Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Auburn
Red Raiders face No. 36 Auburn at Blue Gray Tennis Classic
February 23, 2023 | Men's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 44 Texas Tech Red Raiders have a NCAA First Round rematch brewing with the No. 36 Auburn Tigers as the two will face off at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic on Friday, Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. Texas Tech (5-4) will play matches over the course of two days at the tournament in Montgomery, Ala.
The Red Raiders had a 12-day break since last playing a home doubleheader against both UTRGV and Abilene Christian. In those matches, the Red Raiders never lost a point after sweeping the Vaqueros and Wildcats, 7-0. In addition, the Red Raiders only dropped one set in all 12 singles matches.
Fifth-year senior Franco Ribero has been on fire lately as the Argentina native is on a seven-match win streak in singles and a five-match win streak in doubles. Between Feb. 5-12, Ribero won eight total matches (four singles, four doubles) spanning over four dual matches against Tulsa, Wichita State, UTRGV and ACU. He leads the team with an 8-2 singles record and joins Piotr Pawlak with a team-best eight doubles wins.
Right behind Ribero in singles is freshman Lorenzo Esquici, who is 6-0 in dual matches. In doubles, Tyler Stewart follows both Ribero and Pawlak with five dual wins and is 4-1 at the three doubles spot.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Last season, the Red Raiders and Tigers competed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with Auburn coming out on top by a 4-1 score. However, Tech holds a slim, 3-2 advantage over the Tigers in program history. Auburn boasts a 7-2 record, with its only two losses coming against No. 10 Wake Forest and No. 19 Duke during ITA Kickoff Weekend. Notable wins include a 4-3 victory over Michigan State and a 5-2 win over Georgia Tech. The Tigers have one player ranked in singles as Tyler Stice is No. 103, while Raul Dobai and Finn Murgett are ranked No. 46 in doubles. In dual singles, Dobai and Alejandro Moreno lead the team with six wins apiece, while Jan Galka and Billy Blaydes had a team-high seven dual doubles wins.
The remaining teams in the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic are: No. 38 Alabama, No. 14 Arizona, No. 25 Middle Tennessee, Nebraska, No. 41 Oklahoma and Tulane.
Opponents in the Rankings
Singles
Alabama
No. 51 Enzo Aguiard
No. 94 Filip Planinsek
Arizona
No. 45 Jonas Eriksson Ziverts
No. 88 Colton Smith
No. 110 Nick Lagaev
No. 117 Herman Hoeyeraal
Middle Tennessee
No. 69 Stijn Slump
No. 98 Oskar Brostrom Poulsen
Oklahoma
No. 71 Nathan Han
No. 84 Justin Schlageter
No. 118 Jordan Hasson
No. 121 Alex Martinez
Tulane
No. 74 Fynn Kuenkler
Doubles
Middle Tennessee
No. 44 Oskar Brostrom Poulsen/Francisco Rocha
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats will be available this weekend here. Follow @TexasTechMTEN on Twitter for updates and scores of the matches.
Players Mentioned
