Saturday, January 27
Los Angeles, Calif.
1 PM CT
Texas Tech Athletics
vs
San Diego
Red Raiders head to California for ITA Kickoff Weekend
January 26, 2024 | Men's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech men's tennis hits the road for the first time this spring to participate in ITA Kickoff Weekend, held at Marks Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. They will open against the University of San Diego on Saturday, January 27 at 1 p.m. CT. Then, on Sunday, January 28, they will play against either host team and No. 7-ranked USC or SMU at 1 p.m. CT or 4 p.m. CT.
The Red Raiders (2-1) are coming off a weekend in which they played three matches in two days against Wichita State, New Mexico State and Abilene Christian. Tech captured the doubles point in the first two matches over the Shockers and Aggies. In doubles, Sebastian Abboud and Piotr Pawlak led the way as they were undefeated with a 2-0 dual record. Reed Collier and partner Jonas Gundacker also have a pair of wins, as they dominated their first two matches, scoring 6-1 in both.
No. 71-ranked Olle Wallin looks to have a bounce-back weekend, after suffering the singles upset to Abilene Christian's Daniel Morozov in a third set that ended in a 7-6 (5) tiebreaker. He is 2-1 to start the season from the No. 1 singles position. No. 114-ranked Collier has begun 2024 on fire. He's won in straight sets in all three of his matches this season and looks to carry his momentum into Saturday's meeting with the Toreros.
Freshmen Niksa Arsic and Gundacker both came away with a pair of singles victories last weekend. Arsic earned his first collegiate win in straight sets against NMSU's Patrick Lohmann, then followed it up the next day with a win in straight sets against ACU's Dennis Dutine. Gundacker, after losing his first singles match of the year, responded by capturing two points against the Aggies and Wildcats. After splitting the first two sets against NMSU's Gustavo Campos, 4-6, 6-4, Gundacker won in a hard-fought 10-point tiebreaker, 1-0 (7).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
San Diego (0-0) is playing their second match of the season against the Red Raiders on Saturday, as their match against LMU, scheduled for January 20, was postponed due to rain. Before the delay, the No. 15 pairing of Stian Klaassen and Sacchitt Sharrma earned a 6-0 win, and the doubles point was clinched as Nikhil Niranjan and Oliver Tarvet won 6-2. Klaassen and Neo Niedner both won their singles matches as well. It's the ninth meeting all-time between the two schools, in which Tech leads 5-4. Their last meeting was in San Diego in March 2021 when Tech came out on top 4-1.
USC is the No. 7 ranked team in the country, and the highest-ranked team in the Pac 12-Conference. They've started the new year 1-0 after handily beating UC Irvine, 7-0. The Trojans have three players ranked in the top-100 nationally in No. 39 Peter Makk, No. 73 Lodewijk Weststrate and No. 94 Karl Lee. The lone matchup against these programs was in 2017, in which USC narrowly won 4-3 in Los Angeles.
SMU has had a busy start to the season. They're 4-1 through five matches, with a conference record of 1-0. Facing Hawaii, Prairie View A&M and UAB in their first four outings, they didn't give up a single point, winning 7-0 in each. They fell short against the No. 23 Florida Gators last Sunday but got two points behind singles wins from freshman Trevor Svajda and redshirt junior, Maks Silagy. The Mustangs and Red Raiders have met twice before, splitting the win total. In October 2023, Lorenzo Esquici beat No. 117 Liam Krall of SMU, dropping the first set, but winning the next two 7-5, 6-3 at the ITA Texas Regionals. In November 2023 at the Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge in Dallas, Reed Collier and Jonas Gundacker defeated SMU's Callaway Clark and Liam Krall, 6-2, for the doubles victory.
FOLLOW ALONG
All matches will have live stats and live video available here. Follow the @TexasTechMTEN X account for updates on the matches.
The Red Raiders (2-1) are coming off a weekend in which they played three matches in two days against Wichita State, New Mexico State and Abilene Christian. Tech captured the doubles point in the first two matches over the Shockers and Aggies. In doubles, Sebastian Abboud and Piotr Pawlak led the way as they were undefeated with a 2-0 dual record. Reed Collier and partner Jonas Gundacker also have a pair of wins, as they dominated their first two matches, scoring 6-1 in both.
No. 71-ranked Olle Wallin looks to have a bounce-back weekend, after suffering the singles upset to Abilene Christian's Daniel Morozov in a third set that ended in a 7-6 (5) tiebreaker. He is 2-1 to start the season from the No. 1 singles position. No. 114-ranked Collier has begun 2024 on fire. He's won in straight sets in all three of his matches this season and looks to carry his momentum into Saturday's meeting with the Toreros.
Freshmen Niksa Arsic and Gundacker both came away with a pair of singles victories last weekend. Arsic earned his first collegiate win in straight sets against NMSU's Patrick Lohmann, then followed it up the next day with a win in straight sets against ACU's Dennis Dutine. Gundacker, after losing his first singles match of the year, responded by capturing two points against the Aggies and Wildcats. After splitting the first two sets against NMSU's Gustavo Campos, 4-6, 6-4, Gundacker won in a hard-fought 10-point tiebreaker, 1-0 (7).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
San Diego (0-0) is playing their second match of the season against the Red Raiders on Saturday, as their match against LMU, scheduled for January 20, was postponed due to rain. Before the delay, the No. 15 pairing of Stian Klaassen and Sacchitt Sharrma earned a 6-0 win, and the doubles point was clinched as Nikhil Niranjan and Oliver Tarvet won 6-2. Klaassen and Neo Niedner both won their singles matches as well. It's the ninth meeting all-time between the two schools, in which Tech leads 5-4. Their last meeting was in San Diego in March 2021 when Tech came out on top 4-1.
USC is the No. 7 ranked team in the country, and the highest-ranked team in the Pac 12-Conference. They've started the new year 1-0 after handily beating UC Irvine, 7-0. The Trojans have three players ranked in the top-100 nationally in No. 39 Peter Makk, No. 73 Lodewijk Weststrate and No. 94 Karl Lee. The lone matchup against these programs was in 2017, in which USC narrowly won 4-3 in Los Angeles.
SMU has had a busy start to the season. They're 4-1 through five matches, with a conference record of 1-0. Facing Hawaii, Prairie View A&M and UAB in their first four outings, they didn't give up a single point, winning 7-0 in each. They fell short against the No. 23 Florida Gators last Sunday but got two points behind singles wins from freshman Trevor Svajda and redshirt junior, Maks Silagy. The Mustangs and Red Raiders have met twice before, splitting the win total. In October 2023, Lorenzo Esquici beat No. 117 Liam Krall of SMU, dropping the first set, but winning the next two 7-5, 6-3 at the ITA Texas Regionals. In November 2023 at the Ralston/Neufeld Coaches Challenge in Dallas, Reed Collier and Jonas Gundacker defeated SMU's Callaway Clark and Liam Krall, 6-2, for the doubles victory.
FOLLOW ALONG
All matches will have live stats and live video available here. Follow the @TexasTechMTEN X account for updates on the matches.
Players Mentioned
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Vaccari/ Stewart Celebration
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Pawlak/Abboud Celebration
Sunday, February 23
Thiago Guglieri Win
Saturday, February 22
Doubles Celebration
Saturday, February 22