Texas Tech Athletics
Harvard-NCAA 1st Round
Red Raiders Rally Past Harvard at NCAA Championships
May 10, 2008 | Men's Tennis
May 10, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Texas Tech men's tennis team moved past No. 51 Harvard today, 4-2, in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Championships. Next up the No. 17 Red Raiders (20-5) will face-off with host No. 16 Michigan Wolverines (18-6) tomorrow, May 11, at 2 p.m. (EDT).
"I knew that Harvard would be a very tough opponent," commented head coach Tim Siegel. "I am very pleased with the way we played in doubles, despite not having Michael and still playing the way they did was incredible. Also, I can't say enough about our No. 1 and 2 singles players, who just played great tennis today. Now we face a tough Michigan team tomorrow to see who advances to the Sweet 16 in Tulsa."
Tech began the match taking the doubles point for the 14th time this season with wins on courts two and three. Milos Kustudija and Sinisa Markovic teamed for the first time at No. 2, putting forth a dominating performance over Harvard's Alexei Chijoff-Evans and Michael Hayes winning 8-2. The senior duo of Ilya Babinciuc and Lenoir Ramos clinched their third doubles point of the season as they sealed the early 1-0 lead for the Red Raiders over UH's Aba Omodele-Lucien and Dan Nguyen, 8-4.
In singles action, Babinciuc found his 26th singles win of the season defeating Sasha Ermakov, 6-2, 6-2. The Crimson quickly retaliated by taking the next two wins at positions five and six in straight sets, with Christian Rojmar the first to fall to Chijoff-Evans, 6-2, 6-2. Kustudija moved into the six spot for only the second time this season, filling in for teammate Michael Breler who sat out the match due to illness. Despite his best efforts, Kustudija was unable to stall UH's Omodele-Lucien losing in a close second set tiebreaker, 7-5. No. 33 senior Bojan Szumanski gave Tech its third point rolling over Ashwin Kumar at No. 1, winning 6-1, 6-4.
The Red Raiders needed only one point to advance them to the second round of the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. The final two matches rested on courts two and three, where TTU's No. 119 Markovic was going head-to-head with UH's No. 117 Chris Clayton in the second set, and Ramos took Nguyen to a third set. After taking the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-3, Markovic was up 5-4 in the second needing a break over Clayton to win the match. The advantage went back and forth between the two players, but after six deuces Markovic capitalized on his second match point and prevailed over Clayton, winning 6-4. This is fourth time Markovic has clinched the match for the Red Raiders this season as he improves his record to 20-4 in dual matches.
"Winning this match for my team feels great because these are the moments to play for. We have great team spirit, and it was awesome to have the team and our fans cheer me on," Markovic exclaimed after putting away the fourth point for the Red Raiders. As one of the top singles players on the team, he believes the team will be able to overcome the home court advantage against the Wolverines in tomorrow's match. "I have confidence in my team and believe if we can come out and get a good start in doubles, then we can continue to play well and find the wins we need in singles."
For complete results, match photos, and more information of today's match, visit the men's tennis page at www.texastech.com. Live updates for tomorrow's match will be available via Michigan's Web site, or log on to http://livestats.mgoblue.com/tennis/index-m.html.
#17 Texas Tech - 4
#51 Harvard - 2
Varsity Tennis Center
Ann Arbor, Mich.
NCAA Championships-First Round
Doubles: 2, 3*
1. #13 Rojmar/Szumanski (TTU) vs. #34 Ermakov/Kumar(UH); 6-4
2. Kustudija/Markovic (TTU) def. Evans/Hayes (UH); 8-2
3. Babinciuc/Ramos (TTU) def. Lucien/Nguyen (UH); 8-4
Singles: 4, 5, 1, 6, 2*
1. #33 Bojan Szumanski (TTU) def. Ashwin Kumar (UH); 6-1, 6-4
2. #119 Sinisa Markovic (TTU) def. #117 Chris Clayton (UH); 7-6(3), 6-4
3. Lenoir Ramos (TTU) vs. Dan Nguyen (UH); 3-6, 6-3, 3-2
4. Ilya Babinciuc (TTU) def. Sasha Ermakov (UH); 6-2, 6-2
5. Alexei Chijoff-Evans (UH) def. Christian Rojmar (TTU); 6-2, 6-2
6. Aba Omodele-Lucien (UH) def. Milos Kustudija (TTU); 6-2, 7-6(5)
Players Mentioned
