Texas Tech University Athletics
Men's Tennis to Open Home Slate with Monday Doubleheader
January 17, 2020 | Men's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech men's tennis team is set to open their 2020 home schedule with a doubleheader against UTRGV and Abilene Christian on Monday.
Tech's opening match with the Vaqueros was moved to the Lubbock Country Club and will begin at approximately 9 a.m. CT. The Red Raiders are slated to return to the McLeod Tennis Center for their matchup with the Wildcats at 3.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Red Raiders captured their fourth-consecutive win in a season opener after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City at a tune of 4-3.
After securing the doubles point with wins on courts three and one, including a 6-4 triumph by Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn over No. 16-ranked Davies/Okonkwo, Tech would go on to secure the next two match points with wins by Thomson and junior Ilgiz Valiev in straight sets.
Iowa bounced back to tie the match at three, leading to a winner-take-all third set for sophomore Franco Ribero on court five. Ribero broke serve on three separate occasions and pulled away late to give Tech their fourth and final match point.
RED RAIDERS IN THE RANKINGS:
The Oracle/ITA Division I men's singles and doubles rankings were last updated at the conclusion of the fall session on Nov. 10, 2019.
Valiev reached a singles ranking of No. 69 following a stellar fall that included a quarterfinal berth at the ITA Texas Regionals in October. Freshman Reed Collier racked up seven singles wins in his first semester as a Red Raider, including a runner-up finish at the Texas Regionals. Collier will return to Lubbock with a national ranking of 114.
QUICK HITS:
The Red Raiders return to Lubbock boasting an impressive 15-1 non-conference slate dating back to the 2018 dual match season, with their only loss coming to No. 3 Mississippi State a year ago.
Tech will look to improve to 13-2 and 32-1 against UTRGV and Abilene Christian, respectively, when they meet on Monday, including a combined 33-1 mark at home against the two opponents.
Thomson will look to push closer to the all-time record for career doubles wins on Monday as he is currently second in program history with 76 victories, trailing only former Red Raider Gonzalo Escobar, who racked up 82 wins in the Scarlet and Black.
Ribero's match-clinching victory in Thursday's contest was the third of his young career, both of which also occurred on the fifth court. Ribero previously propelled Tech to victories over then-No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 19 Tulane last February.
A pair of wins on Monday would lead Tech to their second-consecutive 3-0 start to begin dual match play and would be the first season since 2012 to include at least one power five opponent in the initial three-game stretch.
LIVE VIDEO AND STATS:
Live video for matches played at the McLeod Tennis Center will now be available through Playsight. Live stats will also be available online via StatBroadcast. The password for live stats with StatBroadcast is "media2020".
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders will hit the road once again for the 2020 ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Champaign, Illinois. Tech will face the University of Michigan on Friday, January 24th before facing either Illinois or Ole Miss on Saturday. First serve for Friday's match is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the Texas Tech men's tennis program. Fans are also encouraged to follow the program on its social media outlets at www.facebook.com/techmenstennis and @TexasTechMTEN on Twitter and Instagram.
Tech's opening match with the Vaqueros was moved to the Lubbock Country Club and will begin at approximately 9 a.m. CT. The Red Raiders are slated to return to the McLeod Tennis Center for their matchup with the Wildcats at 3.
LAST TIME OUT:
The Red Raiders captured their fourth-consecutive win in a season opener after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City at a tune of 4-3.
After securing the doubles point with wins on courts three and one, including a 6-4 triumph by Bjorn Thomson and Parker Wynn over No. 16-ranked Davies/Okonkwo, Tech would go on to secure the next two match points with wins by Thomson and junior Ilgiz Valiev in straight sets.
Iowa bounced back to tie the match at three, leading to a winner-take-all third set for sophomore Franco Ribero on court five. Ribero broke serve on three separate occasions and pulled away late to give Tech their fourth and final match point.
RED RAIDERS IN THE RANKINGS:
The Oracle/ITA Division I men's singles and doubles rankings were last updated at the conclusion of the fall session on Nov. 10, 2019.
Valiev reached a singles ranking of No. 69 following a stellar fall that included a quarterfinal berth at the ITA Texas Regionals in October. Freshman Reed Collier racked up seven singles wins in his first semester as a Red Raider, including a runner-up finish at the Texas Regionals. Collier will return to Lubbock with a national ranking of 114.
QUICK HITS:
The Red Raiders return to Lubbock boasting an impressive 15-1 non-conference slate dating back to the 2018 dual match season, with their only loss coming to No. 3 Mississippi State a year ago.
Tech will look to improve to 13-2 and 32-1 against UTRGV and Abilene Christian, respectively, when they meet on Monday, including a combined 33-1 mark at home against the two opponents.
Thomson will look to push closer to the all-time record for career doubles wins on Monday as he is currently second in program history with 76 victories, trailing only former Red Raider Gonzalo Escobar, who racked up 82 wins in the Scarlet and Black.
Ribero's match-clinching victory in Thursday's contest was the third of his young career, both of which also occurred on the fifth court. Ribero previously propelled Tech to victories over then-No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 19 Tulane last February.
A pair of wins on Monday would lead Tech to their second-consecutive 3-0 start to begin dual match play and would be the first season since 2012 to include at least one power five opponent in the initial three-game stretch.
LIVE VIDEO AND STATS:
Live video for matches played at the McLeod Tennis Center will now be available through Playsight. Live stats will also be available online via StatBroadcast. The password for live stats with StatBroadcast is "media2020".
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders will hit the road once again for the 2020 ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Champaign, Illinois. Tech will face the University of Michigan on Friday, January 24th before facing either Illinois or Ole Miss on Saturday. First serve for Friday's match is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the Texas Tech men's tennis program. Fans are also encouraged to follow the program on its social media outlets at www.facebook.com/techmenstennis and @TexasTechMTEN on Twitter and Instagram.
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