Tennis '22-'23 Season

Hi UT Tennis Fan,
Our team has now turned its attention to the post season, which will begin for us in Lawrence, KS tomorrow (Saturday) at 12 noon in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament (we received a bye as the #1 seed). Here is a full preview of our match tomorrow vs Oklahoma.

For one final look back at the regular season, I thought you might enjoy a few videos from the last weekend (LHN highlight summary) (LHN's full broadcast of the match). I am not completely sure that the link to the full broadcast will work for you, but it is worth a click to find out!

A few days ago, our local NBC affiliate did a very nice feature on Nevin Arimilli. You can watch it by clicking here. Similarly, our local FOX station did this story on Eliot Spizzirri. You can watch here. The quality on these videos are not the best, because they were taken with an I phone of the TV broadcast....but they are definitely worth watching!

In alumni news, Dr. Charles Fraser has been named the 1st ever John L. Hern Foundation Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery and Endowed Chair in Pediatric Organ Transplantation (click her for the announcement). Our team was fortunate enough to spend some time with Dr. Fraser earlier this year when we toured Dell Children's Hospital and visited his patients. We are looking forward to continuing our relationship with Dr. Fraser, who is doing amazing life saving work for children!

I will be back in touch after the Big 12 tournament with a recap. Until then, have a great weekend, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque
 
Hi UT Tennis Fan,
I hope you are having a great week so far! Our players have now completed final exams, and are fully focused on the NCAA tournament. We will begin play as the #1 overall seed this Saturday at the Texas Tennis Center at 1 pm vs Texas A&M, Corpus Christi. Should we advance we will play our 2nd round vs the winner of UTSA and Pepperdine on Sunday at 1 pm. A record crowd of over 1,300 fans showed up at our last home match, and we are expecting big crowds to close out the home season at the NCAA Championships. If you are in town, I hope you will plan on coming out to support this very special team! You can click here for the the NCAA draw press release, and here for our NCAA Regional tournament central. Should we advance through NCAA regionals this weekend, we will host the NCAA Round of 16 match on Saturday, May 13. After the NCAA team tournament is complete, we will have several players compete in the NCAA Individuals. Here is the full release on NCAA Individuals, including Eliot Spizzirri entering as the #1 seed.

Looking back to the non-conference and conference season, we finished with a record of 22-3, and the number 1 national ranking. Several of our players were also recognized by the Big 12 for Conference awards, most notably Eliot Spizzirri being named Big 12 Player of the Year. Here is the press release on these Big 12 Awards.

Thanks so much for all your great support this year. All the best, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque
 
It seems like this thread is mostly about men's tennis, so I can move this elsewhere.

But, the Women are seeded #9 and only got one doubles team in the tournament. Our potential quarterfinal against the #1 notwithstanding, I do think we have the talent to match up against most teams.

It's so odd to me that Zein, the transfer from Florida, has not played much. She was pretty touted. Is she injured? Is she staying a second year? I know she was a graduate transfer, but with COVID years, I'm lost.

Hook 'em all around!!!
 
Hi UT Tennis Fan,
Happy Friday! Just wanted to connect quickly with a preview of our opening round in the NCAA Championship, which will be tomorrow at 1 pm vs Texas A&M Corpus Christi at the Texas Tennis Center. For a full preview please click on today's press release. Eliot Spizzirri, Siem Woldeab, and I had the opportunity to talk with the local media a few days ago about the team, and the upcoming tournament. I thought Eliot and Siem did a great job presenting themselves and our team. Here is the press conference.

If you are in town we hope to see you at the courts Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm. If you can't make it you will be able follow along via the live stream and score links that you can find on our Post Season Central page. Have a great weekend, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque
 
UTexRulz23 said:
It seems like this thread is mostly about men's tennis, so I can move this elsewhere.

But, the Women are seeded #9 and only got one doubles team in the tournament. Our potential quarterfinal against the #1 notwithstanding, I do think we have the talent to match up against most teams.

It's so odd to me that Zein, the transfer from Florida, has not played much. She was pretty touted. Is she injured? Is she staying a second year? I know she was a graduate transfer, but with COVID years, I'm lost.

Hook 'em all around!!!
Click to expand...

Also, why hasn’t Vivian played?
 
Hi UT Tennis Fan,
It was another great day yesterday at the Texas Tennis Center, as we defeated Pepperdine 4-0 in the NCAA 2nd round (we beat A&M Corpus Christi on Saturday) to advance to the Sweet 16 (match recap).

We will face #14 North Carolina this coming Saturday at 3 pm, once again at the TTC. This will absolutely be the last home match of the year. We have had record breaking home support this season, and we are asking for everyone's help in recruiting fans to come out on Saturday, and help us once again break our attendance record. Please feel free to spread the promotional flyer (attached at the top of this e-mail, and pictured below) to every single person and group of people that you can think of. We are planning some fun promotional events, and hope to have a carnival like atmosphere outside the courts before the match. Out of towners will be able to follow along via live scoring, streaming, and the Cracked Rackets broadcast. Those links will be available later in the week once the match preview is released. Have a great week, and Hook'em!

mail

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque
 
Hi UT Tennis Fan,
I am writing with a final check in about tomorrow's Sweet 16 match vs North Carolina. The match will be played tomorrow regardless of weather. Right now, it is scheduled for 3 pm at the Texas Tennis Center. The weather forecast is a little shaky, so the time could be pushed back, and there is also a chance the match could be moved indoors. Stay tuned to our website and social media for any updates. Here is a full preview, and here is a link to interviews that Pierre, Cleeve, and I did with the local media earlier in the week. Finally here are two nice articles from the Austin American-Statesman this week, one on the team's journey at NCAA's and one specifically on Eliot Spizzirri. Hope you enjoy!

Please help us spread the word about tomorrow's big match. You can use the promotional flyer attached to this e-mail if you like. Hope to see you tomorrow. This team needs all the help it can get in its final home match of the year! Hook'em!

mail

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque
 
10SNE1? said:
Just got into Orlando this morning. I'll be rooting for both Texas teams! This will be my 4th straight NCAAs to attend! Super excited!
Click to expand...
You must have been confident. Texas men just won 4-0 over UNC.
 
10SNE1? said:
Oh, I was keeping up with the scores when I responded and we were looking good.
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Yeah but you had already arrived in Florida. I get you would enjoy the championships regardless but it’s a bet nonetheless.
 
mchammer said:
Yeah but you had already arrived in Florida. I get you would enjoy the championships regardless but it’s a bet nonetheless.
Click to expand...

There's nothing like this type of tennis environment. I totally get it if Texas doesn't make it here. Im here for good tennis no matter if Texas makes it or not. My brother and I have already stated that we'll most likely attend the NCAA Championships every year.
 
Women win the doubles 2-1 to win the tiebreaker point against No. 1 UNC.
 
mchammer said:
Women win the doubles 2-1 to win the tiebreaker point against No. 1 UNC.
Click to expand...
Texas women win one singles and leading in another before losing 4-2. They lost 2 matches by losing 5-7 in the second set. In short, a lot closer than I would have expected.
 
Hi UT Tennis Fan,
Greetings from Orlando, Florida where we have been busy preparing for tomorrow's NCAA Championship Quarterfinal match vs South Carolina. I'm going to keep this short, because there is still work to be done tonight! Here is a full preview of tomorrow's match, which includes links to live video, broadcast, and scoring. Here is a link to our Men's Tennis Post Season Central page.

In case you missed the news of our round of 16 home win over North Carolina on Saturday night, here is the match recap.

Have a great night, and Hook'em!

Sincerely,
Bruce Berque
 
Post-Match Quotes from Texas Head Coach Howard Joffe

On the match tonight against North Carolina …

Obviously, I'm bitterly disappointed with the outcome but in no way disappointed with the team. I couldn't be any more thrilled with the way they handled themselves and handled the season. We went against the top-ranked team in the country and there really wasn't too much separation. I feel like Taya (Taisiya Pachkaleva on court 4) was headed to get us to 3 (third point), and then Malaika (Rapolu, court 6) was 3-0 up in the second set and Charlotte (Chavatipon, court 2) was up 5-2 in her second set. There was definitely the ability to win that match. Over time, it will maybe hurt for the ladies a little bit more. Like I said, we are disappointed in the outcome but not even a sniff of disappointment with our players.



On the overall season …

I'm so happy for our players. They turned real potential lemons into lemonade this year. I can't be anything but proud of them. It's no secret that we were a little bit short-staffed with Vivian (Ovrootsky) out for the season due to injury. We played the last six weeks of the season with only six scholarship players. There were lots of tumult and distress and disappointments for a fairly young team or at least a team with four new faces, and what they did here in the last six weeks was remarkable. They won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the Elite Eight and were perhaps five or six points away from beating North Carolina tonight.
 
What is going on at the men’s tennis tournament? Rain delay until Friday?
 
mchammer said:
What is going on at the men’s tennis tournament? Rain delay until Friday?
Click to expand...

Qtrs resumes Friday morning, Semis on Saturday, and Finals on Sunday! Damn! I have an early flight out of Orlando on Sunday! Seriously thinking of taking a later flight now. Geezzz
 
Not to derail this season and this is very off topic but looking at the weather this time of year for Stillwater where next year's Championships will be held, it doesn't look like ideal tennis weather! :brickwall:
 
Interesting recruiting comment from the Men's coach:

The bulk of the team is going to be back next year, and I'm pretty sure we're going to add some good recruits.
 
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