Jan. 22, 2016
AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 15 Texas Tech men’s tennis team will travel to the ITA Kickoff weekend Saturday and Sunday at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center hosted by the University of Texas.
The Red Raiders (6-0) will square off against No. 17 Ole Miss with a 1 p.m. CT first serve on Saturday. Tech will meet either No. 20 Texas or No. 21 Florida during Sunday’s action with the losers from Saturday taking the court at 10 a.m. CT followed by winners at 1 p.m. CT.
The four-team pod in Austin are separated by only six spots in this week’s Oracle/ITA rankings and own an average ITA ranking of 18.25 which ranks second only behind the group playing at Columbia. This weekend’s winner clinches a spot to the 16-team ITA National Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. from Feb. 12-15.
“After last weekend’s success, I’m really looking to see how we handle the pressure now that the stakes are higher in playing a national event,” Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. “I was impressed with how locked in we were as a team with us playing together for the first time as a group. Hopefully, we can use that to our advantage as we play some tough matches.”
Texas Tech produced an impressive 23-3 singles record over its six victories against then No. 41 New Mexico, Arizona and Pacific on opening weekend. The Red Raiders were fueled by 5-0 marks by Jolan Cailleau, Connor Curry and Bjorn Thomson. All 15 wins for the trio came in straight sets led by Curry who dropped a combined 14 games for the weekend.
Felipe Soares is the nation’s No. 8 singles player. He also holds the No. 2 doubles ranking with fellow Brazilian Hugo Dojas. Alex Sendegeya checks in with a No. 33 singles ranking.
“Each team we’ll face is in the Top 20 in the country, and we are away from home so we need to be ready to go from the start,” Masi said. “No matter who we face, it will be a good gauge to see where we stand in the early stages of the season against some of the best teams in the country.”
The Red Raiders face No. 17 Ole Miss with first serve scheduled for 1 p.m. CT. Texas Tech will face either No. 20 Texas or No. 21 Florida during Sunday’s action at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The two winners from Saturday’s action will meet at 1 p.m. whereas the two losers will take the court at 10 a.m. in Austin.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men’s tennis program. Fans also can follow the program and live match updates on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TechMensTennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
2016 ITA Kickoff Weekend — Weller Indoor Tennis Center
Saturday, January 23 — All Times Central
10 a.m. — No. 20 Texas vs. No. 21 Florida
1 p.m. — No. 15 Texas Tech vs. No. 17 Ole Miss
Sunday, January 24 — All Times Central
10 a.m. — Saturday’s losers
1 p.m. — Saturday’s winners
Read more at: http://www.texastech.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/012216aaa.html
