©Colette Lewis 2026–
Dallas TX–
“It’s amazing,” said Berque, who led Texas to its first NCAA team championship in 2019. “Truthfully, I’m surprised, particularly because I didn’t think we would hold up physically. But the guys were super, super tough and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Texas showed that toughness in the doubles point, with all three matches decided in a tiebreaker. Ohio State’s Alex Okonkwo and Alex Bernard had four match points in two separate games against Ivanovski and Abel Forger at line 1; at line 2 Buckeyes Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico had a match point against Sebastian Gorzny and Lucas Marionneau at 4-5, and at line 3, Ohio State’s Bryce Nakashima and Aidan Kim also had a match point at 4-5, against Oliver Ojakaar and Sebastian Eriksson.
But Texas saved all six, and went on to win the tiebreakers 7-6(5) at 2 and 7-6(3) at 3 to take the lead.
Texas, who had lost the doubles point when they dropped a 4-1 decision to Ohio State late last month in Columbus, knew the Buckeyes would immediately bounce back from the frustration of those missed opportunities in doubles.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from Ohio State,” said Berque, who watched as his team dropped four first sets in singles. “And I also think that when your back is against the wall, you come out swinging.”
The Buckeyes certainly did that, getting first sets from, in order, Nikita Filin at line 6, Bryce Nakashima at line 5, Jack Anthrop at line 3 and Alexander Okonkwo at line 4.
Okonkwo was making his debut in singles this tournament, but Ohio State head coach Ty Tucker liked his matchups at line 5 and line 6 with Okonkwo, who had been pulled from the No. 4 spot in the three previous matches, in tonight’s lineup.
Whether Tucker expected a point from Okonkwo is anyone’s guess, but the junior, a transfer from Tulsa, delivered one, beating Sebastian Eriksson 7-6(1), 6-2. That point tied the score at 2, with Jack Anthrop having beaten Forger 6-3, 6-2 at line 3 to put Ohio State on the board and Sebastian Gorzny giving Texas its second point with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Aidan Kim at line 1.
Meanwhile, Texas, which needed at least one split to have a path to four points, had earned two, with Marionneau taking the second set from Filin at line 6 and Ojakaar taking the second set from Nakashima at line 5. The third match remaining, on court 2, was still at 3-3 in the second set, with Kalinovski taking the first set from Preston Stearns in a tiebreaker.
At line 6, Filin, who had not lost a dual match all season, fell behind 0-40 serving at 3-4, and although he forced a deciding point, Marionneau took it, and went up 40-0 serving for match at 5-3. Again Filin forced a deuce point, and again Marionneau won it, coming up with a good first serve and hitting his backhand approach behind Filin for a winner to put Texas up 3-2.
Ojakaar was up 3-2 in the third set at line 5, while Stearns was saving two break points at 3-4 in the second set to keep Ivanovski from serving for the match. But Ivanovski’s huge first serve made his next hold a simple one, and serving at 4-5, Stearns found himself down 15-30. After netting a forehand to give Ivanovski three match points, Stearns saved the first, when Ivanovski sent his forehand pass long, but Ivanovski’s second serve return forced another netted forehand from Stearns, and the Longhorns had their title.
Ivanovski, who joined the team this spring after nearly two years of battling hip and back injuries, celebrated his clinching victory by shedding his shirt and leading his teammates in a run around the courts, a scenario he couldn’t imagine three months ago.
“The injuries are one of the reasons I chose college, and I’m very glad that I did, because this is one hell of an experience,” said the 21-year-old from Macedonia, who has a career-high ATP ranking of 305. “I really love it, it’s something very new to me.”
Ohio State head coach Ty Tucker was impressed by Ivanovski’s ability to get the ace or service winner when he most needed it.
“Ivanovski came up huge; it felt like eight or nine aces or service winners on eight or nine break points,” Tucker said. “That was a high quality match, and the guy came up with it.”
Ivanovski, who admits his fitness is not yet where it needs to be, said having the encouragement of his teammates helped when he needed a boost of energy.
“On the important points, when I felt tired, I just had a lot of positive talk,” Ivanovski said. “The guys bring it out of me, because you’re not just playing for yourself, you’re playing for the whole team. I can’t even explain the feeling, it’s just incredible. It’s nothing like playing on the pro tour. It’s amazing and I’m very proud of the guys.”
Berque, who had faith that improving health would allow his team to produce these kind of results, can raise his expectations now as they head into the SEC season this weekend.
“My goal was to win two matches at this tournament and not get hurt any worse than we were,” Berque said. “We won four and they seem to be feeling ok, so we’ve got extra credit, I guess. It was a great competitive match.”
After his team suffered its first defeat of the season after three close wins to reach the final, Tucker was philosophical in assessing the loss.
“It’s the bee’s nose here and the bee’s nose there,” Tucker said of the small margins in this era of college tennis. “We came out on the right side against SMU and Stanford, Virginia, and that’s part of it. But we’ll go back, get healthy and get ready to play some more tennis.”
As the Longhorns posed for photos with NBA Hall of Famer and former Dallas Maverick Dirk Nowitski and Dallas resident John Isner, the first national indoor title in program history now has all the Burnt Orange fans in attendance and throughout the state and country dreaming of another national title in Athens in May.
ITA Men’s Division I Team Indoor Championships
Finals, Tuesday February 17, 2026
Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex, SMU
Texas[3] d. Ohio State[1] 4-2
Doubles:
1. Alex Okonkwo and Alexander Bernard(OSU) v Abel Forger and Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) 7-6(6-5), unf
2. Sebastian Gorzny and Lucas Marionneau(TEX) d. Brandon Carpico and Nikita Filin(OSU) 7-6(5)
3. Sebastian Eriksson and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima(OSU) 7-6(3)
Order of finish: 2, 3,
Singles:
1. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) d. Aidan Kim(OSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Kalin Ivanovski(TEX) d. Preston Stearns(OSU) 7-5, 6-4
3. Jack Anthrop(OSU) d. Abel Forger(TEX) 6-3, 6-2
4. Alex Okonkwo(OSU) d. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) 7-6(1), 6-2
5. Bryce Nakashima(OSU) v. Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) 6-3, 3-6, 2-2, unf.
6. Lucas Marionneau(TEX) d. Nikita Filin(OSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 4, 6, 2