No. 8 Texas Tech Men's Tennis Outlasts No. 42 Baylor in Big 12 Tournament Semifinals, 4-3

The No. 8 Texas Tech men’s tennis team continued its season of firsts and emerged with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over No. 42 Baylor to punch the program’s first ticket to the championship match of the Big 12 Tournament Saturday at the Greenwood Tennis Center on the Oklahoma State campus.

The Red Raiders (27-4) had lost their previous four semifinal appearances and snapped a five-match losing streak at the Big 12 Tournament which dated back to the 2010 season. Texas Tech advances to face No. 5 TCU in Sunday’s final at 1 p.m. CT. Last Sunday, the Red Raiders dialed up a 4-3 victory over the Horned Frogs to clinch a share of the Big 12 regular season title.

Texas Tech knocked off the Bears (15-13) by a 4-3 margin for the third time in 2016. The Red Raiders entered the season with a 1-22 mark against Baylor dating back to 1997.

Just like the Big 12 opener in Waco on April 2, the match would be decided on court two. Once again, Hugo Dojas dug his way out of a one-set hole and grinded out a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Max Tchoutakian to secure the 4-3 triumph.

“Hugo won some big points in the third set,” head coach Brett Masi said. “There were three or four deuce points that decided games that could have gone either way. He played very aggressive and was dictating the match after the first set. That was key for him. Hugo also was able to draw from the match earlier this season where he beat the same opponent in a third set tiebreaker on the road. He served out a great final game to get to the finish line, and I’m very happy for him.”

“It’s a tremendous feeling because we have given ourselves a chance to win the Big 12 Tournament,” Dojas said. “Beating Baylor is unbelievable. I knew what I had to do to win the match. I had been working on my serve with Coach over the last week. It got me through pretty easy which allowed me to focus on breaking his service games.”

After facing an early 1-0 hole after doubles, Texas Tech went to work at the bottom three spots of the singles ledger to turn the tables. Bjorn Thomson rolled his way to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Tyler Stayer in the No. 6 position to knot the score at 1-1. Thomson dropped a combined five games over his three straight-set victories against Stayer this season.

The Red Raiders took a 2-1 advantage when Jolan Cailleau cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 triumph against Jimmy Bendeck on court four.

Connor Curry dialed up a 6-2, 7-5 victory versus Tommy Podvinski at the No. 5 slot to stretch the Tech lead to 3-1. All square at 5-5 in the second set, Curry cranked a backhand passing shot down the line for the service break. He consolidated the break and closed out the match with an ace up the service T at 40-0.

“The bottom of the lineup has been our strength for a majority of the season,” Masi said. “Jolan, Connor and Bjorn gave us three huge points quickly and really put the pressure on Baylor. What they were able to do was give Felipe and Hugo a chance to get back into their matches after they lost emotional first sets. We’re pretty tough to beat when we’re playing solid like that four through six in the lineup.”

Baylor pulled back to within 3-2 as Julian Lenz picked up a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 decision over Felipe Soares in a battle of Top 20 players on the No. 1 line. It ended a run of five consecutive three-set wins for Soares on the season.

The Bears drew even at 3-3 courtesy of a 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-2 victory from Felipe Rios against Alex Sendegeya at the No. 3 position.

Baylor snatched a 1-0 edge with a pair of 6-4 doubles triumphs on courts two and three. Bendeck and Rios defeated Curry and Soares, while Lenz and Stayler edged Carlos DiLaura and Dojas. When play was halted, Sendegeya and Thomson held a 6-5 advantage on Podvinski/Tchoutakian at the No. 1 position.

“I wasn’t upset with their doubles effort,” Masi said. “The message going into singles was more focused on awareness. We weren’t making shots, and we weren’t playing the right way. I told them to go back out there, execute and be solid. Baylor has been tough on us over the years. It was partly a mental thing because sometimes you feel like you have to go out there and do more even though we were able to beat them twice already this year.”

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the Texas Tech men’s tennis program. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.facebook.com/Techmenstennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.

No. 8 Texas Tech 4, No. 42 Baylor 3

04/30/16 at Stillwater, Okla. (Greenwood Tennis Center)

Big 12 Tournament Semifinals

Doubles

1. Alex Sendegeya/Bjorn Thomson (TTU) vs. No. 80 Tommy Podvinski/Max Tchoutakian (BU): 6-5, unfinished

2. Jimmy Bendeck/Felipe Rios (BU) defeats Connor Curry/Felipe Soares (TTU): 6-4

3. Julian Lenz/Tyler Stayer (BU) defeats Carlos DiLaura/Hugo Dojas (TTU): 6-4

Singles

1. No. 16 Julian Lenz (BU) defeats No. 18 Felipe Soares (TTU): 6-3, 1-6, 6-4

2. No. 110 Hugo Dojas (TTU) defeats No. 99 Max Tchoutakian (BU): 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

3. Felipe Rios (BU) defeats Alex Sendegeya (TTU): 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-2

4. Jolan Cailleau (TTU) defeats Jimmy Bendeck (BU): 6-2, 6-1