The Texas Tech men’s tennis team lost to No. 12 Oklahoma, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon in the final home match of the season.
This was also the final match at the McLeod Tennis Complex for head coach Tim Siegel and all of the Texas Tech seniors on the team. Siegel is set to retire at the conclusion of the season.
Siegel said he was not thinking about it being his last match in front of the home crowd, but instead focused on his team extending the season.
“I still have a few matches left, and I hope more than just a few,” he said. “We’ve got two in the regular tournament and then we have the conference tournament, so I’m nowhere near that thinking.”
Siegel has spent the last 21 seasons as the head coach at Tech, and he is currently the longest tenured head coach at the university.
The Red Raiders lost the doubles point to Oklahoma early on and were unable to establish any momentum heading into the singles match.
“We were in a couple of matches,” Siegel said, “but we got beat pretty well at number one and number six, but the rest of the matches — they’re No. 12 in the country for a reason.”
Only three of the four Tech seniors saw action on the court on senior day because Gabriel Wanderly was unable to play due to a foot injury.
All three seniors that played lost their matches. Jeff Bryan was defeated by Leonard Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-2. No. 53 Dane Webb of Oklahoma defeated Tech senior Raphael Pfister 6-2, 6-4. In the top-seeded match, No. 23 Costin Paval beat Red Raider Vitor Manzini 6-1, 6-3.
Despite their losses, Siegel said he was proud of his seniors.
“All four of these seniors represented Texas Tech very well,” he said. “They’re getting their degree. They’re great kids, and they’re the type of kids that I’ll always keep in touch with.”
Even though it was senior day, it was a freshman that stole the show for the Red Raiders.
Tech freshman Felipe Soares defeated No. 38 Guillermo Alcorta 6-2, 6-2.
“Soares was one of the highlights of the match,” Siegel said.
“I’m going to focus on the positives and the development of certain players,” he said. “Especially at two, Felipe has really become one of the best players in the Big 12 already as a freshman. So there are a lot of positives for me to take away today.”
The head coach said the team is now focused on the final two road games of the regular season.
“It was a tough match, but now we have two more matches; at TCU on Friday and at Texas on Sunday,” Siegel said, “and if we get one of those we’re an NCAA tournament team.”
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