By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Due to weather and cold temperature concerns in Cookeville, the Tennessee Tech tennis team will no longer play at home over the weekend. Originally scheduled to host Lipscomb on Friday and Troy on Sunday, the Golden Eagles have postponed their match with Lispcomb and have cancelled their contest with Troy. An alternate date for the match against Lipscomb will be determined at a later time.
TTU (3-8) is still slated to play its road match at Chattanooga on Saturday, tangling with the Mocs at 11 a.m. CT.
The Golden Eagles enter Saturday's clash draped with a fair share of hardware thanks to back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference Male Tennis Athlete of the Week honors. Senior Wenceslao Albin claimed the accolade on Feb. 20, while freshman Rafael Tosetto secured the award on Wednesday following a weekend in Corpus Christi, Texas that saw the Jacarei, Brazil product post a 2-1 singles record out of the top spot of the lineup.
Tosetto is the only Golden Eagle to play in the No. 1 singles position in the TTU lineup, registering a 4-5 mark out of that spot. Overall, Albin and sophomore Gonzalo Garcia lead the club with five singles wins apiece.
Tosetto and fellow freshman Carlos Vicente have paced the squad with five doubles wins each, with Vicente doing the bulk of his work at the top behind a 5-2 record in the No. 1 position.
The Golden Eagles are coming off an appearance in the third-place match of the H-E-B Tournament of Champions in Corpus Christi, Texas, the nation's longest-running college tournament in its 53rd straight year of existence. Tech knocked off the host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with a 4-2 opening-round victory, before falling to Troy in the semifinals and UTSA in the third-place match.
A look at Chattanooga
The Mocs (8-4) have claimed five consecutive victories, including four in a row in Chattanooga, where the club is a perfect 7-0 this season.
Junior Niklas Gerdes has posted a team-leading 9-3 singles record this year, playing all 12 of his matches in the No. 1 spot. Freshman Tomas Rodriguez has notched an 8-4 singles record, all out of the No. 2 slot in the Mocs lineup. From a doubles perspective, Gerdes leads the charge with an 8-2 mark, all from the No. 2 position in the lineup.
Chattanooga leads the all-time series 34-23, however the Golden Eagles have found success of late with wins in three of the last four meetings. Tech seized the matchup in Cookeville last year with a 5-2 win at Tech Tennis Courts.
Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
