By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
AUSTIN, Texas – The Tennessee Tech tennis team's historical 2019 campaign came to a close Friday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles fell 4-0 to the No. 2 national seed Texas in the opening round of the NCAA Championship.
Tech's season ends with a pair of championships in its back pocket after claiming a share of the OVC regular-season title and the club's fourth consecutive OVC Tournament crown. The Golden Eagles (10-14, 4-1 OVC) became the first OVC team to four-peat in the tourney since the 90s and are the only current league member ever to win four straight championships. TTU has also captured seven of the last nine regular-season titles.
Tech's tangle with Texas (24-3, 5-0 Big 12) saw the Longhorns race out to a quick edge after securing the doubles point with wins in the No. 1 and No. 3 clashes. The Texas tandem of Harrison Scott and Christian Sisgaard collected a 6-2 victory over Carlos Vicente and Elias Grubert in the top spot, while the Longhorn duo of Johnny Goodwin and Yuya Ito registered a 6-2 nod against Rafael Tosetto and Lucca Silva in the No. 3 affair.
The No. 2 battle did not finish between Tech's Riku Kubota and Wenceslao Albin and Colin Markes and Leonardo Telles.
During singles action, TTU was faced with the tall task of squaring off with four nationally ranked competitors, including a pair of top 15 foes in the top two spots. After Colin Markes notched a 6-0, 6-2 win over Wenceslao Albin in the No. 5 position to move Texas within two points of the victory, No. 7 Christian Sisgaard and No. 12 Yuya Ito pushed the Longhorns to the finish line with victories in the top two battles.
Sisgaard powered past Rafael Tosetto, 6-0, 6-2, out of the No. 1 slot and Ito picked up a 6-2, 6-3 nod over Carlos Vicente in the No. 2 tilt.
The other three matchups went unfinished. No. 80 Leonardo Telles led Elias Grubert, 6-3, 5-3, in the No. 3 position, while No. 55 Harrison Scott was on top of Riku Kubota, 6-2, 6-3, in the No. 4 clash and Chih Chi Huang was leading Fanis Kontopolous, 6-5, 5-4, in the No. 6 meeting.
The Golden Eagles say goodbye to one senior after Wencelsao Albin concluded a two-year Tech run in Friday's match against the Longhorns. An All-OVC second-teamer in his first season draped in purple and gold, Albin led the squad in singles wins with 12 during his swan-song campaign, highlighted by a perfect 5-0 showing during OVC action.
Photo by Tony Marable
