Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
BYU
No. 18 Men's Tennis Captures HEB Classic Title
March 06, 2010 | Men's Tennis
March 6, 2010
LUBBOCK, Texas - For the third-straight year, the No. 18 Texas Tech men's team captured the HEB Tournament of Champions Classic title as it defeated No. 23 BYU, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at the HEB Tennis Center in Corpus Christi, Texas, on the campus of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Tech (12-1) once again was able to get the doubles points by winning two of three matches. The Cougars (13-2) won the first doubles match at No. 3 as Georgy Batrakov and Daniel Hwang beat Tech's Victor Manzini and Raphael Pfister, 8-3. The Red Raiders were then victorious at No. 1 as 23rd-ranked Raony Carvalho and Rafael Garcia downed Thomas Shubert and Cassidy Mears, 8-3. Tech's No. 2 tandem of 39th-ranked Gonzalo Escobar and Andre Stabile came through for the Red Raiders winning, 8-4, over Evan Urbina and Spencer Smith.
Up 1-0, Tech needed just three singles wins to claim the tournament title.
Tech started singles play by winning five of the six opening sets. The first-match win came by the way of 58th-ranked Escobar as he beat Urbina, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 2. Tech's top player, No. 23 Carvalho, then went on to win at No. 1 as he dropped Shubert, 6-2, 6-3. BYU then got the win at No. 4 as Batrakov defeated Stabile, 6-2, 7-6 (2). However, Tech's No. 3 player Garcia picked up a straight-set victory against Mears, 6-3, 7-5, for the Red Raiders to clinch the win.
"We played great doubles to set the tone for the match," stated head coach Tim Siegel. "We had another awesome effort from Ray (Raony Carvalho) and Gonzalo (Escobar), who gave us a 3-0 lead. Rafael Garcia then came through to clinch the match for us. BYU fought hard. It was a great college tennis match. I am so proud of the effort my guys gave me this weekend."
The Red Raiders, who extended their winning streak to 10, have the week off before heading to Montgomery, Ala., for the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic March 18-21.
#18 Texas Tech 4, #23 BYU 1
HEB Tennis Center
Corpus Christi, Texas
Doubles (order of finish: 3, 1, 2)
1. #23 Carvalho/Garcia (TTU) def. Shubert/Mears (BYU), 8-3
2. #39 Escobar/Stabile (TTU) def. Urbina/Smith (BYU), 8-4
3. Batrakov/Daniel Hwang (BYU) def. Manzini/Pfister (TTU), 8-3
Singles (order of finish: 2, 1, 4, 3)
1. #12 Raony Carvalho (TTU) def. Thomas Shubert (BYU), 6-2, 6-3
2. #58 Gonzalo Escobar (TTU) def. Evan Urbina (BYU), 6-3, 6-2
3. Rafael Garcia (TTU) def. Cassidy Mears (BYU), 6-3, 7-5
4. Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. Andre Stabile (TTU), 6-2, 7-6 (2)
5. Vitor Manzini (TTU) vs. Spencer Smith (BYU), 6-4, 3-6, unfinished
6. Raphael Pfister (TTU) vs. Michael Eraso (BYU), 6-4, 2-6, 5-4, unfinished
Players Mentioned
