Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raider Tennis Kicks Off 2007 Season
February 01, 2007 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 1, 2007
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LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech men's tennis returns to action on Fri., Feb. 2, 2007, as they host Samford at 8:30 p.m., and Sun., Feb. 4, at 11 a.m. against No. 62 Denver at the Falls Country Club. Friday's match against Prairie View A&M has been cancelled due to weather.
In his 15th year as the head coach of the Red Raiders, Tim Siegel continues to mold his team into one of the top competitors in the Big 12 Conference and the nation. With six out of seven players returning from last year's roster, Coach Siegel and company have reason to be excited about the upcoming season, which will hopefully result in a return to the NCAA Championships.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Of the three matches, Sunday will feature No. 21 ranked Adam Holmstrom in the No. 1 singles spot for the Pioneers. This will be the first meeting between the two programs, as the line-up for Denver will give Tech its first pre-conference challenge.
IN THE RANKINGS
The 2006 team ended the season No. 48 nationally with an overall record of 13-11, 2-5 in Big 12 play, including losing four matches with a score of 4-3 against top 30 ranked teams. Tech enters the season ranked No. 44, with two players, Bojan Szumanski and Sinisa Markovic, ranked No. 12 and 92 respectively.
SENIOR SPOTLIGHT
Leading this year's squad is senior captain Dimitrio Martinez. Martinez ended last season playing in the No. 2 singles spot with a record of 16-10. He is currently ranked fourth in Tech's record book in career singles victories with 48. In 2006, he also received All-Big 12 honors and was named to the second team Academic All-Big 12.
Another aspect of the game Tech looks to strengthen is their doubles play. One of the most successful combination last year was senior Teddy DiBlasi and Markovic as they compiled a 9-6 record. DiBlasi, who Assistant Coach Petar Danolic calls "a very important part of the team, especially as a doubles player," also had an 8-11 singles record playing mostly in the No. 6 slot.
BOJAN'S BACK
Junior Szumanski returns to action this year following a redshirt season spent rehabbing an injury. Szumanski is currently ranked 12th in the nation in the pre-season coaches poll as a result of his play this fall.
In the fall of 2006, he compiled a 12-3 record winning the Midland Racket Club Championship and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championship, the first time in school history for this event.
As far as Szumanski is concerned, filling the No. 1 spot is nothing new as he occasionally played there during the 2005 season where he compiled a record of 26-9 overall. This earned him a spot in the NCAA Singles Championship along with All-Big 12 Singles honors.
"Bojan had a great fall considering he took last season off because of an injury. If anything, it has helped him become a better player," Siegel said. "He is one of the best players in the country, and we will be counting on him to lead our team both on and off the court."
LIVE STATS
Each home match will be made available through live stats from the team's Web site. For further information and full results visit www.texastech.com.
-TTU-
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