By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Postseason is on the horizon for the Tennessee Tech tennis team. Literally.
The Golden Eagles will take aim in the 2024 Horizon League Men's Tennis Championship over the weekend, gearing up for another postseason run after advancing all the way to last year's title match in Tech's first season in the new league.
As the conference's South Division No. 3 seed, the Golden Eagles will lock up with the North Division No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky in a quarterfinal bout on Friday, Apr. 26 from the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind. First serve with the Norse is set for 8:30 a.m. CT.
To the victor of the Tech-NKU quarterfinal clash, go the spoils of meeting the South Division No. 1 seed Belmont in the semifinals on Saturday. The Golden Eagles and Bruins have met in every conference tournament title match that the two clubs have been in since 2018, including last season's Horizon League final.
The other side of the bracket will pit the South Division No. 2 seed Tennessee State against the North Division No. 3 seed Youngstown State in a quarterfinal contest on Friday. The winner of the Penguin-Tiger tussle will meet North Division top seed Cleveland State in Saturday's second semifinal.
Live stats for TTU's quarterfinal match vs. Northern Kentucky will be available. Click here to view.
A look at No. 3 Tennessee Tech
The Golden Eagles (3-12, 3-2 HL) head into the postseason with a premier playoff pedigree that has seen the purple and gold advance to the championship match in the conference tournament for seven straight seasons (excluding 2020). Tech ended its stay in the Ohio Valley Conference by capturing five of the final six tournaments played before advancing to last year's final after topping Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinals and North Division No. 1 seed Cleveland State in the semifinals.
With an almost entirely new cast of characters that features only one newcomer in sophomore Paulo Ramos Martin, this year's version of the purple and gold head to West Lafayette as the South Division No. 3 seed after narrowly falling 4-3 to Tennessee State in Monday's regular-season finale in the battle for the south No. 2 seed.
Tech's defeat to the Tigers was the club's second-consecutive Horizon League loss after being upended 4-3 at Belmont on Apr. 20.
Freshman Alex Alvarez heads into the postseason tourney equipped with some postseason hardware after being named to the Horizon League Second Team on Thursday. The Barcelona, Spain native, who appeared in all but one match in the No. 1 spot in the singles lineup, is the first Golden Eagle freshman to be named to an all-conference team since Elias Grubert, Rafael Tosetto and Carlos Vicente were recognized on the All-OVC first or second team in 2019.
Alvarez ended the regular season strong behind a 3-3 mark over his last six solo showdowns, which included a 2-2 conference account and a win in No. 1 at nationally ranked Memphis on Mar. 23.
Darek Kuczynski was the lone Golden Eagle to compile a perfect conference singles record thanks to a 5-0 record, doing a bulk of the work at the bottom of the solo lineup. Lucas Bitzer produced a 4-1 Horizon League ledger, while Paulo Ramos Martin chipped in with a 2-1 record.
Bitzer and Davids Spaks formed Tech's most dangerous doubles duo with a 7-3 mark this spring, highlighted by seizing five of seven matchups in the top tandem position.
A look at No. 2 Northern Kentucky
The Norse (12-7, 6-2 HL) enter the conference tournament red hot having won 10 of their last 12 affairs to tie a ribbon on the regular season. NKU's only two losses during the surge have come at the hands of North Division top seed Cleveland State.
Northern Kentucky is coming off a 5-2 victory over Chicago State in Sunday's regular-season finale that saw them claim the doubles point to go along with Josef Zapletal, Trevor Ball, Santiago Casamayor and Emilio Bravo singles nods.
Although he fell in his No. 1 singles clash with Pedro Alvarez, NKU's Nick Nienhaus was named to the All-Horizon League First Team, while Zapletal was honored as a Horizon League second teamer.
Inside the series
Last year's quarterfinal affair between Tech and Northern Kentucky marked the first-ever meeting in the all-time series. With the script flipped with the Golden Eagles coming in as the South Division No. 2 seed and the Norse entering as the North Division No. 3 seed, the purple and gold picked up a 4-0 victory in to advance to the semis.
Photo by Jim Dillon
