Red Raiders win top-25 showdown against MTSU

LUBBOCK, Texas (NEWS RELEASE) - Between singles and doubles, the No. 38 Texas Tech Red Raiders and the No. 24 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders tallied six tiebreaker sets as Tech would prevail in a tight battle, 4-2, on Sunday evening at the McLeod Tennis Center.

The Red Raiders (12-6) would drop a hard-fought doubles point to MTSU (15-7) at the start of the contest. First, Isaac Arevalo and Olle Wallin paired together for the first time this season and dominated their match at court three over Ondrej Horak and Shu Matsuoka, 6-2.

The Blue Raiders bounced back to even the score when Pavel Motl and Stijn Slump defeated Piotr Pawlak and Franco Ribero at court two, 7-5. Over at the top court, No. 72 Dimitrios Azoidis and Reed Collier were facing No. 51 Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Francisco Rocha, but would fall in a tough breaker, 7-6 (6), giving Middle Tennessee the doubles point.

Moving on to singles play, Azoidis made quick work against his opponent of Marcel Kamrowski at court six, only dropping two games in a 6-1, 6-1 victory. This is now Azoidis’ fourth-straight win as he is 4-0 a line six.

MTSU went back ahead of Tech when Horak defeated Reed Collier at court four by a 7-6 (4), 6-3 score. At court two, Ribero had a tall task ahead of him as he was taking on Rocha. The Argentina native was then able to hold off the Blue Raider as he won 6-1, 6-4 to tie the match at 2-all.

Freshman Lorenzo Esquici posted a straight-set win at court five to extend Tech’s lead as he overtook Motl, 6-3, 7-6 (9). This win gave Esquici his team-leading 13th of the season as he put the Red Raiders up 3-2.

Clinching the match for the second time this year was No. 42 Wallin at the top of the lineup. Taking on his sixth-ranked opponent in the last seven matches, Wallin would battle No. 74 Stijn for the fourth and final point of the match.

Going down 5-2 in the first set, the Sweden native rallied back to win five of the next six games to take the tiebreaker by a 7-6 (4) score. The second set saw another tiebreaker between the two players, but Wallin would come out on top to win it, 7-6 (2), and give Tech its second top-25 victory of the year. This is now Wallin’s team-best sixth-ranked singles win, as well as his sixth-ranked win in the past seven matches.

When play was finished, Arevalo forced a third set against No. 119 Brostrom Poulsen at court three. Arevalo fell, 6-4, in set one, before coming back to even things up with a 7-6 (3) tiebreak. The third set was tied at 1-all when the Red Raiders won.

Up next, the Red Raiders begin Big 12 play against Baylor in Waco on Saturday, April 1.

RESULTS:

Singles

1. #42 Olle Wallin (TTU) def. #74 Stijn Slump (MTSU) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2)

2. Franco Ribero (TTU) def. Francisco Rocha (MTSU) 6-1, 6-4

3. Isaac Arevalo (TTU) vs. #119 O. Brostrom Poulsen (MTSU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-1, unfinished

4. Ondrej Horak (MTSU) def. Reed Collier (TTU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3

5. Lorenzo Esquici (TTU) def. Pavel Motl (MTSU) 6-3, 7-6 (11-9)

6. Dimitrios Azoidis (TTU) def. Marcel Kamrowski (MTSU) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles

1. #51 O. Brostrom Poulsen/Francisco Rocha (MTSU) def. #72 Dimitrios Azoidis/Reed Collier (TTU) 7-6 (8-6)

2. Pavel Motl/Stijn Slump (MTSU) def. Piotr Pawlak/Franco Ribero (TTU) 7-5

3. Isaac Arevalo/Olle Wallin (TTU) def. Ondrej Horak/Shu Matsuoka (MTSU) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1); Singles (6, 4, 2, 5, 1)

Copyright 2023 KCBD. All rights reserved. Information provided by Texas Tech Athletics Communications