Texas Tech University Athletics
Friday, April 7
McLeod Tennis Center
5:30 PM
Texas Tech Athletics
vs
No. 8 Oklahoma State
No. 42 Men's Tennis Hosts Big 12 Opening Weekend
April 06, 2017 | Men's Tennis
The Red Raiders will square off with No. 8 Oklahoma State followed by No. 16 Oklahoma this weekend.
LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 42 Texas Tech men's tennis team turns its attention to Big 12 opening weekend and plays host to No. 8 Oklahoma State and No. 16 Oklahoma over the weekend at the McLeod Tennis Center.
Friday's first serve versus the Cowboys is set for 5:30 p.m. CT coupled with a 3 p.m. CT first serve against the Sooners on Sunday. Admission to both matches is free with free pizza while supplies last. Live updates for both matches are available courtesy of @TexasTechTennis on Twitter in addition to live stats at www.TexasTech.StatBroadcast.com.
Texas Tech will play host to an Easter Egg Hunt for kids of all ages between the women's and men's matches on Sunday. The Lady Raiders are scheduled to take on West Virginia at 11:30 a.m. CT.
Texas Tech (9-10) enters Big 12 opening weekend on a season's best three-match winning streak. Last time out, the Red Raiders picked up their fourth sweep of the season at Tulsa on March 31. Texas Tech remained in the ITA team rankings for the second straight week and check in at the No. 42 position.
"We need to start strong, play confident and continue to execute our game plans like we have the last few weeks," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "That begins with doubles against Oklahoma State who has won a majority of its doubles points this year. They have the No. 5 team in the country so Connor and Bjorn will have a tough task. Hopefully, we can get consistent play from all three spots. In singles, they have a lot of depth. I believe one through four we're right there with them and evenly matched. We have to compete through the lineup. It starts with doubles, and we're looking forward to starting our Big 12 season."
Alex Sendegeya has posted a 9-3 mark in his last 12 singles matches and secured the match-clinching point for the Red Raiders during all three matches of the team's winning streak. He has won four of his five matchups that have gone three sets and has won all four matches from a set behind. Sendegeya worked his way to a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Tulsa's Dominic Bechard in his last appearance.
Bjorn Thomson is undefeated at 13-0 in dual match play and has anchored the No. 2 singles line for the Red Raiders. He is ranked No. 66 in singles and No. 17 in doubles with Connor Curry. Thomson has dialed up 10 straight-set wins and won 19 of his 26 sets by allowing three games or less.
Curry has charted 11 dual match wins, tied with Sendegeya for second on the team. He has captured wins in three of his last four matches most recently a 6-4, 6-4 triumph versus Jarod Hing of Tulsa. In doubles, Curry and Thomson have turned in a 10-2 mark primary from the No. 1 spot. The duo has three ranked wins and secured the doubles point during the Tulsa match.
Jolan Cailleau has strung together three consecutive wins and boosted his singles ranking to No. 35. He is 7-7 at the top of the lineup with four losses coming to fellow ranked opponents.
"The key for Alex is that he's been able to stay in the moment," Masi said. "The word energy has been a big importance to him. When he plays with fire and is rowdy in terms of his demeanor on the court that helps him a lot. The second thing is his aggression. He's done a really good of forcing the issue lately. I feel pretty good when he's the one initiating play, coming to the net and winning points."
The Cowboys (18-4, 1-1 Big 12) has won eight of their 10 matches away from Stillwater this season and have held an ITA Top 10 ranking for seven consecutive weeks which matches the longest run in program history. Oklahoma State is coming off a split falling to then No. 16 TCU before rebounding to defeat No. 6 Texas last weekend. It marked OSU's first win over the Longhorns since the 2007 season.
Oklahoma State has four players who possess ITA singles rankings starting with Julian Cash at No. 27 along with Lukas Finzelberg at No. 75, Arjun Kadhe at No. 80 and Lucas Gerch at No. 84. Texas Tech has won seven of its last nine meetings with the Cowboys dating back to 2010. However, OSU collected a 4-1 decision in Stillwater last season.
The Sooners (12-8, 0-2 Big 12) have dropped four straight matches and six of their last eight decisions since March 5. Oklahoma checks in at No. 16 in the ITA team rankings and battled Texas to a 4-3 decision before being swept by TCU during its Big 12 opening weekend.
The Sooners have been without Top 40 player Andrew Harris due to injury but still have a trio of ranked players in Spencer Papa at No. 20, Alex Ghilea at No. 52 and Florin Bragusi at No. 82. Texas Tech has won the last two meetings with Oklahoma and gave the No. 1 Sooners their lone Big 12 loss in 2015.
After this weekend's matches, Texas Tech has one home match remaining against No. 3 Baylor on Saturday, April 22. First serve is on-tap for 6 p.m. CT with free admission to all home matches.
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.
Friday's first serve versus the Cowboys is set for 5:30 p.m. CT coupled with a 3 p.m. CT first serve against the Sooners on Sunday. Admission to both matches is free with free pizza while supplies last. Live updates for both matches are available courtesy of @TexasTechTennis on Twitter in addition to live stats at www.TexasTech.StatBroadcast.com.
Texas Tech will play host to an Easter Egg Hunt for kids of all ages between the women's and men's matches on Sunday. The Lady Raiders are scheduled to take on West Virginia at 11:30 a.m. CT.
Texas Tech (9-10) enters Big 12 opening weekend on a season's best three-match winning streak. Last time out, the Red Raiders picked up their fourth sweep of the season at Tulsa on March 31. Texas Tech remained in the ITA team rankings for the second straight week and check in at the No. 42 position.
"We need to start strong, play confident and continue to execute our game plans like we have the last few weeks," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "That begins with doubles against Oklahoma State who has won a majority of its doubles points this year. They have the No. 5 team in the country so Connor and Bjorn will have a tough task. Hopefully, we can get consistent play from all three spots. In singles, they have a lot of depth. I believe one through four we're right there with them and evenly matched. We have to compete through the lineup. It starts with doubles, and we're looking forward to starting our Big 12 season."
Alex Sendegeya has posted a 9-3 mark in his last 12 singles matches and secured the match-clinching point for the Red Raiders during all three matches of the team's winning streak. He has won four of his five matchups that have gone three sets and has won all four matches from a set behind. Sendegeya worked his way to a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Tulsa's Dominic Bechard in his last appearance.
Bjorn Thomson is undefeated at 13-0 in dual match play and has anchored the No. 2 singles line for the Red Raiders. He is ranked No. 66 in singles and No. 17 in doubles with Connor Curry. Thomson has dialed up 10 straight-set wins and won 19 of his 26 sets by allowing three games or less.
Curry has charted 11 dual match wins, tied with Sendegeya for second on the team. He has captured wins in three of his last four matches most recently a 6-4, 6-4 triumph versus Jarod Hing of Tulsa. In doubles, Curry and Thomson have turned in a 10-2 mark primary from the No. 1 spot. The duo has three ranked wins and secured the doubles point during the Tulsa match.
Jolan Cailleau has strung together three consecutive wins and boosted his singles ranking to No. 35. He is 7-7 at the top of the lineup with four losses coming to fellow ranked opponents.
"The key for Alex is that he's been able to stay in the moment," Masi said. "The word energy has been a big importance to him. When he plays with fire and is rowdy in terms of his demeanor on the court that helps him a lot. The second thing is his aggression. He's done a really good of forcing the issue lately. I feel pretty good when he's the one initiating play, coming to the net and winning points."
The Cowboys (18-4, 1-1 Big 12) has won eight of their 10 matches away from Stillwater this season and have held an ITA Top 10 ranking for seven consecutive weeks which matches the longest run in program history. Oklahoma State is coming off a split falling to then No. 16 TCU before rebounding to defeat No. 6 Texas last weekend. It marked OSU's first win over the Longhorns since the 2007 season.
Oklahoma State has four players who possess ITA singles rankings starting with Julian Cash at No. 27 along with Lukas Finzelberg at No. 75, Arjun Kadhe at No. 80 and Lucas Gerch at No. 84. Texas Tech has won seven of its last nine meetings with the Cowboys dating back to 2010. However, OSU collected a 4-1 decision in Stillwater last season.
The Sooners (12-8, 0-2 Big 12) have dropped four straight matches and six of their last eight decisions since March 5. Oklahoma checks in at No. 16 in the ITA team rankings and battled Texas to a 4-3 decision before being swept by TCU during its Big 12 opening weekend.
The Sooners have been without Top 40 player Andrew Harris due to injury but still have a trio of ranked players in Spencer Papa at No. 20, Alex Ghilea at No. 52 and Florin Bragusi at No. 82. Texas Tech has won the last two meetings with Oklahoma and gave the No. 1 Sooners their lone Big 12 loss in 2015.
After this weekend's matches, Texas Tech has one home match remaining against No. 3 Baylor on Saturday, April 22. First serve is on-tap for 6 p.m. CT with free admission to all home matches.
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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