Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
No. 41 Louisville
No. 23 Red Raiders Down No. 41 Louisville, 5-2
March 11, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Gonzalo Escobar cruised to a pair of victories over Louisville on Saturday.
March 10, 2012
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech head coach Tim Siegel was looking for leadership from his seniors. The trio stepped up on Saturday, as the No. 23 Red Raiders took a 5-2 win over No. 41 Louisville in men's collegiate tennis at The Falls Athletic Complex.
"This was a real good team win for us," said Siegel. "Two things that happened today that have not happened all year - we played really good doubles and our top three singles players carried us tonight. Our three seniors played with energy and fought hard because we needed them today.
"If we are going to have any success this season - the kind of success I know we are capable of having - then we need our seniors to step up," added Siegel. "Tonight you saw that leadership you expect from three seniors with the resumes that they have."
Seniors Raony Carvalho, Gonzalo Escobar and Rafael Garcia each netted singles victories in the top three spots in the rotation.
Siegel also mixed up his doubles rotation, pairing Carvalho and Escobar at No. 1, Garcia and Vitor Manzini at No. 2 and Raphael Pfister and Jeff Bryan and No. 3.
It seemed to have worked, as the Red Raiders won the doubles point for the first time in eight matches. Carvalho and Escobar topped Louisville's nationally-ranked tandem of Andrew Carter and Albert Wagner, 8-4 and Manzini and Garcia upended Sebastian Stiefelmeyer and Amaury Derognat, 8-3.
No. 56 Escobar picked up a straight-set win over Stiefelmeyer, 6-2, 6-1 and Carvalho then cruised past Carter, 6-4, 6-0, to give Tech a 3-0 lead. Garcia then battled back after losing the first set to pull past Louisville's Michael Lippens, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, to secure the fourth point of the match for the Red Raiders.
The Cardinals won at No. 4 and No. 5 in three-set marathons, before Red Raider Gabriel Wanderley defeated Chris Simich, 9-8 (7-2) for the fifth and final point.
"It was good for us to get those first four points and clinch the win," said Siegel. "We want to say thanks to The Falls for allowing us to use their facility and to all the fans that came out and supported us tonight."
Texas Tech will now hit the road for three straight matches in California, where they will face UC-Irvine on Monday, No. 15 Pepperdine on Wednesday and No. 65 UC-Santa Barbara on Thursday.
Singles
1. Raony Carvalho (TT) def. Andrew Carter (LOU) 6-4, 6-0
2. #56 Gonzalo Escobar (TT) def. Seb. Stiefelmeyer (LOU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Rafael Garcia (TT) def. Michael Lippens (LOU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
4. Albert Wagner (LOU) def. Vitor Manzini (TT) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Luis Elizondo (LOU) def. Francisco Zambon (TT) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
6. Gabriel Wanderley (TT) def. Chris Simich (LOU) 9-8 (7-2)
Doubles
1. Raony Carvalho / Gonzalo Escobar (TT) def. #34 Andrew Carter / Albert Wagner (LOU) 8-4
2. Vitor Manzini / Rafael Garcia (TT) def. Seb. Stiefelmeyer / Amaury Derognat (LOU) 8-3
3. Robert Hall / Michael Lippens (LOU) def. Raphael Pfister / Jeff Bryan (TT) 8-6
Match Notes:
Louisville 9-7; National ranking #41
Texas Tech 7-4; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,1,3,4,5,6)
A-210
Players Mentioned
