Red Raiders beat Cougars in final home match of the season

Saturday, April 13

Lubbock, Texas

2:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

BYU

Red Raiders beat Cougars in final home match of the season

April 13, 2024 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Casey Montalvo

LUBBOCK, Texas – It was an eventful Senior Day for the Texas Tech Red Raiders as the Scarlet and Black earned its first Big 12 win of the season with a 4-1 victory against the BYU Cougars on Saturday afternoon at the McLeod Tennis Center.

BYU (11-10, 0-7 Big 12) was able to grab a 1-0 lead over the Red Raiders (9-14, 1-6 Big 12) after taking two of three doubles matches to start the day. First, TJ Wells and Tygen Goldammer beat Olle Wallin and Niksa Arsic at court three, 6-4. The Cougars led 4-1 in the match, but the Tech duo fought back to make it 4-5 after saving three match points. However, the Cougars would win it to take a slight lead over Tech.

At court two, Reed Collier and Takeyasu Sekiguchi earned a gritty win against Jack Barnett and Redd Owen. Both teams went back-and-forth to tie it at 4-4, then 5-5 before the Red Raiders earned a 7-5 victory highlighted by four breaks in the contest.

It would come down to court one where No. 40 Piotr Pawlak and Sebastian Abboud were taking on Wally Thayne and Zach Fuchs. It was tight the entire way through, eventually heading into a tiebreaker where the two doubles pairs would once again trade points. However, the Cougars clinched the doubles point after winning the match by a 7-6 (8) score.

Texas Tech came out firing on all cylinders in singles as the team won all six first sets to retake the momentum early. Over at court two, Collier was having himself a day as the senior went up 5-2 in the first set over Thayne and never looked back. He would win the set, 6-3, before going ahead 5-1 in the following set. The Red Raider finished his career at home with a 6-3, 6-2 victory and picked up his ninth dual win of the season after evening the match at 1-1.

The next point came at the hands of Pawlak at court five against Goldammer. Pawlak and the Cougar were tied 2-2 until the Red Raider won the next two games. He would break serve for the 5-3 lead, then hold to win it, 6-3. In the following set, Pawlak took a 5-1 advantage before Goldammer won another game. Pawlak then held serve to get the 6-3, 6-2 victory and give Tech the lead, 2-1.

At court four, Arsic was on a roll as he only gave up three total games in his commanding 6-1, 6-2 win against BYU's Owen to extend the Red Raiders' lead to 3-1. In doing so, Arsic recorded his second win at court four and sixth dual victory of the year.

Clinching the match for the Red Raiders was Lorenzo Esquici at court three over Fuchs. Going down 0-3 and then 2-5 in the first set, Esquici had to cover a lot of ground to make up the match. He did exactly that – winning the next five games for the 7-5 first-set victory. In set two, both players went back-and-forth until Esquici broke serve to lead 5-4. He would hold in the next game and get the 6-4 win to clinch the match. When the match was finished, Wallin was leading Barnett at court one, 7-6 (3), 3-3, while Abboud was up on David Duong, 7-6 (4), 2-2.

Up next, Texas Tech heads to Stillwater, Okla., for the Big 12 Tournament starting on Friday, April 19.

RESULTS
Texas Tech 4, BYU 1
Singles
1. #49 Olle Wallin (TTU) vs. Jack Barnett (BYU) 7-6 (7-3), 3-3, unfinished
2. Reed Collier (TTU) def. Wally Thayne (BYU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Lorenzo Esquici (TTU) def. Zach Fuchs (BYU) 7-5, 6-4
4. Niksa Arsic (TTU) def. Redd Owen (BYU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Piotr Pawlak (TTU) def. Tygen Goldammer (BYU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Sebastian Abboud (TTU) vs. David Duong (BYU) 7-6 (7-4), 2-2, unfinished

Doubles
1. Wally Thayne/Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. #40 Piotr Pawlak/Sebastian Abboud (TTU) 7-6 (10-8)
2. Reed Collier/Takeyasu Sekiguchi (TTU) def. Jack Barnett/Redd Owen (BYU) 7-5
3. TJ Wells/Tygen Goldammer (BYU) def. Olle Wallin/Niksa Arsic (TTU) 6-4

Order of finish
Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (2, 5, 4, 3)