Men's Tennis Team Hopes to Continue Momentum
April 13, 2006 | Men's Tennis
April 13, 2006
It is always fun to go on a road trip. It is a fun time seeing different places, meeting different people and just leaving home for a while. Eventually, however, the road gets boring and you just want to come back home.
That is how the men's tennis teams feels after being on the road for the past six weeks. After making stops in Oklahoma, Alabama, and all over Texas, the team appears glad to be home.
After making stops to play the likes of Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Rice, Baylor, and Oklahoma, just to name a few, head coach Tim Siegel said the team is glad to be home.
"We've been on the road for the past 12 straight matches," Siegel said. "So our guys are really looking forward to getting back and playing in front of a good crowd."
The men's tennis team is fresh off a road victory against Big 12 Conference rival Oklahoma. Siegel said that it was the team's most exciting victory this season.
"We have had a couple of wins in the Top 50 this year, but to beat Oklahoma on the road when we were down in the last match with the big crowd from OU cheering against us was great," Siegel said.
"It was just a great win and it was just a gusty effort from everybody."
Although Siegel and the rest of his squad are excited about their victory, the time for enjoying the victory is gone. Coming in Thursday evening and then on Easter Sunday are Big 12 monsters Texas A&M and Texas. Texas A&M, who is ranked 18th in the country, and Texas, who sits at 3rd in the nation, bring a tall order to the table for the Red Raiders.
Siegel said although both teams are talented and experienced, he believes his team can compete with both of them. Siegel said they've already proven they could.
"We beat A&M last year and we know they're real experienced and we're looking forward to playing in front of a big crowd that will hopefully make a lot of noise," Siegel said. "We've had success against Texas, as well, beating them last year on the road.
"We're looking forward to both matches." The men's tennis team will give it there all, but they will do, as they have done all season long, without one senior. With that hole, comes a lack of experience.
This Red Raider squad includes three freshmen in the lineup, and the sixth and seventh ranked players on last year's squad are now ranked first and second on this year's team. Siegel said with this team you can't be as focused on result as you have to be on improvement.
"These guys have just done a great job in working hard and coming to play every match," Siegel said. "They have certainly exceeded my expectations from the standpoint of competing so well with so many top teams. We're certainly in a position now to make the NCAA tournament which is due to a large part of our freshmen in the middle of our lineup."
The Texas Tech men's tennis squad will host the Texas A&M Aggies, Thursday at 6:30 PM and then will host the Texas Longhorns, Sunday at 1:00 PM.