Texas Tech University Athletics
Friday, March 31
Tulsa, Okla.
5:00 PM
Texas Tech Athletics
at
Tulsa
No. 41 Men's Tennis Looks to Continue Streak at Tulsa
March 30, 2017 | Men's Tennis
The Red Raiders will play their final non-conference match at Tulsa on Friday.
TULSA, Okla. – The No. 41 Texas Tech men's tennis team will look to build on its two-match winning streak as the Red Raiders close out non-conference portion of their schedule Friday at Tulsa.
First serve is on-tap for 5 p.m. CT from the Case Tennis Center on the Tulsa campus. Live video and stats are available courtesy of www.StreamingTennis.com/Tulsa along with live match updates @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
The Red Raiders (8-10) have dialed up back-to-back wins over ITA Top 35 opponents, most recently a 4-1 victory over then No. 28 Memphis last Friday. The win enabled Texas Tech to return to the ITA team rankings at No. 41 for the first time dating back to the season's opening weekend.
"Just like last week with Memphis, the approach is it's another opportunity and an exciting match for the guys to go out and compete hard," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "It's really nothing more than that. We just have to go out, do what we have been practicing and build on what we have been doing. I'm not going to have to give any fancy speech or have any great words to say. The guys have to go out and compete hard. This time of the year, they know what they need to do. We just have to go out there and have each player execute their game plan."
The match versus Tulsa (10-12) ends a run of six straight ITA Top 50 opponents that the Red Raiders have met since February 25. Texas Tech has five matches on the horizon
The Golden Hurricane have lost their last five decisions but battled Top 10 foes in No. 9 Oklahoma to a 4-3 decision on March 17 coupled with No. 9 North Carolina to a 5-2 matchup on March 25.
"I think the attitude needs to be belief," Masi said. "Right now, the guys are starting to have that belief. They are feeling a lot comfortable with themselves as a whole – where they're playing in the lineup and where they are with their doubles partners. They know what to expect when they go out there. We have started to develop a consistent pattern in the last few weeks of how we train, and our guys feel more comfortable with that."
Alex Sendegeya has won eight of his last 11 singles decisions and provided the match-clinching point during Texas Tech's last two victories. He has emerged with an impressive 4-1 mark in three-set matches with all four victories coming from a set down. Last time out, Sendegeya tucked away a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-5 triumph versus Memphis' Chris Patzanovsky.
Bjorn Thomson extended his dual match winning streak to 13 consecutive singles matches in 2017 on the strength of a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over No. 75 Andrew Watson of Memphis. He is rated No. 60 in singles and No. 24 in doubles with Connor Curry. Thomson has emerged with 10 of his 13 wins in straight sets and charted 19 of his 26 sets by surrendering three games or less.
Jolan Cailleau has pieced a season's best three-match winning streak to even up his record at 7-7 on the No. 1 singles line. He checks in with a No. 42 singles ranking.
Curry has tabbed a 10-6 singles record and like Sendegeya has posted an 8-3 record over his last 11 decisions. He and Thomson have notched a 9-2 mark at the top of the doubles lineup.
"Connor and Bjorn have had a lot of success and definitely helped us the most in doubles," Masi said. "A lot of doubles has to do with emotion. I think the biggest thing for our guys is go out there with a good mentality and be aggressive. We have had that mentality as of late where we have to come out and take it to these teams and not expect something to happen. As long we keep having that mentality, we will play well in doubles, and hopefully can carry that mindset over into singles."
Tulsa is led by Or Ram-Harel who hold a No. 25 singles ranking followed by a No. 54 doubles clip partnering with Majed Kilani. He has captured five victories over ranked opponents in singles and won 11 of his 16 doubles decisions. In the previous meeting between the two programs, Texas Tech emerged with a 5-2 victory over the Golden Hurricane in Lubbock last season.
The Red Raiders return to the McLeod Tennis Center next weekend to begin Big 12 action with a pair of Top 15 matchups against No. 5 Oklahoma State (Friday – 5:30 p.m. CT) and No. 13 Oklahoma (Sunday – 3 p.m. CT). Admission is free to all home matches with free pizza available while supplies last.
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 on-tap for 5 p.m. CT from the Case Tennis Center on the Tulsa campus. Live video and stats are available courtesy of www.StreamingTennis.com/Tulsa along with live match updates @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
The Red Raiders (8-10) have dialed up back-to-back wins over ITA Top 35 opponents, most recently a 4-1 victory over then No. 28 Memphis last Friday. The win enabled Texas Tech to return to the ITA team rankings at No. 41 for the first time dating back to the season's opening weekend.
"Just like last week with Memphis, the approach is it's another opportunity and an exciting match for the guys to go out and compete hard," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "It's really nothing more than that. We just have to go out, do what we have been practicing and build on what we have been doing. I'm not going to have to give any fancy speech or have any great words to say. The guys have to go out and compete hard. This time of the year, they know what they need to do. We just have to go out there and have each player execute their game plan."
The match versus Tulsa (10-12) ends a run of six straight ITA Top 50 opponents that the Red Raiders have met since February 25. Texas Tech has five matches on the horizon
The Golden Hurricane have lost their last five decisions but battled Top 10 foes in No. 9 Oklahoma to a 4-3 decision on March 17 coupled with No. 9 North Carolina to a 5-2 matchup on March 25.
"I think the attitude needs to be belief," Masi said. "Right now, the guys are starting to have that belief. They are feeling a lot comfortable with themselves as a whole – where they're playing in the lineup and where they are with their doubles partners. They know what to expect when they go out there. We have started to develop a consistent pattern in the last few weeks of how we train, and our guys feel more comfortable with that."
Alex Sendegeya has won eight of his last 11 singles decisions and provided the match-clinching point during Texas Tech's last two victories. He has emerged with an impressive 4-1 mark in three-set matches with all four victories coming from a set down. Last time out, Sendegeya tucked away a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-5 triumph versus Memphis' Chris Patzanovsky.
Bjorn Thomson extended his dual match winning streak to 13 consecutive singles matches in 2017 on the strength of a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over No. 75 Andrew Watson of Memphis. He is rated No. 60 in singles and No. 24 in doubles with Connor Curry. Thomson has emerged with 10 of his 13 wins in straight sets and charted 19 of his 26 sets by surrendering three games or less.
Jolan Cailleau has pieced a season's best three-match winning streak to even up his record at 7-7 on the No. 1 singles line. He checks in with a No. 42 singles ranking.
Curry has tabbed a 10-6 singles record and like Sendegeya has posted an 8-3 record over his last 11 decisions. He and Thomson have notched a 9-2 mark at the top of the doubles lineup.
"Connor and Bjorn have had a lot of success and definitely helped us the most in doubles," Masi said. "A lot of doubles has to do with emotion. I think the biggest thing for our guys is go out there with a good mentality and be aggressive. We have had that mentality as of late where we have to come out and take it to these teams and not expect something to happen. As long we keep having that mentality, we will play well in doubles, and hopefully can carry that mindset over into singles."
Tulsa is led by Or Ram-Harel who hold a No. 25 singles ranking followed by a No. 54 doubles clip partnering with Majed Kilani. He has captured five victories over ranked opponents in singles and won 11 of his 16 doubles decisions. In the previous meeting between the two programs, Texas Tech emerged with a 5-2 victory over the Golden Hurricane in Lubbock last season.
The Red Raiders return to the McLeod Tennis Center next weekend to begin Big 12 action with a pair of Top 15 matchups against No. 5 Oklahoma State (Friday – 5:30 p.m. CT) and No. 13 Oklahoma (Sunday – 3 p.m. CT). Admission is free to all home matches with free pizza available while supplies last.
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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