the win.
The Sooners closed the gap to 3-2 with Ionut Beleleu's 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Dmitry Lebedev in a match that saw several controversial calls go against Lebedev and the Hogs.
"Those things will go against us about half the time, but we just have to go with what the official says," Cox said.
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