SATURDAY'S MATCH AGAINST KENNESAW STATE HAS BEEN MOVED TO A 1:00 P.M. CT START
By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team will make its home debut over the weekend, as the Golden Eagles will greet Kennesaw State on Saturday and Chattanooga on Sunday for the first two contests of a four-match homestand. Both weekend affairs are slated to begin at noon CT and admission to each tilt at Tech Tennis Courts is free of charge.
A look at Tennessee Tech
The Golden Eagles (2-4) will finally hit the courts in Cookeville for the first time in 2020, following a challenging six-match road swing to unwrap the spring season that featured four contests against nationally ranked opponents. After falling twice at No. 21 Mississippi State in the club's opening weekend in Starkville, Tech also dropped matches at No. 7 Wake Forest and No. 18 Florida State.
The Golden Eagles have impressed in the squad's two tilts against teams without a national ranking, with TTU collecting identical 6-1 wins over Appalachian State on Feb. 9 and Buffalo on Feb. 23. Tech's most recent triumph against Buffalo featured a win out of freshman Evzen Holis in his first-ever appearance in the top spot of TTU's singles lineup.
The Brno, Czech Republic native's 6-3, 6-4 nod against Vilhelm Fridell was one of two victories Holis enjoyed in Tech's recent weekend-stay in Tallahassee, Fla. The Golden Eagle rookie began the two-match swing in the Sunshine State with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Loris Pourroy in the No. 2 spot in Saturday's showdown with the Seminoles.
Holis' unblemished singles showing led him to this week's OVC Male Tennis Athlete of the Week award, Tech's first weekly honor of the spring. The 6-foot-2 freshman is tied with sophomore Elias Grubert for the best TTU singles record behind a 4-2 mark. Junior Riku Kubota possesses a 3-2 singles ledger, while sophomore Carlos Vicente rounds out Tech's quartet of Golden Eagles with at least three solo wins behind a 3-3 record.
A look at Kennesaw State
Similar to Tech, the Owls (2-3) have done a bulk of their work away from home with four-of-five contests played outside of Kennesaw. The club captured its lone home affair with a 5-2 triumph over ASA Miami on Feb. 15, while KSU's other nod came at Samford with a 5-2 victory over against the Bulldogs on Feb. 1. The Owls three losses have come at the hands of Georgia, Georgia Southern and Kentucky in the squad's most recent match on Feb. 21.
Bryan Triana is the only Owl to card more than one singles win this spring behind a 2-2 solo mark, with all four matches coming out of the No. 1 position. Overall, eight different KSU players have picked up a singles win in 2020.
Tech has dropped all three matches in the all-time series with Kennesaw State, including a 4-3 loss in Georgia in last seasons' meeting.
A look at Chattanooga
The Mocs (11-2) have had a busy beginning to the 2020 campaign with already 13 matches in their back pocket and will add a 14th to their spring resume thanks to a Friday afternoon matchup at Troy. Sunday's meeting in Cookeville will mark the third battle against an OVC team for Chattanooga, having already topped Austin Peay in Clarksville on Jan. 25 and Belmont in Nashville on Feb. 7.
Former first-team All-SoCon, Niklas Gerdes, has had a huge start to his senior season with a perfect 13-0 singles record, playing every match at the top of the Mocs' solo lineup. Jeffrey Dewald has impressed with a 12-1 overall mark, going 11-1 out of the No. 4 spot, while Thomas Rodriguez has looked sharp with a 10-2 record out of the No. 2 slot.
Sunday's get-together will mark the 59th meeting in the all-time series between Tech and UTC. The Mocs hold a 34-24 edge in the set, however the Golden Eagles have seized four of the last five battles.
Photo by Thomas Corhern