Tigers drop battle with Texas Tech

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A hard-fought battle fell in favor of Texas Tech Saturday night, as the Memphis men's tennis team dropped a 4-3 decision to the No. 25 Red Raiders.

The Tigers (2-2) fell behind following the doubles point. Memphis rallied and held match leads of 2-1 and 3-2 during singles play before Texas Tech answered for the win.

"We knew it was going to be a close one," head coach Paul Goebel said. "They are a very good team. Tonight, it went down to the last match. I was proud of how our guys fought back."

The Red Raiders (11-2) worked quickly in doubles, claiming wins at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions for an early 1-0 match advantage.

"Our doubles point was disappointing. That was probably the only downside to the match," Goebel said. "I thought we put in a good week of practice, but we need to do more work there. That was the difference in the match tonight."

The Tigers responded to open singles play. Senior Kai Lemke was the first off the court with a 6-0, 6-1 victory. Junior Felix Rauch followed with a straight-set win on court 6 to give the Tigers a 2-1 match lead.

The Red Raiders answered with a win on court 4, before senior Andrew Watson completed a 7-5, 6-3 victory for a 3-2 Tiger lead.

Memphis fought through three sets on courts 1 and 5, but the Red Raiders had one final push to win both courts and escape with a 4-3 win.

The Tigers will embark on a seven-match road swing, beginning with a pair of matches against Cornell and Penn State next weekend in Ithica, N.Y.

"That's part of playing a tough schedule. It's very hard to win them all," Goebel said of the upcoming trip. "We know Cornell is very good. We won a match 4-3 against them last year, so we know it's going to be a tough one. Then, having to play two days in a row with Penn State the next day, that's not going to be easy. Our guys will recover fine from this match. We did see a lot of positives tonight."

RESULTS

Singles
1. Mylnikov (TT) def. Peniston (MEM) 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
2. Watson (MEM) def. Curry (TT) 7-5, 6-3
3. Lemke (MEM) def. Sendegeya (TT) 6-0, 6-1
4. Valiev (TT) def. Patzanovsky (MEM) 6-3, 7-6
5. Kapshuk (TT) def. Pallares (MEM) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
6. Rauch (MEM) def. Leite (TT) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
1. Lemke/Story (MEM) vs. Curry/Sendegeya (TT) 3-4, unfinished
2. Kapshuk/Valiev (TT) def. Peniston/Rauch (MEM) 6-3
3. Leite/Mylnikov (TT) def. Pallares/Sullivan (MEM) 6-1

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kai Lemke

Felix Rauch

Andrew Watson

University of Memphis Athletics