By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team prepares for action in back-to-back days, as the Golden Eagles will host Radford Thursday in the club's home opener before traveling to Lipscomb for a Friday affair in Nashville. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. CT.
Admission to Thursday's home opener at Tech Tennis Courts is free of charge.
A look at Tennessee Tech
After five straight matches against "Power 5" competition to kickoff the spring, the Golden Eagles (1-5) picked up their first win of the season on Sunday behind a 4-3 triumph at Kennesaw State. Carlos Vicente, Evzen Holis and Elias Grubert all notched singles wins, while Holis, Grubert, Jun Sasagawa and Rafael Tosetto were all victorious in doubles action.
Holis' big tilt led him to the co-OVC Male Tennis Player of the Week, the second weekly honor of his youthful career after claiming the award on Feb. 26, 2020 following a strong weekend in Tallahassee, Fla. against Florida State and Buffalo.
Overall, Holis and Grubert are the only two Golden Eagles with two singles wins this spring. The pair, along with the aforementioned Sasagawa and Tosetto, lead the purple and gold with two doubles wins apiece.
The Golden Eagles make their home debut Thursday against Radford and will be looking to continue a near lights-out trend at Tech Tennis Courts that has featured a 39-2 home record over the last nine years.
A look at Radford
Before coming to Cookeville, the Highlanders (2-2) will continue a season-long, seven-match road swing with a Wednesday battle at Tennessee State. So far Radford has posted a 1-2 mark during the seven-match voyage, carding a 6-1 win at UNC Greensboro on Mar. 1 before back-to-back losses at Liberty on Mar. 6 and ETSU on Mar. 9.
The club's lone home match was a 6-1 triumph over Bluefield State College on Feb. 24.
Konstantinos Raptis and Yevhen Sirous lead the squad during singles play with identical 3-2 records.
Radford leads the all-time series, 4-1, but the Golden Eagles won the previous meeting with a 4-3 win in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Mar. 5, 2016.
A look at Lipscomb
The Bisons (3-3) have exclusively squared off against the Volunteer State in their six matches this spring, tabbing a win against Austin Peay and a pair of nods vs. Tennessee State. The club's three losses have been to Vanderbilt, Belmont and Middle Tennessee.
Lipscomb is coming off a 7-0 victory at home against Tennessee State on Saturday.
The Bisons finished their abbreviated 2020 campaign with a 9-1 record, but did fall at Tennessee Tech in their last affair of the spring after starting the season 9-0. Pablo Caffarena represented the team's best singles competitor with a squad-leading 7-3 mark, all out of the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series, 26-12, and have won four straight, including last year's 7-0 nod to snap Lipscomb's nine match win streak to begin the year.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
