Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Set For NCAA Championships
May 06, 2008 | Men's Tennis
May 6, 2008
First & Second Round Match Notes
LUBBOCK, Texas - The No. 17 Texas Tech men's tennis team will begin its 2008 post season run beginning Sat., May 10, as the team travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., to meet No. 51 Harvard in the first round of the NCAA Championships at 2 p.m. (EDT). The winner will advance to face host No. 16 Michigan or Western Michigan on Sun., May 11, at 2 p.m. (EDT).
The regional winner advances to the 16-team NCAA Championships field which will compete for the national title May 16-20 at the University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The Red Raiders' 2008 campaign was worthy of bragging rights as the team posted a solid19-5 duals record defeating 13 nationally-ranked opponents, with three of which ranked in the top 25. Tech remained flawless at home boasting a 7-0 record. The most noteable home win of the season came against Texas, who was then ranked No. 4. The team pulled off the biggest upset over a ranked opponent in program history by upseting the Longhorns 4-3. On the road, the Raiders went 12-5, including clinching the H.E.B. Invite Championship and advancing to the semi-finals of the prestigious Blue-Gray Tennis Classic the following week.
The team ended conference play with a 4-2 record after narrowly missing its first ever regular season conference title heading into the last week of Big 12 play tied for first with both Baylor and Texas. The team couldn't quite capitalize on the Bears' home-court advantage losing 5-2, and landing tied for second with Oklahoma State heading to the Big 12 Championships. After receiving the fourth seed, Tech suffered a heart-wrenching 4-3 loss to host Texas A&M, falling just short of the 20th win needed to secure a spot at hosting a 2008 NCAA Regional. Head Coach Tim Siegel has sparked Texas Tech to its first winning record in conference play since 2005, and has raised the team's overall winning percentage from .583 a year ago to .792 in 2008.
Every year some of the elite men's tennis programs in the nation consistently hail from Big 12 Conference. Five of the seven men's programs are ranked the latest ITA poll, with all five participating in the 2008 NCAA Championships. The seven men's programs include No. 7 Texas, No. 10 Baylor, No. 17 Texas Tech, No. 20 Oklahoma State, No. 25 Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. For conference results and Big 12 updates, visit www.big12sports.com.
Harvard enters the NCAA Championships after holding a perfect 7-0 record in the Ivy League, 15-6 overall, winning the conference title and earning its first NCAA Championship bid since 2004. This will be the first meeting between the Crimson and the Red Raiders. Senior Ashwin Kumar and junior Sasha Ermakov are 17-4 in the top doubles position for the Crimson, and are currently ranked No. 34 nationally after winning the ITA National Summer Circuit in 2007. Kumar is 15-6 at No. 1 for Harvard, followed by junior co-captain Chris Clayton at No. 2, and is currently ranked No. 117 in singles. Playing No. 2 doubles for the Crimson is the rookie team of Michael Hayes and Alexei Chijoff-Evans, and the pair of Dan Nguyen and Aba Omodele-Lucien will round out the No. 3 doubles spot for Harvard.
For a complete release visit the men's tennis page at www.texastech.com. Live updates will be available via Michigan's Web site, or log on to http://livestats.mgoblue.com/tennis/index-m.html. 
