Texas Tech University Athletics
Saturday, January 27
Charlottesville, VA
9:00 AM
Texas Tech Athletics
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at
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No. 15 Virginia
No. 25 Men's Tennis Upends No. 15 Virginia, 4-3
January 27, 2018 | Men's Tennis
The Red Raiders have an opportunity to qualify for the ITA National Indoor Championships on Sunday.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 25 Texas Tech men's tennis team earned a historic victory to open ITA Kickoff Weekend and captured the final two points to snatch a 4-3 comeback win on Saturday over three-time defending NCAA Champions and No. 15 Virginia at the Boar's Head Sports Club.
Texas Tech (10-1) advances to Sunday's championship round where the Red Raiders will take on No. 23 Columbia with a spot at the ITA National Indoor Championships on the line from Feb. 16-19 hosted by the University of Washington. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. CT with live video and live stats provided by www.VirginiaSports.com.
The win also enabled Texas Tech to snap UVA's (2-1) run of 12 straight appearances in the ITA National Team Indoors, an event the Cavaliers have won six times in program history.
The Cavaliers will miss competing at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 2005. UVA is a six-time champion of the event, including winning the 2017 title when the championship was held in Charlottesville.
Ilgiz Valiev and Matheus Leite, a pair of freshmen, turned in veteran type performances on courts four and six to turn the tables with the Red Raiders trailing 3-2.
First it was Valiev who claimed a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Matthew Lord. He won four of the last five games in set two and pieced together the last four games of the third set to break a pair of 2-2 ties.
Leite raced out to 4-1 and 5-2 advantages in the winner-take-all third frame against Kyrylo Tsygura after splitting his first two sets. Tsygura drew back to 5-4, but Leite had the final answer with a break/hold to close out the 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 nail-biter. The Brazilian also came up clutch and clinched Texas Tech's 4-3 win over New Mexico earlier this week.
"It was a great team win," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "Winning against the three-time defending NCAA champions and a historical program like Virginia is big time for our program. I knew they would be tough in the top three positions of their singles lineup, but I felt that we had more match experience at the bottom of the lineup. I told the guys that our match toughness would show and playing those matches early on this season proved to be a great benefit for us today."
The Red Raiders set an impressive tone in doubles behind Jackson Cobb and Alex Sendegeya who ripped off a 6-0 win over Ammar Alhaqbani and Kyrylo Tsygura on court two.
Leite and Tommy Mylnikov clinched the doubles point for Texas Tech en route to a hard-fought 7-5 victory over Aswin Lizen and Matthew Lord at the bottom of the lineup. All square at 5-5, Leite and Mylnikov won the last two games to secure a 1-0 lead for the Red Raiders.
When doubles play was halted, No. 33 Connor Curry and Artem Kapshuk held a 5-2 advantage versus Gianni Ross and Carl Soderlund in the tiebreaker on the No. 1 line for the Red Raiders.
Kapshuk kept the momentum on Texas Tech's side with a strong 6-4, 6-2 win over Alhaqbani at the No. 5 spot to make it 2-0.
The Cavaliers answered behind straight-set victories from the top of their lineup. Ross was first off with a 6-1, 7-5 decision over Curry on court two followed by No. 40 Lizen who turned in a 6-3, 7-5 win against Sendegeya at the No. 3 position. Then, Soderlund took down Mylnikov by a 6-4, 6-3 score line to give UVA a 3-2 edge. It was Mylnikov's dual match debut for Texas Tech.
"We came out ready to go and played a great doubles point to start off today's match," Masi said. "We put a lot of pressure on them, and we were able to keep that lead for a majority of the match. We came here for two wins and have another tough match tomorrow against a talented Columbia/Ole Miss team if we want to accomplish one of goals and make it to Seattle."
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's tennis program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TechMensTennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
No. 25 Texas Tech 4, No. 15 Virginia 3
Jan. 27, 2018 at Charlottesville, Va. (Boar's Head Sports Club)
2018 ITA Kickoff Weekend – First Round
Singles
1 – Carl Soderlund (UVA) defeats Tommy Mylnikov (TTU): 6-4, 6-3
2 – Gianni Ross (UVA) defeats Connor Curry (TTU): 6-1, 7-5
3 – No. 40 Aswin Lizen (UVA) defeats Alex Sendegeya (TTU): 6-3, 7-5
4 – Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) defeats Matthew Lord (UVA): 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
5 – Artem Kapshuk (TTU) defeats Ammar Alhaqbani (UVA): 6-4, 6-2
6 – Matheus Leite (TTU) defeats Kyrylo Tsygura (UVA): 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 3, 4, 6
Doubles
1 – No. 33 Connor Curry/Artem Kapshuk vs. Gianni Ross/Carl Soderlund (UVA): 6-6 (5-2), unfinished
2 – Jackson Cobb/Alex Sendegeya (TTU) defeats Ammar Alhaqbani/Kyrylo Tsygura (UVA): 6-0
3 – Matheus Leite/Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) defeats Aswin Lizen/Matthew Lord (UVA): 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 3
Texas Tech: 10-1; National Ranking: No. 25
Virginia: 2-1; National Ranking: No. 15
Texas Tech (10-1) advances to Sunday's championship round where the Red Raiders will take on No. 23 Columbia with a spot at the ITA National Indoor Championships on the line from Feb. 16-19 hosted by the University of Washington. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. CT with live video and live stats provided by www.VirginiaSports.com.
The win also enabled Texas Tech to snap UVA's (2-1) run of 12 straight appearances in the ITA National Team Indoors, an event the Cavaliers have won six times in program history.
The Cavaliers will miss competing at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 2005. UVA is a six-time champion of the event, including winning the 2017 title when the championship was held in Charlottesville.
Ilgiz Valiev and Matheus Leite, a pair of freshmen, turned in veteran type performances on courts four and six to turn the tables with the Red Raiders trailing 3-2.
First it was Valiev who claimed a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Matthew Lord. He won four of the last five games in set two and pieced together the last four games of the third set to break a pair of 2-2 ties.
Leite raced out to 4-1 and 5-2 advantages in the winner-take-all third frame against Kyrylo Tsygura after splitting his first two sets. Tsygura drew back to 5-4, but Leite had the final answer with a break/hold to close out the 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 nail-biter. The Brazilian also came up clutch and clinched Texas Tech's 4-3 win over New Mexico earlier this week.
"It was a great team win," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "Winning against the three-time defending NCAA champions and a historical program like Virginia is big time for our program. I knew they would be tough in the top three positions of their singles lineup, but I felt that we had more match experience at the bottom of the lineup. I told the guys that our match toughness would show and playing those matches early on this season proved to be a great benefit for us today."
The Red Raiders set an impressive tone in doubles behind Jackson Cobb and Alex Sendegeya who ripped off a 6-0 win over Ammar Alhaqbani and Kyrylo Tsygura on court two.
Leite and Tommy Mylnikov clinched the doubles point for Texas Tech en route to a hard-fought 7-5 victory over Aswin Lizen and Matthew Lord at the bottom of the lineup. All square at 5-5, Leite and Mylnikov won the last two games to secure a 1-0 lead for the Red Raiders.
When doubles play was halted, No. 33 Connor Curry and Artem Kapshuk held a 5-2 advantage versus Gianni Ross and Carl Soderlund in the tiebreaker on the No. 1 line for the Red Raiders.
Kapshuk kept the momentum on Texas Tech's side with a strong 6-4, 6-2 win over Alhaqbani at the No. 5 spot to make it 2-0.
The Cavaliers answered behind straight-set victories from the top of their lineup. Ross was first off with a 6-1, 7-5 decision over Curry on court two followed by No. 40 Lizen who turned in a 6-3, 7-5 win against Sendegeya at the No. 3 position. Then, Soderlund took down Mylnikov by a 6-4, 6-3 score line to give UVA a 3-2 edge. It was Mylnikov's dual match debut for Texas Tech.
"We came out ready to go and played a great doubles point to start off today's match," Masi said. "We put a lot of pressure on them, and we were able to keep that lead for a majority of the match. We came here for two wins and have another tough match tomorrow against a talented Columbia/Ole Miss team if we want to accomplish one of goals and make it to Seattle."
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's tennis program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TechMensTennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
No. 25 Texas Tech 4, No. 15 Virginia 3
Jan. 27, 2018 at Charlottesville, Va. (Boar's Head Sports Club)
2018 ITA Kickoff Weekend – First Round
Singles
1 – Carl Soderlund (UVA) defeats Tommy Mylnikov (TTU): 6-4, 6-3
2 – Gianni Ross (UVA) defeats Connor Curry (TTU): 6-1, 7-5
3 – No. 40 Aswin Lizen (UVA) defeats Alex Sendegeya (TTU): 6-3, 7-5
4 – Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) defeats Matthew Lord (UVA): 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
5 – Artem Kapshuk (TTU) defeats Ammar Alhaqbani (UVA): 6-4, 6-2
6 – Matheus Leite (TTU) defeats Kyrylo Tsygura (UVA): 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 3, 4, 6
Doubles
1 – No. 33 Connor Curry/Artem Kapshuk vs. Gianni Ross/Carl Soderlund (UVA): 6-6 (5-2), unfinished
2 – Jackson Cobb/Alex Sendegeya (TTU) defeats Ammar Alhaqbani/Kyrylo Tsygura (UVA): 6-0
3 – Matheus Leite/Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) defeats Aswin Lizen/Matthew Lord (UVA): 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 3
Texas Tech: 10-1; National Ranking: No. 25
Virginia: 2-1; National Ranking: No. 15
Players Mentioned
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