BOX SCORE

AUSTIN, Texas (SMU) – Mustang Men's Tennis fell on the road, 6-1, to the No. 8 Texas Longhorns on Sunday from the Texas Tennis Center with junior Carles Sarrio knocking off the fourth-ranked player in the country.

"I was proud of the guys for the way they fought against a very, very good team," said head coach Grant Chen. "Texas is very strong this year and they are ranked up high for a reason. Nine different players competed today, a lot of action. A lot of positive we can take back to Dallas as we continue to build and grow throughout the season."

Sarrio was lined up against No. 4 Christian Sigsgaard of Texas on line one. Sarrio battled tough in the first set to take it 6-4. The transfer from Auburn then rolled in the second winning the set without dropping a game, 6-0. Sarrio, the 51^st ranked player in the nation, added the effort to his perfect week where he did not lose a set in singles or doubles.

"At the beginning it was tied and we were holding serves," said Sarrio. "But then I got my first break. I got confidence in my game that's why I kept playing well. Second set, I was feeling good about my game, and took it 6-0. Beating number four in the country is a great experience, I think it's my best college victory."

Texas took the doubles point against the Mustangs using a pair of 6-1 victories over the parings of Michael Smith/Andrew Buhelos and Avery Pennywell/Tomas Vaise. Sarrio and Huntley Allen faced off with No. 33 Sigsgaard/Scott duo and held their own, as the match was tied at 3-3 when the doubles point was clinched.

Gardiner Perotti won the first set against No, 103 Chih Chi Huang 6-4 before dropping the next, 6-1. He would fall in the tiebreaker trying to secure the second Mustang point of the match.

Roberto Rosales fell in his line two match with No. 18 Yuya Ito, 6-0, 6-2. Tomas Vaise played line three losing against Leonardo Telles, 6-4, 6-2. Jan-Simon Vrbsky dropped each set 6-4 in his loss to Harrison Scott and freshman Huntley Allen came out on the wrong end of a 6-2, 6-0 decision to Rodrigo Banzer.,
 
The three sets the Mustangs won were the only ones dropped by Texas this year as the Longhorns were perfect in their opener against Ole Miss.
 
Next up, the Mustang return to the SMU Tennis Complex for a doubleheader with Northern Colorado and Nebraska on Saturday, Jan 26.

"We pushed a really good, well-coached team.," added Chen. "We'll go back to the drawing board. We'll practice Monday and look forward to our double header on Saturday."