The No. 9 Texas Tech Red Raiders men’s tennis team took down No. 4 ranked TCU this past weekend to clinch their first Big 12 regular season title. The Red Raiders, who finished 26-4 and 4-1 in the Big 12, won its 26th match Sunday, which is the most wins in a season in the program’s history.
"It's hard to put into words," Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said to TexasTech.com. "We started here in September, and the guys put in a lot of work and it paid off. These guys earned this, the right way. I'm really proud of them. Last Friday, we had a tough loss (at Oklahoma State). We were talking about what we need to get better. Then, we came back and played like this for three straight matches. The team we beat today is a national title contender. Our guys deserve all the credit in the world."
With the victory Sunday, Tech now enters the Big 12 Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. The Red Raiders have earned a first round bye and will meet either Oklahoma State or Baylor during Saturday’s semifinals. The tournament will take place in Stillwater next week.
Winning the Big 12 regular season title is even more impressive this year with an absolutely stacked Big 12. Five schools finished the regular season in the top 25, with all five in the top 15 at one point in the season. Those teams include TCU (4), Tech (9), Oklahoma (10), Oklahoma State (12) and Texas (19).
"We've got a mark on our back now," Masi added as they enter the Big 12 Tournament. "Everybody will be gunning for us, and we'll have to work just as hard or even harder to back up our number one seed. I'll worry about that later this week. Right now, I want these guys to celebrate and enjoy this moment. This gives us so much confidence. These guys can now see what they've achieved and what they're capable of. We've just got to keep playing hard."
Congratulations to the men’s tennis team, and Get Your Guns Up.
