Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
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Kansas
Lady Raiders off to Kansas, Iowa for Big 12 play
March 12, 2024 | Women's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech Lady Raiders are back on the road this week to first play the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan., on March 14 at 5 p.m., before heading north to Ames, Iowa to the faceoff against the Iowa State Cyclones on March 16 at 11 a.m.
The No. 27-ranked Texas Tech Lady Raiders (10-5, 3-1 Big 12) are heading into the road trip after a hot 3-1 start to conference play, their best start since 2021. Tech had their first loss against a Big 12 opponent when they lost against top-ranked Oklahoma State, 1-6, before bouncing back to hand then No. 65 Kansas State its third consecutive Big 12 loss, 5-2.
The doubles effort from Tech has been superb at the mid-point of the season. The Lady Raiders have been able to capture 11 of 14 possible doubles points during the regular season, three of four coming in conference play, and are 8-3 when winning the doubles point. The Texas Tech doubles front is led by the No. 7-ranked pairing of Metka Komac and Avelina Sayfetdinova who have compiled a 10-1 dual record, while court two's Mariya Polishchuk and Cristina Tiglea continue to be the perfect complement by matching their win total on the year.
The Lady Raiders are led in singles by No. 85-ranked Tiglea who, since the beginning of Big 12 play, has been undefeated. Tiglea's wins include ranked victories over No. 7 Anastasiya Komar and No. 105 Vanesa Suarez, both in straight sets. The two ranked wins on the weekend marks the seventh and eighth ranked victories for Tiglea overall and her 15th win on the year, with both feats leading the team in overall singles.
Sophomore Andreea Lila has also been on fire since the start of conference play as she recorded her third Big 12 win on the season, the second highest on the team and surpassing her overall win total from last season. Each of her wins came from straight-set victories while her lone loss was from a third set super-tiebreaker against a formidable Oklahoma State squad. The combined efforts of Tiglea and Lila on courts one and six, respectively, has led to a 13-4 lockdown record on the two courts.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The No. 58-ranked Kansas Jayhawks (4-7, 2-1 Big 12) are heading into the match after consecutive wins against Kansas State, 4-1, and Iowa State, 5-2. Freshman Kyoka Kubo leads the charge in singles where she holds a 10-1 dual singles record, including an 8-0 mark on court four. Kyoka and senior Jocelyn Massey hold down doubles with a 4-1 record on the year. This will be the second time this year that the Lady Raiders and the Jayhawks have played one another. The Lady Raiders won the first meeting in Santa Barbara, Calif., 4-3, and tied up the all-time series, 10-10, with the win, while also earning victories in the last two meetings.
The Iowa State Cyclones (2-8, 0-3 Big 12) will first play No. 37-ranked BYU before facing off against Tech. Junior Anna Kuearum leads the way in singles for the Cyclones, holding a 6-4 record on court one so far this season and accounts for 42.8 percent of all of Iowa State's dual singles wins. The Thailand-native, along with senior Isabella Dunlap, lead the most effective doubles tandem for the Cyclones. The tandem is 4-2 during the season and record half of all of Iowa State's doubles wins on the year. The Lady Raiders have historically dominated the Cyclones where they own a 16-3 overall record.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats and video will be available for the Kansas match, while live stats will be available for the Iowa State match. Follow @TexasTechWTEN on X for updates and scores of the matches.
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Players Mentioned
