LAWRENCE, Kan. – The No. 31 Texas Tech Red Raiders (14-9, 2-3 Big 12) are ready for the Big 12 Tournament hosted in Lawrence, Kan., this weekend as they will face the No. 47 Oklahoma State Cowboys. Tech comes into their match with its highest-seeding since 2016 as the 3-seed when they take on six-seeded Oklahoma State this Friday, April 21 at 9 a.m.
The Red Raiders just played the Cowboys last week as Tech would get the quick, 4-0 sweep in just two hours. First, the Red Raiders won the doubles point with victories at courts one and two, before grabbing three more singles wins at courts two, four and six to complete the sweep.
Against the No. 34 Oklahoma Sooners a couple days later, Tech would with its 14th doubles point of the year after posting wins at courts two and three. Moving on the singles, the match was a grind from start to finish as five matches went into third sets and the teams recorded five tiebreak sets. OU took a 2-1 lead before Lorenzo Esquici and Franco Ribero collected wins at their respective courts. Clinching the match was Olle Wallin at court one when he defeated his eighth ranked singles player in No. 98 Alex Martinez.
After going 4-0 on the week with a ranked win while helping lead Tech to two crucial Big 12 victories to secure a three-seed in the tournament, Ribero grabbed his first career Big 12 Player of the Week award in the final week of the season.
Leading the team in dual singles wins is Esquici with 15, followed by both Ribero and Wallin with 12 each. In doubles, Ribero and Piotr Pawlak have a team-leading 13 dual wins as Dimitrios Azoidis and Reed Collier are right behind with eight wins. In the latest ITA rankings, Wallin stayed steady as he ranks No. 47 in singles for the second-consecutive week.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Oklahoma State Cowboys come into the match holding a 12-12 overall record and an 0-5 conference record. Last week, Oklahoma State ended their season with two Big 12 losses to Texas Tech and Baylor. In singles, Tyler Zink leads the team with 12 dual wins followed by Isaac Becroft with 10. The doubles team of Alex Garcia and Francisco Pini post a team-best six dual wins, mostly at court three. Becroft and Zink are the two Cowboys ranked in singles as they are No. 91 and No. 107, respectively. In doubles, the tandem of Chase Ferguson and Zink check in at No. 79. The Cowboys have a lot on the line as they need to win Friday’s match to stay above .500 and have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament.
Opponents in the Rankings
Singles
No. 91 Isaac Becroft
No. 107 Tyler Zink
Doubles
No. 79 Chase Ferguson/Tyler Zink
FOLLOW ALONG
Live stats for all Big 12 Tournament matches are available here. Live video will be available for the championship matches through ESPN+. Follow @TexasTechMTEN on Twitter for updates and scores of the matches.
