Men's Tennis Rally, Upset No. 47 Sooners, 4-3

BOULDER ? On a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon the University of Colorado men’s tennis team turned another 4-3 loss into a 4-3 victory, upsetting No. 47 Oklahoma in an exciting Big 12 Conference nail-biter at the South Campus Tennis Courts.

After losing the doubles point and trailing 1-0, the young Buffaloes stormed back and rallied to win four of six singles slots to defeat the Sooners for the first time since 2002 and break a four-match losing streak.

So far this dual season, CU had come up on the short end four other times in 4-3 losses. Three of the four times have been against nationally ranked opponents, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 31 Boise State, and No. 35 Louisville.

But not this time against No. 47 Oklahoma (14-11, 4-7).

Jan Zelezny (No. 1), Marko Bundalo (No. 2), Peter Bjork (No. 3), and Marek Dvorak (No. 5) flexed their muscle in their respective singles slots and claimed victories helping CU improve to 9-13 overall and 2-4 in the Big 12. It’s also the first time in three seasons that CU has defeated another conference opponent other than Nebraska.

Bundalo, who now has won three straight at No. 2 was the decisive point that put the home team in the winners’ circle rallying from a set down to win in a third set tie-breaker defeating Ondrej Fukala 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). It was Fukala’s first loss this spring (8-1) and only his second loss in 18 matches for the year.

“It was a complete team effort today,” said CU head coach Sam Winterbotham. “The guys that didn’t get the opportunity to go the court where the difference. Jack DePaolo, Justin Rofel, Elliot Quibell, Charlie Yemm, and Karthik Raju, all of them, they made the difference. We’ve been in that situation before. The guys knew what they had to do and they needed help to do it and those guys gave it to them.”

CU also held its own against OU’s pair of nationally ranked opponents to take victory themselves.

Zelezny upset the nation’s No. 52 ranked player in Marek Velicka, 6-4, 6-2; as did Bjork, upending No. 96 Alexei Ivanov 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. It was Velicka’s fifth loss in 21 matches this year.

Dvorak claimed the other CU point breaking a four-match losing skid to defeat Silviu Tanasoiu in another exciting match, 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-4.

On the season, Bundalo won his 19^th match, Dvorak his 18^th, while Bjork and Zelezny recorded their 14^th and 12^th match victories.

Sunday afternoon is the final conference match for the Buffaloes at home when CU takes on Texas Tech (21-2, 3-2). The Red Raiders are ranked No. 10 nationally. First serve is 1 p.m. at the South Campus Tennis Courts. In case of inclement weather, the match will be moved to the Millennium Hotel Bubble at 5 p.m.

No. 61 Colorado 4, No. 47 Oklahoma 3

CU (9-13, 2-4 Big 12), OU (17-5, 2-5)

April 23, South Boulder Tennis Courts

Boulder, Colo.

Doubles

1) Garrison/Fukala (OU) def. Digliodo/Tsuda 8-4

2) Velicka/Tanasoiu (OU) def. Bundalo/Bjork 9-8(4)

3) Dvorak/Zelezny (CU) def. Ivanov/Thomas 8-4

Singles

1) Jan Zelezny (CU) def. (52) Marek Velicka 6-4, 6-2

2) Marko Bundalo (CU) def. Ondrej Fukala 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)

3) Peter Bjork (CU) def. (96) Alexei Ivanov 3-6, 6-2, 6-3