Sunday, April 10
Lubbock, Texas
1 p.m.
Texas Tech Athletics
4
vs
3
No. 44 Oklahoma State
Collier’s heroics push Tech to critical win over OSU
April 10, 2022 | Men's Tennis
Tech secured the perfect 2-0 weekend with another third-set tiebreaker win
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech men's tennis program used a come-from-behind third-set tiebreaker victory from Reed Collier to seal a 4-3 victory Sunday afternoon over Oklahoma State at the McLeod Tennis Center.
With the win Texas Tech improves to 14-9 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play.
Tech got off to a fast start Sunday afternoon, racing out to an early 3-0 lead.
Collier and doubles partner Dimitrios Azoidis set the tone early for Tech by securing a 6-2 win on court three.
Isaac Arevalo and freshman Piotr Pawlak sealed the doubles point moments later, after the duo closed out a 6-3 victory over No. 26 Tyler Zink and Sebastian Nothhaft of Oklahoma State (11-9, 0-3 Big 12).
Tech rode the momentum of the strong start to a pair of quick singles victories by Azoidis and sophomore Olle Wallin. Azoidis cruised to a one and three victory on court four, while Wallin secured a 6-3, 6-3 victory on court three.
The momentum of the match began to swing the way of the visitors, as OSU got on the board with
7-6 (4), 6-1 victory on court one. OSU quickly drew to within 3-2, when Francisco Pini won four and one on court five over Franco Ribero.
After winning the first set 6-2, Pawlak fell 3-6 in the second set, as the match went to a third set. Joseph Chen of OSU rode the momentum of the second set to record a 6-2 victory in the decisive set.
With the momentum clearly in favor of the Cowboys, Tech turned to its final hope, Collier. After dropped a tough opening set 2-6, Collier rebounded for a big 7-6 (2) victory in set two.
In the decisive third set, Collier and Alex Garcia of OSU continued to trade body blows. With the match deadlocked at five-all, Collier broke to go up 6-5. In the next service game, the Texan was up 40-15, but Garcia won the next three points to send the match into a tiebreaker.
Collier raced out an early 5-3 lead in the breaker, before ultimately winning 7-4, and sealing the Red Raiders 14th victory of the season.
HEAD COACH DANNY WHITEHEAD:
"The funny part of college tennis is that the momentum can flip and turn for any team at really any moment. Scores will go up and down but it's about having six guys playing their best at a time. Today, I thought all six of our singles players played well. We have a little bit of momentum after the two wins this weekend and a little better belief in our doubles. We've played tough all year, and up until this weekend it felt like we've been a point short all year. But I don't think we feel that way now which is exciting."
On the matchup next Saturday with No. 3 Baylor:
"Our TCU match gave us a lot of confidence because we forced a couple of third sets by winning a set. The matches we didn't get were extremely close in the third. Baylor is a phenomenal team that is a true contender to win the national championship. To have them come here with a little bit of momentum should be extremely exciting for us."
JUNIOR REED COLLIER:
"We've had a couple of unlucky matches against nationally-ranked teams this season. We have so much belief in this team and ourselves. When the guy on Oklahoma State broke back to force the tiebreaker, I wanted to break my racquet into a million pieces, but I tried to forget about the score and treat the match like it was zero-zero. I knew I was in this situation for a reason, and I just needed to keep believing."
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon when the Baylor Bears visit McLeod. First serve is set for 5 p.m.
Prior to the match, Texas Tech will honor Francisco Vittar and Ilgiz Valiev.
With the win Texas Tech improves to 14-9 overall and 2-2 in Big 12 play.
Tech got off to a fast start Sunday afternoon, racing out to an early 3-0 lead.
Collier and doubles partner Dimitrios Azoidis set the tone early for Tech by securing a 6-2 win on court three.
Isaac Arevalo and freshman Piotr Pawlak sealed the doubles point moments later, after the duo closed out a 6-3 victory over No. 26 Tyler Zink and Sebastian Nothhaft of Oklahoma State (11-9, 0-3 Big 12).
Tech rode the momentum of the strong start to a pair of quick singles victories by Azoidis and sophomore Olle Wallin. Azoidis cruised to a one and three victory on court four, while Wallin secured a 6-3, 6-3 victory on court three.
The momentum of the match began to swing the way of the visitors, as OSU got on the board with
7-6 (4), 6-1 victory on court one. OSU quickly drew to within 3-2, when Francisco Pini won four and one on court five over Franco Ribero.
After winning the first set 6-2, Pawlak fell 3-6 in the second set, as the match went to a third set. Joseph Chen of OSU rode the momentum of the second set to record a 6-2 victory in the decisive set.
With the momentum clearly in favor of the Cowboys, Tech turned to its final hope, Collier. After dropped a tough opening set 2-6, Collier rebounded for a big 7-6 (2) victory in set two.
In the decisive third set, Collier and Alex Garcia of OSU continued to trade body blows. With the match deadlocked at five-all, Collier broke to go up 6-5. In the next service game, the Texan was up 40-15, but Garcia won the next three points to send the match into a tiebreaker.
Collier raced out an early 5-3 lead in the breaker, before ultimately winning 7-4, and sealing the Red Raiders 14th victory of the season.
HEAD COACH DANNY WHITEHEAD:
"The funny part of college tennis is that the momentum can flip and turn for any team at really any moment. Scores will go up and down but it's about having six guys playing their best at a time. Today, I thought all six of our singles players played well. We have a little bit of momentum after the two wins this weekend and a little better belief in our doubles. We've played tough all year, and up until this weekend it felt like we've been a point short all year. But I don't think we feel that way now which is exciting."
On the matchup next Saturday with No. 3 Baylor:
"Our TCU match gave us a lot of confidence because we forced a couple of third sets by winning a set. The matches we didn't get were extremely close in the third. Baylor is a phenomenal team that is a true contender to win the national championship. To have them come here with a little bit of momentum should be extremely exciting for us."
JUNIOR REED COLLIER:
"We've had a couple of unlucky matches against nationally-ranked teams this season. We have so much belief in this team and ourselves. When the guy on Oklahoma State broke back to force the tiebreaker, I wanted to break my racquet into a million pieces, but I tried to forget about the score and treat the match like it was zero-zero. I knew I was in this situation for a reason, and I just needed to keep believing."
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon when the Baylor Bears visit McLeod. First serve is set for 5 p.m.
Prior to the match, Texas Tech will honor Francisco Vittar and Ilgiz Valiev.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
12
Tyler Zink / 0 [OSU]
76
61
#2 Singles Match
123
Alex Garcia / 0 [OSU]
666
277
#3 Singles Match
12
Sebastian Nothhaft / 0 [OSU]
33
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Leighton Allen / 0 [OSU]
13
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Francisco Pini / 0 [OSU]
66
41
#6 Singles Match
123
Joseph Chen / 0 [OSU]
266
632
Order of Finish:
4,3,1,5,6,2
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Vaccari/ Stewart Celebration
Sunday, February 23
Pawlak/Abboud Celebration
Sunday, February 23
Thiago Guglieri Win
Saturday, February 22
Doubles Celebration
Saturday, February 22