Texas Tech Men's Tennis Falls to Nebraska
June 21, 1999 | Men's Tennis
April 30, 1999
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas Tech men's tennis team lost to Nebraska, 4-3, today in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament in College Station, Texas. The Red Raiders finish the regular season with 15-9 mark and 4-5 record in Big 12 conference matches. Nebraska advances to play the winner of Texas vs. Colorado in the semifinals on Saturday.
Texas Tech started the match strong capturing the doubles point. The No. 1 tandem of Dustin Hawk and Ryan Shupe defeated Dinko Verzi and Andrew Wiese. The point was clinched when No. 2 team of Jevgenij Cariov and Adam Baranowski beat Abos Sanchez and Lance Mills 8-2.
In singles play, No. 5 Petar Danolic got Texas Tech started with a win against Juan Harridan by the score of 6-2, 6-1. However, Nebraska then took the next three points with wins at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 positions. The Red Raiders tied the match when No. 1 Borut Martincevic bested Verzi in a close match 7-6 (8), 6-4. The clinching point for the Cornhuskers came when Wiese defeated Hawk in a three set match. After splitting the first two sets, Hawk jumped out a 4-1 lead in the third. But, Verzi battled back and won in a tie breaker 7-6.
"We've been on the right side of those 4-3 matches a few times this year," Director of Tennis Tim Siegel said. "This hurt because we had a good year and we were looking forward to playing the winner of Texas and Colorado. Momentum is everything. We started out well in doubles and had a couple of disappointments in singles. This very tough because we lost on the very last point of the match."
The team now awaits award on if it will be invited to play in an fourth straight NCAA regional tournament. The announcement will be made by the NCAA on Wednesday, May 5, at 4 p.m. --TTU--
Box Score Big 12 Tournament * College Station Texas * April 30, 1999 Singles:No. 1 Borut Martincevic (TTU) d. Dinko Verzi (Neb) 7-6(8), 6-4 No. 2 Lance Mills (Neb) d. Ryan Shupe (TTU) 6-4, 6-4 No. 3 Jorge Abos (Neb) d. Jevgenij Cariov (TTU) 7-5, 6-3 No. 4 Kai Rieke (Neb) d. Adam Baranowski (TTU) 7-5, 6-3 No. 5 Petar Danolic (TTU) d. Juan Harridan (Neb) 6-2, 6-1 No. 6 Andrew Wiese (Neb) d. Dustin Hawk (TTU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) Doubles: No. 1 Hawk, Shupe (TTU) d. Verzi, Wiese (Neb) 8-6 No. 2 Cariov, Baranowski (TTU) d. Abos Sanchez, Mills (Neb) 8-2 No. 3 Rieke, Ryan Haith (Neb) Martincevic, Danolic (TTU) 8-2