Texas Tech University Athletics
No. 21 Texas Tech Begins Season in Tulsa
January 28, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 28, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech Men's Tennis team opens its 2009 season at 9 a.m. Saturday against No. 19 LSU in the first round of the ITA Kick-off Weekend, held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The Red Raiders, who begin the spring ranked No. 21 in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll, will face either No. 13 Tulsa or No. 30 Notre Dame on Sunday at either 9 a.m. or noon, depending on Saturday's result.
As part of its 60-team bracket, the 15 schools who win both its weekend matches will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships which will be held Feb. 13-16 at the Midtown Tennis Club in Chicago.
Tech finished the 2008 campaign 20-6 overall, 4-2 in the Big 12, which was good enough to finish fourth in the conference. The Red Raiders advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships before falling to Michigan.
Despite losing the school's all-time career singles and doubles victories leader in Bojan Szumanski, Tech returns seven letterwinners off its 2008 squad, including four of its top players in its singles lineup. Of the seven returning letterwinners, five - Sinisa Markovic, Christian Rojmar, Michael Breler, Milos Kustudija and James Wilson, are seniors.
Newcomers Raony Carvalho and David Gonzalez will be Tech's new faces in the line-up. Carvalho, a freshman from Brazil, was Tech's most consistent player in the fall, going a combined 12-4 overall, with three of those losses coming against ranked opponents. Gonzalez, a sophomore transfer from the University of Pacific, went 5-4 in his first semester at Tech. Fellow freshmen Jared Hope and Jeff Bryan will redshirt this season.
In the ITA preseason rankings, Carvalho and Rojmar were tabbed as the No. 7 doubles team in the nation, which was the highest for any duo in the Big 12. In the singles rankings, Carvalho was Tech's only player selected at No. 19, third-highest among collegiate freshmen.
In the regional rankings, four players - Wilson (No. 19), Rojmar (No. 23), Breler (No. 26) and Markovic (No. 28) - were among the 30 singles players selected from the south central region. Carvalho was the fourth-seeded singles player in the region, while he and Rojmar were the top doubles duo selected.
Carvalho and Rojmar were 4-1 against ranked duos this fall and qualified for the ITA National Indoor Championships after advancing to the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships. In singles, Carvalho came close to qualifying for the National Indoor Championships, but fell a round short at the All-American.
The Red Raiders will take nearly two weeks off before traveling to either Chicago for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships Feb. 13-16 or to the University of Denver for its regularly-scheduled Feb. 14 match. Since both schools are participating in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, the match in Denver is subject to both schools losing a match this weekend.
The first home match at the McLeod Tennis Center is not scheduled until Feb. 28 when the Red Raiders face TCU at 1 p.m.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Tech's meeting with LSU will be the third all-time between the two schools with the Tigers holding a 2-0 advantage in those matches. The Tigers have not played a dual match this season, but have participated in both the SEC Indoor Championships and the Auburn Spring Classic. The Tigers finished the 2008 campaign 15-9 overall, losing in the second round of the NCAA Championships to Illinois. LSU also boasts the No. 2 tennis player in the nation in junior Michael Venus, who went 11-5 from the No. 1 position last season. The Tigers are coached by Jeff Brown, who holds a 192-90 record in his 12th season at the helm of the Tigers.
If the Red Raiders advance to face Notre Dame, it will be the first meeting between the two schools. The Fighting Irish enter the weekend already 1-2 on the season, dropping matches to No. 5 Virginia and No. 14 Pepperdine. Notre Dame finished its 2008 campaign at 16-11 overall, dropping its first round match of the NCAA Championships to East Tennessee State. In the preseason rankings, freshman Daniel Stahl was ND's only player in the singles rankings, coming in at No. 112, while the doubles team of Brett Holgeson and Tyler Davis was selected at No. 37. The Fighting Irish are led by longtime head coach Bob Bayliss, who is 388-181 in his 21 seasons in South Bend.
Tech's potential match against Tulsa would be the 17th all-time among the two schools with the Red Raiders holding a 9-6 all-time advantage. The Golden Hurricanes are already out to a 5-1 start with their only loss stemming from a 4-3 deficit to No. 2 Texas. Tulsa finished the season ranked as high as No. 11 in the country before eventually falling to Oklahoma State in the second round of the NCAA Championship. Senior Arnau Brugues enters the spring ranked as the No. 10 player in the nation while junior Philip Stephens was selected at No. 91. Together, the duo was ranked at No. 4 in the doubles poll. Tulsa is coached by Vince Westbrook, who in his 18th season is 246-191 at the school.
Players Mentioned
