Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Men's Tennis Wins Seventh Straight With 5-2 Rout Of Texas Tech
Apr 03, 2009 | Men's Tennis
April 3, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Five of six players won in straight sets to lead the No. 14-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team to its seventh-straight victory of the season with a 5-2 rout of rival Texas Tech Friday night before the fourth-largest crowd in school history of 1,089 fans at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Aggies (12-5, 3-0) captured five of their six first sets in singles to counter a doubles sweep by the Red Raiders (11-7, 0-1) earlier in the match. Sophomore All-American and No. 51-ranked Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) tied things up at 1-1 with a dominating 6-1, 6-1 victory over Sinisa Markovic at the No. 2 line. He has won nine straight to help A&M complete a three-match, six-day run successfully against the likes of three 2008 NCAA Tournament squads in Tech, Tulsa and Oklahoma State. The Aggies have also won nine of their last 10 matches on the heels of their added depth in singles.
"Austin had one of the toughest `outs' and he thoroughly beat his opponent tonight," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "That is really a credit to him, because he works so hard on his game. He really wants to be a pro tennis player and he crosses the T's and dots the I's in terms of his practice. He is really beginning to see the fruits of his labor."
Freshman Colin Hoover (Victoria, Texas) also won decisively over Texas Tech's Milos Kustudija, 6-2, 6-1, to improve his record to an undefeated 3-0 in Big 12 play at No. 6. He has won five-straight matches including a clincher against Tulsa on Wednesday night. Hoover is 6-1 since becoming a main contributor in the A&M lineup dating back to a 4-3 upset of No. 7 Illinois on March 15.
"That was our best, complete singles match of the year," Denton said. "All of our guys came out and played well. We have been waiting for a match like this, where everyone brought their `A' games. We are beginning to believe in ourselves. We are not panicking if the doubles doesn't go our way or if there is a close singles match. Our guys are competing hard and fighting. Right now, good things are happening for us."
With the Aggies seeking their fourth point in the match, junior Marcus Lunt (San Antonio, Texas) delivered with a 6-3, 6-0 knockout of Michael Breler at No. 5 to seal the victory. Senior All-American and No. 19-ranked Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas) and No. 30-ranked Wil Spencer (Ponce de Leon, Fla.) also contributed to the winning cause with straight-set victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 lines respectively.
"It was a good, all-around effort for us in singles tonight," said Lunt on A&M's comeback after dropping the doubles point to the Red Raiders. "I think it's just a mentality. We know we can do it. We have done it in the last couple of matches. We don't stay down on ourselves. We let it go. It's done with and then we come out strong in singles. We know we can win all six singles matches and this team does a good job of believing in itself."
A&M will next travel to No. 7 Baylor (17-5, 2-0) for a Wednesday, April 8 league dual match in Waco, Texas. First serve between the Aggies and Bears is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT).
"This was a big one for us," Denton said. "I knew this was going to be a tough match. (Texas Tech head coach) Tim Siegel always has good teams and they are always well coached. They fight hard and they are hard to beat. For us to beat them after losing the doubles point is huge. This win gives us some confidence and we are going to have to take the Big 12 Conference race one step at a time."
(14) TEXAS A&M 5, (32) TEXAS TECH 2
April 3, 2009
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
at College Station, Texas
Attendance: 1,089
SINGLES
No. 1 - (19) Marcus Lunt (Texas A&M) def. Michael Breler (Texas Tech), 6-3, 6-0.
No. 6 - Colin Hoover (Texas A&M) def. Milos Kustudija (Texas Tech), 6-2, 6-1.
DOUBLES
No. 1 - (12) Carvalho-Rojmar (Texas Tech) def. (3) Krajicek-Pollock (Texas A&M), 9-8 (5).
No. 2 - Markovic-Breler (Texas Tech) def. Grigorov-Hoover (Texas A&M), 8-5.
No. 3 - David Gonzalez-Escobar (Texas Tech) def. Lunt-Spencer (Texas), 8-6.
ORDER OF FINISH
Doubles: 3, 2, 1
Singles: 2, 3, 6, 5*, 1, 4
Players Mentioned
