Texas Tech University Athletics

Lady Raider Tennis Opens Dual Season with Sunday Doubleheader
January 29, 2021 | Women's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech women's tennis team serves up its dual season this Sunday as it travels to El Paso for a pair of matches against Arizona and UTEP. The Lady Raiders will serve up the day against Arizona at 11 a.m. CT, followed by a 3 p.m. CT match against the Miners.
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FOLLOW THE LADY RAIDERS
Live scoring will be unavailable for both matches on Sunday; however, as many updates as possible will be provided on the Lady Raider tennis Twitter account (@TexasTechWTEN) throughout the day.
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ABOUT THE LADY RAIDERS
The 2021 Texas Tech Lady Raider roster boasts a handful of familiar faces from a season ago, as well as plenty of notable newcomers. Head coach Todd Petty returns key contributors in Nell Miller, Olivia Peet, Lisa Mays, Bojana Marinkov and Margarita Skriabina—all either freshmen or sophomores due to COVID-19 eligibility rules.
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Petty also brings five newcomers aboard, led by junior transfer Kaitlin Staines who attained All-America honors in doubles in 2019. Also new to the Lady Raider roster in 2021 are freshmen Metka Komac, Kailey Evans and Camryn Stepp, who combined for 12 wins in tournament play over the last several months of action.
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Tech will look to build off the 2020 season, in which the young Lady Raiders racked up five wins including a 4-3 win at No. 26 Arizona State prior to the season being canceled due to the pandemic.
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LADY RAIDERS IN THE RANKINGS
Heading into the season opener, Texas Tech has one ranked singles player and one ranked doubles team in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings. In doubles, Kaitlin Staines and Nell Miller come in at No. 43. Staines also appears in the singles poll, slotted at No. 100.
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ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Arizona enters the weekend 1-0 after notching a 5-2 win at Grand Canyon last Saturday. The Wildcats will face New Mexico State to open the weekend before taking on Tech and UTEP on Sunday. Arizona went 10-7 a year ago, including 0-1 in Pac-12 play, and recorded a ranked win over then-No. 52 UNLV. The Wildcats are led by Emily Maxfield, who ranks No. 90 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings after transferring from South Florida this summer.
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ABOUT THE MINERS
UTEP will also be opening their 2021 season with matches against the Lady Raiders and Wildcats, looking to improve off a 4-10 2020 campaign prior to the season being canceled. Junior Lina Sáchica led UTEP in singles wins (11) with the majority of her match wins coming in the third slot (4) a season ago. The Miners also return senior Vanessa Valdez, who saw most of the action in the top singles position last year. Head coach Ivan Fernandez is in his fourth season at UTEP.
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LOOKING AHEAD
Tech will be back on the road next weekend for a three-match trip to Houston, where the Lady Raiders will take on Rice, Sam Houston State and Houston.
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FOLLOW THE LADY RAIDERS
Live scoring will be unavailable for both matches on Sunday; however, as many updates as possible will be provided on the Lady Raider tennis Twitter account (@TexasTechWTEN) throughout the day.
Â
ABOUT THE LADY RAIDERS
The 2021 Texas Tech Lady Raider roster boasts a handful of familiar faces from a season ago, as well as plenty of notable newcomers. Head coach Todd Petty returns key contributors in Nell Miller, Olivia Peet, Lisa Mays, Bojana Marinkov and Margarita Skriabina—all either freshmen or sophomores due to COVID-19 eligibility rules.
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Petty also brings five newcomers aboard, led by junior transfer Kaitlin Staines who attained All-America honors in doubles in 2019. Also new to the Lady Raider roster in 2021 are freshmen Metka Komac, Kailey Evans and Camryn Stepp, who combined for 12 wins in tournament play over the last several months of action.
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Tech will look to build off the 2020 season, in which the young Lady Raiders racked up five wins including a 4-3 win at No. 26 Arizona State prior to the season being canceled due to the pandemic.
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LADY RAIDERS IN THE RANKINGS
Heading into the season opener, Texas Tech has one ranked singles player and one ranked doubles team in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings. In doubles, Kaitlin Staines and Nell Miller come in at No. 43. Staines also appears in the singles poll, slotted at No. 100.
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ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Arizona enters the weekend 1-0 after notching a 5-2 win at Grand Canyon last Saturday. The Wildcats will face New Mexico State to open the weekend before taking on Tech and UTEP on Sunday. Arizona went 10-7 a year ago, including 0-1 in Pac-12 play, and recorded a ranked win over then-No. 52 UNLV. The Wildcats are led by Emily Maxfield, who ranks No. 90 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings after transferring from South Florida this summer.
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ABOUT THE MINERS
UTEP will also be opening their 2021 season with matches against the Lady Raiders and Wildcats, looking to improve off a 4-10 2020 campaign prior to the season being canceled. Junior Lina Sáchica led UTEP in singles wins (11) with the majority of her match wins coming in the third slot (4) a season ago. The Miners also return senior Vanessa Valdez, who saw most of the action in the top singles position last year. Head coach Ivan Fernandez is in his fourth season at UTEP.
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LOOKING AHEAD
Tech will be back on the road next weekend for a three-match trip to Houston, where the Lady Raiders will take on Rice, Sam Houston State and Houston.
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