By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A pair of "Power 5" weekend battles are in the cards for the Tennessee Tech tennis team, as the Golden Eagles will host with Texas Tech on Saturday and greet No. 47 Arkansas in a neutral-site meeting Sunday in Knoxville.
TTU's Saturday tangle with the Red Raiders at Tech Tennis Courts is slated to start at 1 p.m. CT, while Sunday's matchup with the Razorbacks is scheduled to get underway at 4:30 p.m. CT. Admission to Saturday's home affair is free of charge.
A look at Tennessee Tech
Tech's weekend view will feature a similar script for the Golden Eagles (0-5) that will see the purple and gold connect with five "Power 5" opponents over its first seven contests of the spring. Having already squared off with No. 6 Tennessee, Vanderbilt and No. 21 Alabama, TTU will search for its first victory of the season with its impending affairs against Texas Tech and Arkansas.
Tech's greeting with the Red Raiders marks the purple and gold's second consecutive clash in Cookeville after the Golden Eagles were upended 5-2 by Presbyterian in Sunday's 2024 home opener. Murilo Burckhardt and Darek Kuczynski provided TTU with its pair of points thanks to singles wins in their respective solo battles.
Burckhardt and Kuczynski joined Davids Spaks as the trio of Golden Eagles to register a singles victory this year. Spaks picked up his solo triumph in a 5-2 defeat at UAB on Feb. 1. The match with the Blazers also featured Tech's other point notched this year after the Golden Eagles captured the doubles point behind a Spaks and Bitzer 6-2 tandem triumph and an Alex Alvarez and Paulo Ramos Martin 6-2 duo decision.
The back-to-back matches against the Red Raiders and Razorbacks will mark the first time this season the Golden Eagles will be in action on consecutive days. TTU will repeat the feat Mar. 22-3 with contests against Furman and Memphis as well as Apr. 19-20 with tilts against TSU and Belmont.
A look at Texas Tech
Before coming to Cookeville, the Red Raiders (6-5) will head to No. 28 Middle Tennessee for a Friday evening matchup in Murfreesboro. Texas Tech is coming off a 4-2 victory over No. 56 Tulsa in a Saturday contest in Lincoln, Neb. The Red Raiders earned the doubles point to go along with singles nods by Olle Wallin, Jonas Gundacker and Piotr Pawlak.
Wallin has been TTU's top singles competitor thanks to a team-leading 7-2 record, doing all of his damage out of the top spot in the order. Reed Collier has impressed as well to the tune of a perfect 5-0 mark, with all five meetings coming out of the No. 2 slot. Sebastian Abboud and Piotr Pawlak have proven to be the club's top tandem behind an 8-1 doubles ledger this spring.
A look at No. 47 Arkansas
Before locking up with the purple and gold on Sunday, the Razorbacks (11-3) will go up against No. 5 Tennessee at noon CT on Sunday. Arkansas will enter its Volunteer State weekend on a five-match winning streak, outscoring its opponents 23-3 over the recent surge.
Melvin Manuel and Stefanos Savva post the club's best solo marks behind identical 8-2 singles ledgers this season. The tandem of Connor Smillie and Jake Sweeney have claimed the top tandem record thanks to a 5-1 doubles ledger this year.
Inside the series
Saturday's tilt with Texas Tech will mark the first-ever meeting in the all-time series, while Sunday's affair with Arkansas will be the second-ever get-together. Similar to Sunday, the two teams also met in Knoxville, with Arkansas topping Tech 4-0 on Apr. 5, 2019.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
