By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team looks to remain scorching Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles welcome Lipscomb to town for the third contest of a four-match homestand at Tech Tennis Courts. First serve with the Bisons is slated for 1 p.m. CT and admission is free of charge.
A look at Tech
Winners of three straight for the first time this season, the red-hot Golden Eagles (4-4) have rolled through unranked opponents in 2020 behind an undefeated 4-0 mark. After 6-1 wins over Appalachian State on Feb. 9 and Buffalo on Feb. 23, Tech continued its winning ways with back-to-back victories in its first weekend on the courts in Cookeville.
The Golden Eagles secured a 6-1 nod over Kennesaw State in the club's home opener on Feb. 29, before TTU made it a perfect pair to begin its longest homestand of the year with a 5-2 win against Chattanooga on Mar. 1. Carlos Vicente, Elias Grubert, Riku Kubota and Fanis Kontopoulos have helped pace the purple and gold during Tech's three-match winning streak, with the quartet each picking up a singles victory in all three matches.
Grubert leads the Golden Eagles with a 6-2 singles record, while Kubota, Vicente and freshman Evzen Holis all have five solo wins. Kubota and Lucca Silva have teamed up to hold down the fort during doubles play with a squad-leading 4-2 tandem mark.
A look at Lipscomb
The Bisons (9-0) head to Cookeville with a perfect record in their back pocket, which includes an ability to win the close one with four straight 4-3 wins on the club's ledger. Lipscomb's 9-0 beginning is its best start in program history.
Maksim Bogdanovich leads the way with an unblemished 9-0 singles record, with the freshman doing a bulk of his work at the bottom of the lineup thanks to a 4-0 mark out of the No. 5 position and a 5-0 record out of the No. 6 spot. Pablo Caffarena possesses the team's second-best singles mark with a 7-2 record, all out of the No. 2 slot in the lineup. Victor Chaw is the only Bison to appear in the No. 1 position, holding a 4-5 mark out of the top spot.
Chaw and Caffarena have proven to be the most formidable Lipscomb tandem with an undefeated 6-0 doubles ledger. The Bisons have combined to go 18-3 during doubles action this spring.
Saturday's get-together will be the 38th meeting in the all-time series. Tech leads the set 25-12, which includes wins in each of the last three battles.
Photo by Thomas Corhern