The Texas Tech women’s tennis team continued a season of firsts and climbed up seven spots to No. 10 to earn the program’s highest mark in the Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis rankings announced Wednesday by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
The Lady Raiders (6-1) piled up victories over then No. 11 Miami and then No. 13 Alabama last weekend during their final two matches of the program’s initial appearance at the ITA National Indoor Championships.
Texas Tech picked up back-to-back wins over Top 15 opponents for the second time over the last two seasons. The Lady Raiders defeated No. 11 Oklahoma State followed by No. 7 Baylor on March 28 and April 4, 2015, respectively.
Tech has secured five of its six victories against Top 60 opponents this season and have defeated opponents from the other four Power Five conferences which include Alabama (SEC), Illinois (Big 10), Miami (ACC) and Oregon (Pac-12).
“This is a great step forward for these young ladies and for our program,” Texas Tech head coach Todd Petty said. “It’s a long season, but being able to jump into the Top 10 is a great testament to the strong start to the season that we’ve had. Now, we have to keep building on this momentum.”
The Lady Raiders are the highest ranked of the trio of Big 12 teams inside the ITA’s Top 25 which include Oklahoma State (15) and TCU (23).
Individually, Gabriela Talaba checks in with a No. 80 singles mark. In doubles, Lynn Kiro and Alex Valenstein hold a No. 44 rating.
Texas Tech will play a pair of matches at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium on the University of Wisconsin campus over the weekend. The Lady Raiders meet Wisconsin Friday at 4 p.m. CT followed by a matchup with Tulane Saturday at 2 p.m. CT.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the women’s tennis program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TechWomensTennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
(Press Release Provided by Texas Tech Athletics Department)
