Sunday, April 9
McLeod Tennis Center
6:00 PM
Texas Tech Athletics
2
vs
4
No. 16 Oklahoma
No. 16 Oklahoma Rallies to Upend No. 42 Men's Tennis
April 09, 2017 | Men's Tennis
The Red Raiders will play three matches on the road next week.
LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 42 Texas Tech men's tennis team closed out its opening weekend of Big 12 play with a 4-2 loss to No. 16 Oklahoma Sunday at the McLeod Tennis Center.
The Red Raiders (9-12, 0-2 Big 12) were handed their second defeat in Big 12 play. Texas Tech dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 8 Oklahoma State on Friday. The victory allowed Oklahoma (13-9, 1-3 Big 12) five-match losing streak.
Doubles play showed promise as the Red Raiders fought through an early deficit.
Oklahoma's No. 61 ranked pair of Alex Ghilea and Florin Bragusi gave up a single game to Texas Tech's Jolan Cailleau and Carlos DiLaura en route to a 6-1 final tally on court two to collect the only doubles match for the Sooners.
At the top of the lineup, Texas Tech charged back behind the No. 17 ranked duo of Connor Curry and Bjorn Thomson. They won the match's opening 10 points to jump ahead 2-0. They added an insurance break to stretch the lead to 5-2 before capturing the 6-2 decision against Johen Bertsch and Spencer Papa.
The attention turned to the No. 3 position where Texas Tech's Alex Sendegeya and Jackson Cobb earned three critical deuce points to build a 4-1 advantage. Ahead 5-4 and all square at 40-40, Sendegeya cranked a serve up the T. Oklahoma's return effort was put away by a Cobb overhead at the net to give the Red Raiders the 6-4 win, and the doubles point.
"We wanted to come out with better energy in doubles than we did against Oklahoma State on Friday," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "We jumped on them pretty early on courts one and three. Luckily, we were able to close that out. The guys being able to get those leads helped us out. We were able to execute at the end and get that point."
The Sooners answered with driving momentum in singles play and won four of the five completed matches.
Sendegeya jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead in the first set and stomped out to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Bertsch in the No. 4 slot to stretch the Texas Tech advantage to 2-0.
Oklahoma got on the board when Oetzbach dished out a 6-3, 6-4 decision versus Cobb at the bottom of the lineup.
The Sooners evened the tally at 2-2 courtesy of Restifo on court five. He claimed a tightly-contested 7-5 opening frame and followed with a 6-2 win in set two against Pyry Hyrkkonen.
Oklahoma took a 3-2 edge after No. 52 Ghilea handed No. 66 Thomson his first dual match loss of the season on the No. 2 singles line. Ghilea won the last three games of the first set to take a 7-5 decision. He went up 5-1 in the second set before Thomson staved off four match points on his serve down 5-2. Thomson would knot the score at 5-5, but Ghilea used a strong finishing kick to tuck the match away 7-5.
The Sooners sealed the 4-2 win as No. 82 Bragusi notched a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback over Curry at the No. 3 spot.
When play was halted, No. 35 Cailleau was on-serve with No. 20 Papa in the early stages of the third set at 6-4, 5-7, 1-2.
"We didn't play well enough at the end of sets in singles," Masi said. "Outside of Alex who I thought did a great job today, we weren't able to execute in those key moments. Bjorn is up 5-4 serving for it in the first and doesn't get it. He was fortunate and battled his way back from multiple match points to get it to 5-6 in the second. It's tough to get over the wall when you fall as far behind as he did. Credit to Oklahoma. I thought Connor played a great first set, but their guy came back and played pretty solid. Same thing with Jolan, he won his first set. Oklahoma was able to capitalize, and they fought. To me when the wind stopped, it stopped our momentum too. I don't know if it was ironic or not, I thought Oklahoma played more comfortable and a little better."
Texas Tech will play its next three matches on the road which begins with a Thursday doubleheader versus UTA and No. 9 TCU. First serves are set for 10 a.m. CT and 5:30 p.m. CT, respectively.
The Red Raiders have one home match remaining against No. 3 Baylor on Saturday, April 22. Texas Tech will honor its seniors Jolan Cailleau and Carlos DiLaura. First serve is on-tap for 6 p.m. CT from the McLeod Tennis Center with free admission.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the Texas Tech men's tennis program. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.facebook.com/Techmenstennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
- Written by Katy O'Bryan, Athletics Communications Intern
No. 16 Oklahoma 4, No. 42 Texas Tech 2
April 9, 2017 – McLeod Tennis Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Singles
1 – No. 35 Jolan Cailleau (TTU) vs. No. 20 Spencer Papa (OU): 6-4, 5-7, 1-2, unfinished
2 – No. 52 Alex Ghilea (OU) defeats No. 66 Bjorn Thomson (TTU): 7-5, 7-5
3 – No. 82 Florin Bragusi (OU) defeats Connor Curry (TTU): 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
4 – Alex Sendegeya (TTU) defeats Jochen Bertsch (OU): 6-1, 6-3
5 – Arnaud Restifo (OU) defeats Pyry Hyrkkonen (TTU): 7-5, 6-2
6 – Adrian Oetzbach (OU) defeats Jackson Cobb (TTU): 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 6, 5, 2, 3
Doubles
1 – No. 17 Connor Curry/ Bjorn Thomson (TTU) defeats Jochen Bertsch/Spencer Papa (OU): 6-2
2 – No. 61 Alex Ghilea/Florin Bragusi (OU) defeats Carlos DiLaura/Jolan Cailleau (TTU): 6-1
3 – Jackson Cobb/Alex Sendegeya (TTU) defeats Adrian Oetzbach/Arnaud Restifo (OU): 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Oklahoma 13-9 (1-3 Big 12)
Texas Tech 9-12 (0-2 Big 12)
The Red Raiders (9-12, 0-2 Big 12) were handed their second defeat in Big 12 play. Texas Tech dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 8 Oklahoma State on Friday. The victory allowed Oklahoma (13-9, 1-3 Big 12) five-match losing streak.
Doubles play showed promise as the Red Raiders fought through an early deficit.
Oklahoma's No. 61 ranked pair of Alex Ghilea and Florin Bragusi gave up a single game to Texas Tech's Jolan Cailleau and Carlos DiLaura en route to a 6-1 final tally on court two to collect the only doubles match for the Sooners.
At the top of the lineup, Texas Tech charged back behind the No. 17 ranked duo of Connor Curry and Bjorn Thomson. They won the match's opening 10 points to jump ahead 2-0. They added an insurance break to stretch the lead to 5-2 before capturing the 6-2 decision against Johen Bertsch and Spencer Papa.
The attention turned to the No. 3 position where Texas Tech's Alex Sendegeya and Jackson Cobb earned three critical deuce points to build a 4-1 advantage. Ahead 5-4 and all square at 40-40, Sendegeya cranked a serve up the T. Oklahoma's return effort was put away by a Cobb overhead at the net to give the Red Raiders the 6-4 win, and the doubles point.
"We wanted to come out with better energy in doubles than we did against Oklahoma State on Friday," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "We jumped on them pretty early on courts one and three. Luckily, we were able to close that out. The guys being able to get those leads helped us out. We were able to execute at the end and get that point."
The Sooners answered with driving momentum in singles play and won four of the five completed matches.
Sendegeya jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead in the first set and stomped out to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Bertsch in the No. 4 slot to stretch the Texas Tech advantage to 2-0.
Oklahoma got on the board when Oetzbach dished out a 6-3, 6-4 decision versus Cobb at the bottom of the lineup.
The Sooners evened the tally at 2-2 courtesy of Restifo on court five. He claimed a tightly-contested 7-5 opening frame and followed with a 6-2 win in set two against Pyry Hyrkkonen.
Oklahoma took a 3-2 edge after No. 52 Ghilea handed No. 66 Thomson his first dual match loss of the season on the No. 2 singles line. Ghilea won the last three games of the first set to take a 7-5 decision. He went up 5-1 in the second set before Thomson staved off four match points on his serve down 5-2. Thomson would knot the score at 5-5, but Ghilea used a strong finishing kick to tuck the match away 7-5.
The Sooners sealed the 4-2 win as No. 82 Bragusi notched a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback over Curry at the No. 3 spot.
When play was halted, No. 35 Cailleau was on-serve with No. 20 Papa in the early stages of the third set at 6-4, 5-7, 1-2.
"We didn't play well enough at the end of sets in singles," Masi said. "Outside of Alex who I thought did a great job today, we weren't able to execute in those key moments. Bjorn is up 5-4 serving for it in the first and doesn't get it. He was fortunate and battled his way back from multiple match points to get it to 5-6 in the second. It's tough to get over the wall when you fall as far behind as he did. Credit to Oklahoma. I thought Connor played a great first set, but their guy came back and played pretty solid. Same thing with Jolan, he won his first set. Oklahoma was able to capitalize, and they fought. To me when the wind stopped, it stopped our momentum too. I don't know if it was ironic or not, I thought Oklahoma played more comfortable and a little better."
Texas Tech will play its next three matches on the road which begins with a Thursday doubleheader versus UTA and No. 9 TCU. First serves are set for 10 a.m. CT and 5:30 p.m. CT, respectively.
The Red Raiders have one home match remaining against No. 3 Baylor on Saturday, April 22. Texas Tech will honor its seniors Jolan Cailleau and Carlos DiLaura. First serve is on-tap for 6 p.m. CT from the McLeod Tennis Center with free admission.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the Texas Tech men's tennis program. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.facebook.com/Techmenstennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
- Written by Katy O'Bryan, Athletics Communications Intern
No. 16 Oklahoma 4, No. 42 Texas Tech 2
April 9, 2017 – McLeod Tennis Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Singles
1 – No. 35 Jolan Cailleau (TTU) vs. No. 20 Spencer Papa (OU): 6-4, 5-7, 1-2, unfinished
2 – No. 52 Alex Ghilea (OU) defeats No. 66 Bjorn Thomson (TTU): 7-5, 7-5
3 – No. 82 Florin Bragusi (OU) defeats Connor Curry (TTU): 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
4 – Alex Sendegeya (TTU) defeats Jochen Bertsch (OU): 6-1, 6-3
5 – Arnaud Restifo (OU) defeats Pyry Hyrkkonen (TTU): 7-5, 6-2
6 – Adrian Oetzbach (OU) defeats Jackson Cobb (TTU): 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 6, 5, 2, 3
Doubles
1 – No. 17 Connor Curry/ Bjorn Thomson (TTU) defeats Jochen Bertsch/Spencer Papa (OU): 6-2
2 – No. 61 Alex Ghilea/Florin Bragusi (OU) defeats Carlos DiLaura/Jolan Cailleau (TTU): 6-1
3 – Jackson Cobb/Alex Sendegeya (TTU) defeats Adrian Oetzbach/Arnaud Restifo (OU): 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Oklahoma 13-9 (1-3 Big 12)
Texas Tech 9-12 (0-2 Big 12)
Players Mentioned
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