Lady Raider Tennis Continues Fall Slate in Fort Worth

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech women's tennis team continues its fall season this week in Fort Worth at the TCU Big 5 Challenge, which is set to run Friday through Sunday.

About the Event
Hosted by TCU, the Big 5 Challenge is set to include the Horned Frogs and Red Raiders, along with 2019 NCAA runner-up Georgia and Texas A&M. All four teams in the field finished the 2019 season ranked in the Oracle/ITA National Rankings (Georgia at No. 2, Texas A&M at No. 17 and TCU at No. 70).

Featured in the field are five ranked singles players from Georgia (No. 1 Katarina Jokic, No. 13 Marta Gonzalez, No. 37 Vivian Wolff, No. 69 Meg Kowalski, No. 13 Eleni Christofi) and three ranked players from Texas A&M (No. 28 Katya Townsend, No. 58 Jayci Goldsmith, No. 112 Tatiana Makarova).

In doubles, No. 8 Goldsmith/Makarova of A&M figure to be in the field, along with No. 19 Christofi/Wolff and No. 22 Jokic/Ma of Georgia.

Follow the Tournament
No live stats are available for the TCU Big 5 Challenge this weekend. For updates, follow the Lady Raiders on Twitter (@TexasTechWTEN).

2018 Big 5 Challenge Recap
The Lady Raider Tennis team closed out TCU's Big 5 Challenge with 14 singles victories and five doubles wins over the four-day event.

Freshman Sydney Jones led the team with a 3-1 weekend. She picked up wins over Missouri's Gabrielle Goldin (3-6, 6-3, 10-3) and Marta Oliveira (6-2, 7-5). The newcomer also captured a win over Dori Mesmer (Virginia Tech) in straight sets.

In doubles action, Felicity Maltby and Nell Miller went 2-0 on the weekend. The duo took down Texas A&M's McBryde and Goldsmith, 6-1, on the opening day. The two improved to 2-0 with a 7-6(1) victory over Missouri's Middlebrooks and Wright.

Kennedy Bridgforth and Lana Rush also went 2-0 in doubles play over the weekend. The pair posted a 7-5 victory over A&M's Faa-Hviding and McQuaid before capturing a 6-4 win over Missouri's Nash and Fukutoku.

Last Time Out…
Texas Tech women's tennis players Nell Miller and Olivia Peet took home hardware last week at the Midland Racquet Club Collegiate Tennis Classic, as the Lady Raiders took both finals matches on the third day of the tournament. Miller and Peet teamed up to take the event doubles title, with Peet winning in the singles finals.

Peet and Miller defeated Tyler JC's Helena Jansen and Emelic Schwarte, 8-6, in the doubles finals Sunday to earn the tournament title. It marks Peet's second consecutive doubles win at the event. The two Lady Raider sophomores went 4-0 on the weekend to post a perfect start to their fall season.

In singles, Peet finished off her weekend with a straight-set win over Baylor's Kristina Sorokolet, taking the match, 6-3, 6-4. The sophomore went 5-0 this weekend, including a pair of three-set comeback wins on Saturday, to earn her first Midland singles title.

Looking Ahead
Following their appearance in Fort Worth, the Lady Raiders will be back in action next weekend at the Baylor Invitational in Waco, Texas. The tournament is scheduled to run Oct. 4-6.

About the Lady Raiders
Head coach Todd Petty returns five players from the 2018-19 campaign, while also bringing a handful of talented freshmen into the fold. The Lady Raiders return Kennedy Bridgforth, Nell Miller and Olivia Peet who each saw action in the team's dual season in 2019, helping Tech to its program-best eighth-straight NCAA Tournament bid.

Petty has also recruited the nation's No. 4 recruiting class, led by fall enrollees Margarita Skryabina, Kira Reuter and Lisa Mays. Reuter is set to make her collegiate debut this weekend in Midland.

Staff Additions
Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt announced changes to the leadership of the school's men's and women's tennis programs last month. Women's head coach Todd Petty will be elevated to the role of Director of Tennis and will coach the Lady Raiders while overseeing both the men's and women's programs. Former Red Raider assistant coach Daniel Whitehead will take over as head coach of the men's program.

The tennis program will have a combined coaching staff working with both men's and women's tennis student-athletes. Second-year assistant coach Melissa Kopinski will remain on staff and a fourth coach will be named at a later date.

Lady Raider Tennis Continues Fall Slate in Fort Worth

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Players Mentioned

Kennedy Bridgforth

Sydney Jones

Felicity Maltby

Lisa Mays

Nell Miller

Olivia Peet

Kira Reuter

Lana Rush

Margarita Skriabina

Texas Tech University Athletics