College Tennis News - No. 29 Texas Tech edges No. 56 Rice, 4-3

HOUSTON, Texas - No. 29 Texas Tech relied on its freshmen Saturday, as the Red Raiders edged No. 56 Rice, 4-3, at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.

Gabriel Dias, Hugo Dojas and Felipe Soares joined the Red Raiders at the semester break and proved to be key acquisitions, as the trio picked up three of Texas Tech's four points against Rice.

"I liked our fight," said Red Raider head coach Tim Siegel. "We battled al day. Our freshmen did a good job."

Soares and Dojas teamed to upend Rice's Tommy Bennett and Adam Gustafsson, 8-6, to secure the doubles point after Francisco Zambon and Gabriel Wanderley topped Philipp Seifert, 8-6. Vitor Manzini and Gabriel Dias were not as lucky, as they fell to Jonathan Chang and Peter Frank, 8-7.

In singles, Dias picked up the second point after dropping Frank, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2. Raphael Pfister then rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Berger at No. 6, giving Tech a 3-0 lead.

Rice stormed back with wins at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, before Dojas sealed the win with a three-set victory over Gustaffson, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles. Manzini closed out the match with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7) loss to Chang at No. 1.

The Red Raiders return to action tomorrow at noon against No. 11 Mississippi State at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.

#29 Texas Tech 4, #56 Rice 3
at Houston, Texas (Jake Hess Tennis Stadium)
Singles
1. Jonathan Chang (RICE) def. Vitor Manzini (TT) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7)
2. Gabriel Dias (TT) def. Peter Frank (RICE) 6-1, 6-1
3. Hugo Dojas (TT) def. Adam Gustafsson (RICE) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Tommy Bennett (RICE) def. Gabriel Wanderley (TT) 6-3, 6-2
5. Philipp Seifert (RICE) def. Francisco Zambon (TT) 7-5, 7-5
6. Raphael Pfister (TT) def. Leif Berger (RICE) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
1. Jonathan Chang/Peter Frank (RICE) def. Vitor Manzini/Gabriel Dias (TT) 8-7
2. Felipe Soares/Hugo Dojas (TT) def. Tommy Bennett/Adam Gustafsson (RICE) 8-6
3. Francisco Zambon/Gabriel Wanderley (TT) def. Philipp Seifert/Leif Berger (RICE) 8-6

Match Notes:
Texas Tech 3-0; National ranking #29
Rice 0-1; National ranking #56
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,6,4,5,3,1)