Texas Tech University Athletics
Friday, February 10
McLeod Tennis Center
12:00 PM
Texas Tech Athletics
vs
UTSA
Men's Tennis Hosts Friday DH to Start Busy Weekend
February 09, 2017 | Men's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech men's tennis team begins a three-match weekend with a home doubleheader against UTSA and Abilene Christian on Friday at the McLeod Tennis Center.
First serve is set for 12 p.m. CT and 4:30 p.m. CT with free admission in addition to free pizza while supplies last. The Red Raiders (2-5) will conclude the weekend with a Sunday matchup at No. 25 Texas A&M with a 1 p.m. CT first serve from College Station. All three matches will have live stats available at www.TexasTech.StatBroadcast.com.
"I think we need to simplify everything to the smallest degree," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "We've got to get back to playing basic tennis and competing hard. Everybody is feeling the effects of losing four matches in a row. I think our players are a little broken down, but as coaches we have to build them back up now. Hopefully, we can a few good wins on Friday and get us some confidence going into a tough match at Texas A&M on Sunday."
Bjorn Thomson has started the dual match season on fire with five straight singles victories and moved up to the No. 3 singles line with wins over Alabama and Vanderbilt last weekend. He has won all five decisions by straight sets.
Alex Sendegeya ended a four-match losing streak and battled to a three-set win at Vanderbilt, while Ronit Bisht has won four of his last four singles decisions. Jolan Cailleau checks in with a No. 57 singles ranking in this week's Oracle/ITA rankings.
Connor Curry has won three of his four doubles matchups, two with Carlos DiLaura and one with Thomson. The freshman duo of Bisht and Pyry Hyrkkönen have tallied a 3-2 mark from the No. 3 slot.
UTSA (2-3) has tucked away victories over Prairie View A&M and UT Rio Grande Valley. The Roadrunners have been handed setbacks by Texas along with Incarnate Word and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Axel Cronje and Takeru Watanbe have picked up three singles wins apiece to pace UTSA.
Abilene Christian (8-5) has won eight of its last 10 matches after a 0-3 start. The Wildcats have already faced off with Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 on the young season. Hunter Holman has posted an 8-3 mark mostly from the No. 5 position whereas Josh Sheehy has dialed up a 7-5 record from the top of the lineup.
"It starts with the players," Masi said. "If they can feel confident going out there and they work together, I think they know now what they're up against. They see what they're facing now being 2-5. We don't have much wiggle room from here on out so they're going to have to out with a sense of fire and hunger. It doesn't start with winning matches, it starts out with having a sense of urgency. If we can build on that and have a good first day then hopefully we can carry it over to Texas A&M and then Blue Gray Tournament in a couple weeks."
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's tennis program. Fans also can follow the program and live match updates on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TechMensTennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
First serve is set for 12 p.m. CT and 4:30 p.m. CT with free admission in addition to free pizza while supplies last. The Red Raiders (2-5) will conclude the weekend with a Sunday matchup at No. 25 Texas A&M with a 1 p.m. CT first serve from College Station. All three matches will have live stats available at www.TexasTech.StatBroadcast.com.
"I think we need to simplify everything to the smallest degree," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "We've got to get back to playing basic tennis and competing hard. Everybody is feeling the effects of losing four matches in a row. I think our players are a little broken down, but as coaches we have to build them back up now. Hopefully, we can a few good wins on Friday and get us some confidence going into a tough match at Texas A&M on Sunday."
Bjorn Thomson has started the dual match season on fire with five straight singles victories and moved up to the No. 3 singles line with wins over Alabama and Vanderbilt last weekend. He has won all five decisions by straight sets.
Alex Sendegeya ended a four-match losing streak and battled to a three-set win at Vanderbilt, while Ronit Bisht has won four of his last four singles decisions. Jolan Cailleau checks in with a No. 57 singles ranking in this week's Oracle/ITA rankings.
Connor Curry has won three of his four doubles matchups, two with Carlos DiLaura and one with Thomson. The freshman duo of Bisht and Pyry Hyrkkönen have tallied a 3-2 mark from the No. 3 slot.
UTSA (2-3) has tucked away victories over Prairie View A&M and UT Rio Grande Valley. The Roadrunners have been handed setbacks by Texas along with Incarnate Word and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Axel Cronje and Takeru Watanbe have picked up three singles wins apiece to pace UTSA.
Abilene Christian (8-5) has won eight of its last 10 matches after a 0-3 start. The Wildcats have already faced off with Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 on the young season. Hunter Holman has posted an 8-3 mark mostly from the No. 5 position whereas Josh Sheehy has dialed up a 7-5 record from the top of the lineup.
"It starts with the players," Masi said. "If they can feel confident going out there and they work together, I think they know now what they're up against. They see what they're facing now being 2-5. We don't have much wiggle room from here on out so they're going to have to out with a sense of fire and hunger. It doesn't start with winning matches, it starts out with having a sense of urgency. If we can build on that and have a good first day then hopefully we can carry it over to Texas A&M and then Blue Gray Tournament in a couple weeks."
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's tennis program. Fans also can follow the program and live match updates on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TechMensTennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
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