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

Texas Longhorns' Elliot Spizziri, who is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division I men's singles rankings, suffered an upset at the hands of Texas Tech Red Raiders' Ollie Wallin. However, the University of Texas still came through as they beat their rivals 4-1 on Saturday (March 30).

The University of Texas, ranked No. 4 in the men's tennis teams rankings, visited Lubbock for a play-in match against Texas Tech. The Longhorns kicked off the proceedings in fine fashion, as the pair of Lucas Brown and Cleeve Harper overcame Niksa Arsic and Olle Wallin 6-3.

The next doubles fixture also went to the visitors with Pierre-Yves Bailly and Eshan Talluri beating Reed Collier and Takeyasu Sekiguchi 6-4. The singles fixtures were played next, with the Lonhorns' Cleeve Harper and Lucas Brown blanking Sebastian Abboud and Takeyasu Sekiguchi 6-2, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-1, respectively.

Already 4-0 up, the University of Texas fielded their top player Eliot Spizzirri against No. 56 Ollie Wallin. Spizzirri is the most in-form college tennis player at the moment and was honored as the ITA National Player of the Year last year.

The 6'1" American, however, was outplayed by the lower-ranked Wallin, who saved a set point in the opening set before taking it 7-6(6). The national No. 1 never recovered from his first-set blowout as he lost the second set and the match 7-6(6), 6-2.

The NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships play-in tie eventually went to the Longhorns, as Jonah Braswell beat Red Raiders' Piotr Pawlak 7-5, 6-2 in the final finished fixture.

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University of Texas won the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships in 2019

University of Texas

Texas Longhorns won their lone title at the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships, the annual men's intercollegiate championship sponsored by the National College Athletic Association, in 2019.

In their title-winning year, the University of Texas just dropped 3 of their 32 overall ties. They also finished runner-up at the championships in 1955 and 2008 to USC Trojans and Georgia Bulldogs, respectively.

The 2019 titlists have shown great form in the 2024 season and can push for a second NCAA title. They have won their five ties thus far in commanding fashion, beating the likes of USC Trojans, UCF Knights, TCU Horned Frogs, BYU Cougars and Texas Tech Red Raiders.