Wallin named All-Big 12 First Team Singles
April 28, 2023 | Men's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – For the first time in six years, a Texas Tech Red Raider secured All-Big 12 First Team Singles honors as four student-athletes collected Big 12 accolades announced by the league office on Friday afternoon.
Junior Olle Wallin won his first career Big 12 award as the Halstad, Sweden native was named to the All-Big 12 First Team Singles list. Wallin has had a dominant season at the top court as he is 13-5 on the year at the position with a team-best nine ranked wins. Ranked No. 47 by the ITA in singles, Wallin boasts a 15-5 overall singles record, tied for the best on the team, while adding two Big 12 singles wins over two other All-Conference honorees (Alex Martinez and Jack Pinnington). Wallin becomes the 14th Red Raider to receive All-Big 12 conference honors in singles since the league formed.
Texas Tech also added two Big 12 Position Champions to the mix as freshman Lorenzo Esquici is the position champion at court five in singles, while the duo of Piotr Pawlak and Franco Ribero are the champions at court two in doubles. Only three times in program history has there been a position champion in both singles and doubles in the same season (2005, 2008, 2010) as it's the first time in 13 years it has happened.
Esquici joined the Red Raiders in January this year and got things rolling quickly. Just the second freshman to be a position champion in program history and the first since Francisco Zambon in 2012, Esquici has already been in big moments for Tech after clinching a team-leading five matches on the season against Utah, UTRGV, No. 38 Alabama, No. 24 Memphis and No. 56 Oregon. Playing primarily at court five this year, Esquici is tied for the lead on the team in singles wins with a 15-5 record. He also posted two wins in conference play against No. 1 Texas' Nevin Arimilli and No. 34 Oklahoma's Nathan Han.
Rounding out the conference honors are the doubles team of Pawlak and Ribero, who have been a consistent tandem at court two all season long. Pawlak and Ribero become the seventh duo in program history to earn the position champion honor as they posted an impressive 3-1 record in Big 12 play. Holding a 14-6 overall doubles record together and 12-5 record at court two, Pawlak and Ribero helped the Red Raiders win 15 doubles points on the season and four doubles points in conference. Earning their first ranking of the season at No. 77 in the beginning of April, Pawlak and Ribero's impressive season was highlighted by a ranked win over No. 12 Juan Grassi Mazzuchi and Jake Finn Bass of Baylor, 6-4, to help claim the doubles point.
The Red Raiders will await their postseason destination this Monday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m. as the NCAA Selection Show airs.
Full list of awards below:
Men's Tennis Player of the Year: Eliot Spizzirri, Texas
Men's Freshman of the Year: Sebastian Gorzny, TCU
Men's Newcomer of the Year: Isaac Becroft, Oklahoma State
Men's Coach of the Year: David Roditi, TCU
All-Big 12 First Team Singles
Tadeas Paroulek, Baylor
Jake Fearnley, TCU
Luc Fomba, TCU
Pierre-Yves Bailly, Texas
Eliot Spizzirri, Texas
Olle Wallin, Texas Tech
All-Big 12 First Team Doubles
Tadeas Paroulek/Zsombor Velcz, Baylor
Luc Fomba/Jake Fearnley, TCU
Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper, Texas
All-Big 12 Second Team Singles
Zsombor Velcz, Baylor
Alex Martinez, Oklahoma
Tyler Zink, Oklahoma State
Sander Jong, TCU
Jack Pinnington, TCU
Siem Woldeab, Texas
All-Big 12 Second Team Doubles
Lui Maxted/Sander Jong, TCU
Pedro Vives/Sebastian Gorzny, TCU
Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly, Texas
Men's Singles Position Champions
No. 1: Eliot Spizzirri, Texas, 4-0
No. 2: Pierre-Yves Bailly, Texas, 4-1
No. 3: Siem Woldeab, Texas, 3-0
No. 3: Siphos Montsi, Oklahoma, 3-2
No. 4: Sander Jong, TCU, 4-0
No. 5: Nevin Arimilli, Texas, 2-1
No. 5: Lorenzo Esquici, Texas Tech, 2-2
No. 6: Pedro Vives, TCU, 3-1
Men's Doubles Position Champions
No. 1: Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri, Texas, 4-1
No. 2: Piotr Pawlak/Franco Ribero, Texas Tech, 3-1
No. 3: Chih Chi Huang/Evin McDonald, Texas, 3-0
Players Mentioned
