NCAA Tennis: No. 1 US player Eliot Spizzirri upset by Ollie Wallin as Texas Longhorns beat Texas Tech Red Raiders 4-1

Despite being ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division I men’s singles rankings, Elliot Spizziri of the Texas Longhorns was upset by Ollie Wallin of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Despite this loss, the University of Texas was able to secure a victory over their rivals with a score of 4-1 on Saturday (March 30).

The Longhorns, ranked No. 4 in the men’s tennis team rankings, traveled to Lubbock for a match against Texas Tech. The duo of Lucas Brown and Cleeve Harper led the way, defeating Niksa Arsic and Olle Wallin 6-3 to start the match off strong.

The visitors continued their winning streak in the next doubles match, as Pierre-Yves Bailly and Eshan Talluri defeated Reed Collier and Takeyasu Sekiguchi with a score of 6-4. The singles matches followed, where the Lonhorns’ Cleeve Harper and Lucas Brown dominated, winning against Sebastian Abboud and Takeyasu Sekiguchi 6-2, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-1, respectively.

At a score of 4-0, the University of Texas put their star player Eliot Spizzirri on the court to face off against Ollie Wallin, who is ranked No. 56. Spizzirri is currently the top-performing college tennis player and was recognized as the ITA National Player of the Year in the previous year.

Despite his height advantage at 6’1″, the American was unable to outplay his lower-ranked opponent Wallin. Despite having a set point in the first set, Wallin was able to save it and ultimately win the set 7-6(6). Unfortunately, the national No. 1 was unable to bounce back from this defeat and ultimately lost the second set and the entire match by a score of 7-6(6), 6-2.

After a hard-fought play-in tie, the Longhorns emerged victorious in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships. Jonah Braswell secured their win by defeating Piotr Pawlak from the Red Raiders with a score of 7-5, 6-2 in the final match.

Stanford University claimed victory at the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships in 2019

In 2019, the Texas Longhorns achieved their first and only victory at the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships, the yearly intercollegiate tournament sponsored by the National College Athletic Association.

During their title-winning season, the University of Texas only lost 3 out of their 32 total matches. They were also the second-place finishers at the championships in 1955 and 2008, falling to the USC Trojans and Georgia Bulldogs, respectively.

The 2019 champions have continued to perform well in the 2024 season and have a strong chance at winning their second NCAA title. They have dominated in all five of their matches so far, defeating teams such as the USC Trojans, UCF Knights, TCU Horned Frogs, BYU Cougars and Texas Tech Red Raiders convincingly.