Texas Tech Athletics
Wisconsin
Babinciuc Rallies for 4-3 Win Over Wisconsin
March 14, 2008 | Men's Tennis
March 14, 2008
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Win number 13 nearly escaped the grasp of the No. 25 Red Raider tennis team yesterday as they edged Wisconsin, 4-3, at the 2008 Blue-Gray Tennis Classic. Texas Tech will meet their first top-20 ranked opponent of the season today in No. 19 Virginia Commonwealth at 1:30 p.m.
In what Head Coach Tim Siegel felt was their strongest doubles performance this season, Tech took a 1-0 lead over Wisconsin with wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions. No. 42-ranked Michael Breler and Sinisa Markovic took down Luke Rassow-Kantor and Jeremy Sonkin, 8-3, followed by the senior team of Ilya Babinciuc and Lenoir Ramos beating Felipe Bellido and Marek Michalika, 8-4.
Tech continued their momentum in singles as Christian Rojmar won over Bellido in straight sets at No. 4. He was followed by junior Breler, who tabbed in his 13th consecutive win at No. 6 by defeating Mike Dierberger 6-4, 6-0. Down a set on the remaining four singles courts, the Red Raiders struggled to find their fourth point. Wisconsin sunk in three straight wins in the top three singles courts, evening up the score at 3-3. The fate of the match rested on the No. 5 court as Tech's Babinciuc and UW's Sonkin were on serve in the third set. Babinciuc pushed himself to find a break, allowing him to clinch the match for his team with a 6-4 victory.
"Wisconsin is definitely the best team we've played this season. They are well coached and are definitely a tough team to beat," commented Siegel. "This was the best overall team effort we have had in a match this season, and I am proud that the guys really came together and fought hard, especially Ilya. He really has a lot of guts hanging in there like he did after his legs began to cramp in the third, and he really stepped up and proved huge for us today."
In the second round Tech will meet their highest ranked competitor this spring as they see the Rams for the fourth time in program history. At last year's Blue-Gray Tech suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of VCU, but retaliated by winning by the same margin in Los Angeles in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Rams sit 11-3 in duals after taking wins from several highly-ranked opponents in duals already this season.
Live scoring for each match is available via the tournament web site. For the complete draw, results, and more information, log on to www.bluegraytennis.com.
#25 Texas Tech - 4
#64 Wisconsin - 3
March 13, 2008
Doubles: 2, 3*
1. #2Rojmar/Szumanski (TTU) vs. Baumann/Polley (UW); DNF
2. #42Breler/Markovic (TTU) def. Rassow-Kantor/Sonkin (UW); 8-3
3. Babinciuc/Ramos (TTU) def. Bellido/Michaelicka (UW); 8-4
Singles: 5, 6, 2, 3, 1, 4*
1. #50 Moritz Baumann (UW) def. #35 Bojan Szumanski (TTU); 6-3, 6-7, 6-1
2. Marek Michalika (UW) def. Sinisa Markovic (TTU); 7-5, 7-6
3. #103 Nolan Polley (UW) def. Lenoir Ramos (TTU); 6-2, 7-6
4. Ilya Babinciuc (TTU) def. Jeremy Sonkin (UW); 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
5. Christian Rojmar (TTU) def. Felipe Bellido (UW); 6-3, 6-2
6. Michael Breler (TTU) def. Mike Dierberger (UW); 6-4, 6-0
Players Mentioned
