Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Upended by Aggies, 4-3
April 25, 2008 | Men's Tennis
April 25, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The home court advantage proved to be the deciding factor in the Texas Tech men's tennis team's 4-3 loss today to Texas A&M at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The Red Raiders end its regular season 19-5 as the team awaits its next opponent at the 2008 NCAA Tennis Tournament.
The battle began in doubles as both the Red Raiders and Aggies were evenly matched on all three courts. The No. 60 team of Michael Breler and Sinisa Markovic couldn't quite stall A&M's Mike Beatty and Wil Spencer, falling 8-4. On court three Tech's Ilya Babinciuc and Lenny Ramos and A&M's Matt Bain and Chris Chirico both broke one another twice during the match, but it was Babinciuc and Ramos who pulled ahead in the tiebreaker winning 7-4.
The final doubles match featured TTU's No. 14-ranked Christian Rojmar and Bojan Szumanski against A&M's No. 15-ranked Austin Krajicek and Conor Pollock. Tech began the match breaking Pollock's serve, but at 6-5 A&M broke Szumanski to even up the score. The final point was played in a nail-biting tiebreaker as Szumanski and Rojmar stunned the Aggies and came out with the 9-7 victory. This was the fifth clincher for the duo this season as they improved to 7-6 versus ranked opponents.
Singles play proved no different as it was a fight for points on every court. Bain put the Aggies on the scoreboard with a win over Rojmar in straight sets. No. 39 Szumanski avenged his loss earlier this season to No. 21 Conor Pollock by winning in straight sets himself, putting the Raiders up 2-1. The Aggies moved in, however, and took the next two wins at No. 3 and 6, as Tech's Breler ended a six match win streak with a straight set loss to A&M's Kayvon Karimi.
Tech's No. 107 Markovic managed to squeak by the Aggies' Spencer on court two, winning both sets in a tiebreaker. The match was decided on the No. 4 court as A&M's Chris Chirico battled back from being down 4-1 in the third set to take a 7-5 win from senior Babinciuc, giving the Aggies the 4-3 upset and ending the Red Raiders run at the Big 12 Tournament.
"Obviously for a number of reasons this was a difficult loss for us today," said Head Coach Tim Siegel. "Had we wond we would of had a chance to host an NCAA Regional, being up 4-1, 40-15, on court four, and our No. 6 player having not dropped a conference match all year and losing in straight sets. It was a great college match and Texas A&M did well today. This will be a tough match for us to swallow, but we will be able to bounce back as we prepare for the NCAA Tournament."
Next up the Red Raiders will await its position in the 2008 NCAA Tennis Championships following the ITA rankings released on Monday. The team will host a selection show watch party this Tues., April 29, beginning at 1 p.m. at the Rawls Golf Course. For more information and complete results of this season, log on to www.texastech.com.
#16 Texas Tech - 3
#27 Texas A&M -4
Big 12 Tournament-Round 1
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
Doubles: 2, 3, 1*
1. #14 Rojmar/Szumanski (TTU) def. #15 Krajicek/Pollock (TAMU); 9-8(7)
2. Beatty/Spencer (TAMU) def. #60 Breler/Markovic (TTU); 8-4
3. Babinciuc/Ramos (TTU) def. Bain/Chirico (TAMU); 9-8(4)
Singles: 5, 1, 3, 6, 2, 4*
1. #39 Bojan Szumanski (TTU) def. #21 Conor Pollock (TAMU); 6-3, 6-2
2. #107 Sinisa Markovic (TTU) def. Wil Spencer (TAMU); 7-6(2), 7-6(4)
3. Austin Krajicek (TAMU) def. Lenoir Ramos (TTU); 6-1, 7-5
4. Chris Chirico (TAMU) def. Ilya Babinciuc (TTU); 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
5. Matt Bain (TAMU) def. Christian Rojmar (TTU); 6-4, 6-1
6. Kayvon Karimi (TAMU) def. Michael Breler (TTU); 6-4, 6-4
Players Mentioned
