MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee lost a pair of doubles matches in tiebreakers and never fully recovered, as the 34th-ranked Blue Raiders fell, 4-1, to 56th-ranked Texas Tech Saturday in the Great Northwest Shootout in Seattle, Wash.
The Blue Raiders (5-3) lost tiebreakers at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, dropping the doubles point. Texas Tech (4-1) then won three of the first four completed singles matches and led in another when the match was stopped.
"The doubles was costly. We were up 6-1 at No. 2 doubles and lost," head coach Dale Short said. "If we had won the doubles, then we had a good chance of winning the match.
"We are quite banged up but still battling. [Sunday] will be a real test for us after dropping two tough matches on the road and being somewhat wounded."
In doubles, 16th-ranked Marco Born and Andreas Siljestrom defeated Bojan Szumanski and Christian Rojmar, 8-6, at No. 1. Texas Tech's Teddy DiBlasi and Dimitrio Martinez evened the doubles with a 7-3 tiebreaker victory at No. 3 over Marc Boiron and Joao Paoliello.
Blue Raiders Marc Rocafort and Morgan Richard were up 6-1 at No. 2 against Sinisa Markovic and Michael Breler, but eventually lost in the tiebreaker, 7-5, giving the Red Raiders the first point of the match.
In singles, Richard evened the match at one with a 6-3, 6-3, victory over Rojmar at No. 4, but the Red Raiders won the next three completed matches.
Breler defeated Paoliello, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 5, and Milos Kustudija won 6-2, 6-3, against Alex McCann at No. 5. TTU's Dimitrio Martinez won the deciding match with a 6-4, 6-4, triumph over Born at No. 2.
In the two matches left on the court, Siljestrom, ranked 41st in singles, led 12th-ranked Szumanski, 7-5, 4-5, at No. 1, and 92nd-ranked Markovic led Rocafort at No. 3, 6-3, 3-4.
The Blue Raiders finish the three-game trip to the Northwest against 42nd-ranked Louisville at Noon CT.
#56 Texas Tech 4, #34 Middle Tennessee 1
SINGLES
1. (41) Andreas Siljestrom (MT) led (12) Bojan Szumanski (TTU), 7-5, 4-5, DNF
2. Dimitrio Martinez (TTU) def. Marco Born (MT), 6-4, 6-4
3. (92) Sinisa Markovic (TTU) led Marc Rocafort (MT), 6-3, 3-4, DNF
4. Morgan Richard (MT) def. Christian Rojmar (TTU), 6-3, 6-3
5. Michael Breler (TTU) def. Joao Paoliello (MT), 6-0, 6-1
6. Milos Kustudija (TTU) def. Alex McCann (MT), 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4,5,6,2*
DOUBLES
1. (16) Siljestrom-Born (MT) def. Szumanski-Rojmar (TTU), 8-6
2. Markovic-Breler (TTU) def. Rocafort-Richard (MT), 9-8 (5)
3. Teddy DiBlasi-Martinez (TTU) def. Marc Boiron-Paoliello (MT), 9-8 (3)
Order of Finish:, 1,3,2*
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