 "Photo: Michelle Connolly")
The seventh-ranked Longhorns clinched a share of the Big 12 Conference regular-season title this Saturday with a gritty 4-3 victory over No. 23 Texas A&M at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin. The win comes on Senior Day, and the results of Saturday's match could not have been any more poetic.
"It was an unbelievable feeling to be able to clinch this match for this great team that we have right now," said senior Luis Diaz Barriga. "I couldn't have asked for anything more than to beat Texas A&M 4-3 on Senior Day to clinch the Big 12 title. In the end, I was ready to stay out there as long as it took. I'm really proud of this team."
The win earns Texas another point in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown standings. The Aggies currently hold a 7.0-6.5 lead in the series, but both Texas men's and women's tennis teams have yet to lose a tennis point for the past two seasons.
"It was an incredibly hard-fought match on both sides," said Texas head coach Michael Center. "We haven't won a match after losing the doubles point. I've got to give the Aggies credit, because they played a fantastic match. They refused to go away."
Texas' sixth-ranked doubles tandem of freshmen Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico dropped the first match in doubles play to A&M's Austin Krajicek and Conor Pollock by an 8-4 margin. Longhorns Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala evened the score with an 8-4 win at the third position over Chris Chirico and Matt Bain, but the Longhorns couldn't pull it together at second double. Aggies Wil Spencer and Mike Beatty overcame Diaz Barriga and Miguel Reyes Varela in a close 8-6 match to secure the doubles point and give A&M the 1-0 lead going into singles play.
In no time at all, Longhorns Zavala and Corrie put Texas ahead as singles play got underway, defeating opponents Kayvon Karimi and Krajicek 6-3, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-4 respectively.
Texas assumed a 3-1 lead as senior Milan Mihailovic, in his last regular-season homecourt match for the Longhorns, defeated Bain at fifth singles by a 7-5, 6-1 count.
Texas' Reyes Varela lost 6-4, 6-4 to A&M's Chirico at fourth singles while Aggie standout Pollock evened the match score at three apiece, outlasting Kutrovsky at the first position by a 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4 margin.
With a share of the Big 12 Conference regular-season title on the line, all eyes were on senior Diaz Barriga as he overcame a late rally by A&M's Spencer, eventually winning the match in three intense sets by a 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 count.
Should Baylor come through with a victory against Texas Tech on Saturday night in Waco, the Longhorns would receive a first-round bye in next week's Big 12 Championship. Should Tech win that match, the Red Raiders would take the tournament's top seed and be given the first-round bye instead.
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