Texas Tech Athletics
Utah
Utah up next for Red Raiders in ITA Kickoff Weekend
January 26, 2023 | Men's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech men's tennis team heads to Fort Worth for ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, January 28-29.
The Red Raiders will face 2-seeded Utah at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning and will take on either TCU or Gonzaga on Sunday at 11 a.m. or 2 p.m.
Texas Tech is 1-2 on the season with losses coming against No. 6 Tennessee and Charlotte. They recently posted a dominant win over Louisiana by a 6-1 score at The Falls.
In the match, Tech won its second-straight doubles point with a victory on courts three and one. On three, Piotr Pawlak and Franco Ribero won 6-2, then Dimitrios Azoidis and Reed Collier clinched the doubles point with a win over the 30-ranked Louisiana pair on court one, 6-3. The Red Raiders would then go on to win five of six singles matches to seal the win.
In dual matches, freshman Lorenzo Esquici leads with an unblemished, 2-0 record, while Ribero also tallies two victories. Azoidis and Collier lead in doubles dual matches with a 2-0 mark at the one position.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Tech opens up ITA Kickoff Weekend with a faceoff against Utah on Saturday. The Utes are 2-0 with commanding victories over UC Davis, 6-1, and Weber State. 7-0. Geronimo Espin Busleiman leads the Utes in dual singles matches as he is 2-0 at the one spot. He is also the only player to be ranked in singles as he checks in at No. 29. The doubles team of Berk Bugariki and Patrik Trhac are also ranked by the ITA at the No. 5 spot.
Tech will face either TCU or Gonzaga on Sunday. The TCU Horned Frogs are ranked No. 3 in the country and are coming into the weekend 3-0. They picked up wins against Abilene Christan, SMU and Tulsa, only dropping two points in those matches. Three Horned Frogs are ranked in singles as Jake Fearnley is No. 8, Luc Fomba is No. 28 and Pedro Vives is No. 76. Both Alexander Jong and Lui Maxted also check in at No. 4 nationally in doubles.
Gonzaga faces TCU first in ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday. The Bulldogs are 2-1 on the season with wins over Eastern Washington, 7-0, and UT Arlington, 5-2. Their lone loss comes at the hands of New Mexico by a 5-2 score. Two Bulldogs are 3-0 in dual singles as Oliver Andersson is 3-0 at court four and Leon Roider is undefeated at court six. The duo of Matthew Hollingworth and Sasha Trkulja are leading in dual doubles matches as they are 2-0 at the one position.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live video for the matches can be found on Playsight, while live stats can be found at this link. More coverage on ITA Kickoff Weekend can be accessed here. Follow the @TexasTechMTEN Twitter account for updates on the matches.
Players Mentioned
