Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Rice
Men's Tennis Upsets No. 30 Rice
February 17, 2007 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 17, 2007
LUBBOCK, Texas - The No. 43 Texas Tech men's tennis team upset No. 30 Rice today at the Falls Country Club. Tech improves their record to 5-2 handing Rice their second loss of season and defeating their fourth top 40 ranked opponent.
To begin the match, the Red Raiders were unable to capture the doubles point. The No. 1 duo of Christian Rojmar and Bojan Szumanski were the first to suffer a loss at the hands of Rice's Knupfer and Scheil. Tech's seniors Dimitrio Martinez and Teddy DiBlasi avenged for their team and took down Harknett and Zivojinovic, tying up the score 1-1.
With the fate of the doubles point resting on the No. 2 court, Michael Breler and Sinisa Markovic went toe-to-toe with Owl's Muller and Mok. The match went back and forth with the score deadlocked at 5-5. Rice managed to pull ahead 7-5, but Breler served Tech back into the match at 7-6. Unfortunately, Muller and Mok squeezed by winning the next game and doubles point, putting Rice ahead 1-0 heading into singles.
In singles, Tech captain Martinez was the first to put his team on the board winning over Filip Paroci, 6-4, 6-2, and improving his singles record to 5-0 this season. The Owl's retaliated notching in two wins over Tech's No. 12 Szumanski and No. 92 Markovic, putting Rice ahead 3-1. In the No. 4 spot Rojmar captured a big win for the Raiders over Rice's Christoph Muller, ending a two-match losing streak and putting the score at 3-2.
In the last two matches of the day, it was Breler and Kustudija for the Red Raiders taking on Jason Mok and Filip Zivojinovic of Rice. On the No. 6 court, Kustudija edged out the first set victory, 7-5, but Zivojinovic turned the tables capping a 6-2 win in the second set. Tech's Kustudija came back in the third set and pulled away with the win, 6-3, tying the overall score 3-3.
Meanwhile, with the fate of the match on the line, playing in the No. 5 spot was Tech's Breler against Mok. Breler took the first set 6-3, but Mok wouldn't go down without a fight winning the second 7-6 and pushing the final match of the day into a third set. Both players went head-to-head with the lead volleying back and forth until the very end. With the crowd and his teammates cheering him on, Breler served for the 6-5 lead and held off Mok to take the 7-5 win.
"Heading into the third set I was getting tired and my legs were really cramping up. I couldn't have pulled off this win without them (his teammates)," said Breler. "I think as a team we're getting a whole lot better, and we're becoming a tough team to beat. This is a huge win for us."
Tech's 4-3 victory over Rice was the third victory over a top 40 team the Red Raiders have won without the aid of their No. 1 Szumanski. This is the second loss for Rice this season, as Tech notches one in the win column heading into one of the toughest schedules in program history.
"It was just a tremendous team effort," exclaimed head Coach Tim Siegel on the overall play of his team. "We have been able to win big matches this season because this is a tough group of guys. We are going to continue to improve and get better as we have a tough schedule left ahead of us."
The Red Raiders will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 27, as they host Abilene Christian at the McLeod Tennis Center. For more information and complete results visit www.texastech.com.
-TTU-
#43 Texas Tech, 4, #30 Rice, 3
Doubles: 1, 3, 2*
1. Knupfer/Scheil (RU) def. Szumanski/Rojmar (TTU), 8-4
2. Muller/Mok (RU) def. Breler/Markovic (TTU), 8-6
3. Martinez/DiBlasi (TTU) def. Harknett/Zivojinovic (RU), 8-4
Singles: 2, 1, 3, 4, 6, 5*
1. #50 Ben Harknett (RU) def. #12 Bojan Szumanski (TTU), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
2. Dimitrio Martinez (TTU) def. Filip Paroci (RU), 6-4, 6-2
3. Ralph Knupfer (RU) def. #92 Sinisa Markovic (TTU), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
4. Christian Rojmar (TTU) def. Christoph Muller (RU), 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-4
5. Michael Breler (TTU) def. Jason Mok (RU), 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5
6. Milos Kustadija (TTU) def. Filip Zivojinovic (RU), 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
Players Mentioned
