Texas Tech University Athletics
Thursday, April 19
McLeod Tennis Center
3:30 PM
Texas Tech Athletics
4
vs
3
No. 15 Texas
No. 32 Men's Tennis Turns Tables on No. 15 Texas
April 19, 2018 | Men's Tennis
The Red Raiders overcame a 3-1 deficit to earn their first Big 12 win of the season.
LUBBOCK, Texas – Connor Curry, Tommy Mylnikov and Ilgiz Valiev ripped off singles victories in succession to vault the No. 32 Texas Tech men's tennis team to a 4-3 comeback win over No. 15 Texas on Thursday at the McLeod Tennis Center.
The Red Raiders (19-8, 1-3 Big 12) captured their second win over a Top 15 opponents and have won back-to-back home matches against Texas (14-6, 2-2 Big 12). Texas Tech remained undefeated at home this season and have won 13 consecutive matches at the McLeod Tennis Center.
"We had a great talk today from Corbin Young who is the FCA leader on-campus," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "He preached to the guys what it means to be fearless and what that word actually means. We use it here so much at Texas Tech. He talked to the guys about just having the courage to go out there and do things. They did that to a T. We had great double point playing fearless and all the way to the end."
Facing a 3-1 deficit, Curry started the Red Raiders on the comeback trail with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 88 Leonardo Telles on court three. Curry won a critical deuce point at 3-3 during the opening set which sparked the senior to an eight-game run.
No. 124 Mylnikov grinded out a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over No. 74 Harrison Scott at the No. 2 position. He wiped away 4-2 holes in each set to draw Texas Tech even at 3-3.
Valiev bounced back from losing an opening set tiebreaker against No. 97 Rodrigo Banzer in the No. 4 slot. The freshman seized the momentum midway through the second set and closed the contest with nine straight games.
"As a freshman against an older player, Ilgiz could have easily let that go after being up 5-2 in the first," Masi said. "We have been preaching taking care of adversity, staring it in the face and saying 'I'm ready for it'. I think what really made him feel good was one our crowd was behind him. Two, he felt like he was winning that match which gave him confidence because maybe he felt like he gave him the opening set. There was another turning point midway through the second set that took the wind out of his opponent's sails. It really played in our favor from our favor, and he did a good job embracing it."
The Longhorns grabbed the early momentum in doubles action when Scott and reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Christian Sigsgaard defeated Curry and Valiev by a 6-1 margin on the No. 2 line.
Court three featured a back-and-forth affair between Matheus Leite and Mylnikov against Colin Markes and Adrian Ortiz. The battle stayed on-serve until the 12th game when Mylnikov delivered a backhand lob winner at 40-0 to seal a 7-5 win.
All eyes turned to the top of the lineup where Jackson Cobb and Alex Sendegeya claimed a service break to make it 4-3 courtesy of a Sendegeya overhead winner on a deuce point. Then, Cobb consolidated the break and used strong serving to erase three break points. The pair closed out the 6-4 victory over No. 8 Banzer and Telles with Sendegeya holding his serve at love.
Texas was able to regroup and collected straight-set decisions from Markes, Ortiz and Sigsgaard to grab a 3-1 advantage.
"After we took the doubles point, I felt pretty good because we competed hard going into the singles," Masi said. "We knew they were rock solid throughout their lineup, and they had some pretty good records on courts one, five and six which unfortunately for us went pretty quick. My big thing is believing. We beat Texas who is one of the best teams in our conference. Now, you think that we can win the next one. We were able to beat TCU that last time we played them in Lubbock, why not do it again. At this time last year, we started to play some really good tennis when we had our backs against the wall. If the guys can keep that in mindset, you never know what could happen."
Texas Tech wraps up its regular season versus three-time Big 12 regular season champion and No. 6 TCU on Sunday at the McLeod Tennis Center. First serve is on-tap for 2 p.m. CT, and admission is free to all home matches. The Red Raiders will honor Curry and Sendegeya as part of Senior Day ceremonies prior to the match.
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. 32 Texas Tech 4, No. 15 Texas 3
April 19, 2018 at Lubbock, Texas (McLeod Tennis Center)
Doubles
1 – Jackson Cobb/Alex Sendegeya (TTU) defeats No. 8 Rodrigo Banzer/Leonardo Telles (UT): 6-4
2 – Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) defeats Connor Curry/Ilgiz Valiev (TTU): 6-1
3 – Matheus Leite/Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) defeats Colin Markes/ Adrian Ortiz (UT): 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1 – Christian Sigsgaard (UT) defeats Alex Sendegeya (TTU): 6-1, 6-2
2 – No. 124 Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) vs. No. 74 Harrison Scott (UT): 6-4, 6-4
3 – Connor Curry (TTU) defeats No. 88 Leonardo Telles (UT): 6-3, 6-1
4 – Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) defeats No. 97 Rodrigo Banzer (UT): 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-0
5 – Adrian Ortiz (UT) defeats Artem Kapshuk (TTU): 6-1, 6-4
6 – Colin Markes (UT) defeats Matheus Leite (TTU): 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 5, 1, 3, 2, 4
Texas Tech: 19-8 (1-3 Big 12); National Ranking: No. 32
Texas: 14-6 (2-2 Big 12); National Ranking: No. 15
The Red Raiders (19-8, 1-3 Big 12) captured their second win over a Top 15 opponents and have won back-to-back home matches against Texas (14-6, 2-2 Big 12). Texas Tech remained undefeated at home this season and have won 13 consecutive matches at the McLeod Tennis Center.
"We had a great talk today from Corbin Young who is the FCA leader on-campus," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. "He preached to the guys what it means to be fearless and what that word actually means. We use it here so much at Texas Tech. He talked to the guys about just having the courage to go out there and do things. They did that to a T. We had great double point playing fearless and all the way to the end."
Facing a 3-1 deficit, Curry started the Red Raiders on the comeback trail with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 88 Leonardo Telles on court three. Curry won a critical deuce point at 3-3 during the opening set which sparked the senior to an eight-game run.
No. 124 Mylnikov grinded out a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over No. 74 Harrison Scott at the No. 2 position. He wiped away 4-2 holes in each set to draw Texas Tech even at 3-3.
Valiev bounced back from losing an opening set tiebreaker against No. 97 Rodrigo Banzer in the No. 4 slot. The freshman seized the momentum midway through the second set and closed the contest with nine straight games.
"As a freshman against an older player, Ilgiz could have easily let that go after being up 5-2 in the first," Masi said. "We have been preaching taking care of adversity, staring it in the face and saying 'I'm ready for it'. I think what really made him feel good was one our crowd was behind him. Two, he felt like he was winning that match which gave him confidence because maybe he felt like he gave him the opening set. There was another turning point midway through the second set that took the wind out of his opponent's sails. It really played in our favor from our favor, and he did a good job embracing it."
The Longhorns grabbed the early momentum in doubles action when Scott and reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Christian Sigsgaard defeated Curry and Valiev by a 6-1 margin on the No. 2 line.
Court three featured a back-and-forth affair between Matheus Leite and Mylnikov against Colin Markes and Adrian Ortiz. The battle stayed on-serve until the 12th game when Mylnikov delivered a backhand lob winner at 40-0 to seal a 7-5 win.
All eyes turned to the top of the lineup where Jackson Cobb and Alex Sendegeya claimed a service break to make it 4-3 courtesy of a Sendegeya overhead winner on a deuce point. Then, Cobb consolidated the break and used strong serving to erase three break points. The pair closed out the 6-4 victory over No. 8 Banzer and Telles with Sendegeya holding his serve at love.
Texas was able to regroup and collected straight-set decisions from Markes, Ortiz and Sigsgaard to grab a 3-1 advantage.
"After we took the doubles point, I felt pretty good because we competed hard going into the singles," Masi said. "We knew they were rock solid throughout their lineup, and they had some pretty good records on courts one, five and six which unfortunately for us went pretty quick. My big thing is believing. We beat Texas who is one of the best teams in our conference. Now, you think that we can win the next one. We were able to beat TCU that last time we played them in Lubbock, why not do it again. At this time last year, we started to play some really good tennis when we had our backs against the wall. If the guys can keep that in mindset, you never know what could happen."
Texas Tech wraps up its regular season versus three-time Big 12 regular season champion and No. 6 TCU on Sunday at the McLeod Tennis Center. First serve is on-tap for 2 p.m. CT, and admission is free to all home matches. The Red Raiders will honor Curry and Sendegeya as part of Senior Day ceremonies prior to the match.
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. 32 Texas Tech 4, No. 15 Texas 3
April 19, 2018 at Lubbock, Texas (McLeod Tennis Center)
Doubles
1 – Jackson Cobb/Alex Sendegeya (TTU) defeats No. 8 Rodrigo Banzer/Leonardo Telles (UT): 6-4
2 – Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) defeats Connor Curry/Ilgiz Valiev (TTU): 6-1
3 – Matheus Leite/Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) defeats Colin Markes/ Adrian Ortiz (UT): 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1 – Christian Sigsgaard (UT) defeats Alex Sendegeya (TTU): 6-1, 6-2
2 – No. 124 Tommy Mylnikov (TTU) vs. No. 74 Harrison Scott (UT): 6-4, 6-4
3 – Connor Curry (TTU) defeats No. 88 Leonardo Telles (UT): 6-3, 6-1
4 – Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) defeats No. 97 Rodrigo Banzer (UT): 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-0
5 – Adrian Ortiz (UT) defeats Artem Kapshuk (TTU): 6-1, 6-4
6 – Colin Markes (UT) defeats Matheus Leite (TTU): 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 5, 1, 3, 2, 4
Texas Tech: 19-8 (1-3 Big 12); National Ranking: No. 32
Texas: 14-6 (2-2 Big 12); National Ranking: No. 15
Players Mentioned
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