The Cowboys' Big 12 Championship run is over.
Oklahoma State fell to the top-seeded Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship semifinals at Greenwood Tennis Center on Saturday, 4-1.
The Cowboys are 0-3 against the Longhorns this season with 4-1, 6-1 and 4-1 losses. The Cowboys will return to action May 3 in the NCAA Championships. OSU coach Dustin Taylor said to prepare for the NCAAs, his team is going to have to outwork the rest of the country.
“Simple as that,” Taylor said. “We showed that we have the level. Now we got to show ourselves and show everyone else that we have the legs, heart and mind to go toe-to-toe with three, four teams back-to-back-to-back. This team's got the heart, and they're getting the mind. We just got to get the legs in the next two weeks and peak in May, which has been our theme all year.”
There was a bit of deja vu in the match, as the Cowboys and Longhorns went into a tiebreaker to decide the doubles point. On Court 2, OSU’s Alex Garcia and Francsico Pini were taken down, 6-3. On Court 3, Alessio Basile and Leighton Allen responded back, taking one for the Cowboys, 6-4.
It came down to OSU’s Tyler Zink and Isaac Becroft on Court 1, the same duo that decided the last doubles point against Texas. The duo brought the match into a tiebreaker. After a hard-fought battle, Zink and Becroft won their match and secured the doubles point for OSU, 7-6 (5).
Two matches in a row against Texas, Zink and Becroft secured the doubles point in a tiebreaker. The duo has won their last five doubles matches against Baylor, Oklahoma, UCF and twice against Texas. Becroft said that when he and Zink play together, they are up there with the best in the country.
“I think that gives the other boys some confidence knowing that we just need to get one of the other two,” Becroft said. “It's been great. It's just been all around doubles, it's not just two teams. It's all three of us working together, and it's been crucial giving us a shot in all these matches.”
In singles, the Longhorns did what they do best: be physical. The Longhorns took four of the first six sets. The Longhorns put the pressure on the Cowboys.
On Court 3, No. 96 Garcia was taken down, 6-0, 6-1. On Court 6, OSU’s Ty Wunderlich was taken down 6-0, 6-1. On Court 1, No. 23 Zink and No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri went into a third set, but Zink was unable to close it out, 6-2, 2-6, 1-6.
Despite the loss, the Cowboys had their best performance against Texas this season. Three of the singles matches went into third sets. Taylor said it was special to see the team embrace the pressure and the moment.
“To take the doubles point like they did, and then to come out the way that some of them did in singles was a really good sign,” Taylor said. “Doubles is in great shape. We got to continue to build on, but again there were lots of positives today.”