March 6, 2004

Lubbock, Texas - The Texas Tech men's tennis squad crushed Cornell 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at the H.E.B. National Tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas. With the victory, Tech moves on to the finals to battle South Alabama.

The Red Raiders earned the doubles point after Esat Tanik teamed up with Bojan Szumanski to defeat Nick Brunner and Josh Raff, 9-8, at the No.1 slot, while the duo of Michael Innerebner and Teddy DiBlasi beat Ray Wu and Matt Cherner-Ranft, 8-3, at the No. 3 position. In the No. 2 slot Tech's Jakob Paulsen and Dinko Halachev fell to Zach Gallin and Scott Spencer, 8-3.

Tech continued to dominate in singles action as Dinko Halachev, Dimitrio Martinez and Tanik each defeated their opponent to clinch the match. With the victory in hand, Szumanski and Innerebner did not finish their matches. Tech Coach Tim Siegel is proud of the victory, but knows South Alabama will present a tough match.

"It was a very hard fought victory, and it came down to the last three matches. These guys just keep fighting and don't give up," Siegel said. "South Alabama will be a tough team to face. To beat a top 40 team will be a difficult task, but we are looking forward to the challenge."

Tech will be looking for its fourth straight victory as it faces No. 41 South Alabama at the Corpus Christi Country Club at 11:30 a.m on Sunday.

Texas Tech 4 Cornell 1

Singles

No. 1 - Zach Gallin (C) def. Jakob Paulsen (TTU), 6-3, 6-4

No. 2 - Bojan Szumanski (TTU) vs. Scott Paltrowitz (C) dnf.

No. 3 - Esat Tanik (TTU) def. Brett McKeon (C), 3-6, 6-2, 7-5

No. 4 - Michael Innerebner (TTU) vs. Scott Spencer (C) dnf.

No. 5 - Dinko Halachev (TTU) def. Nick Brunner (C) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

No. 6 - Dimitrio Martinez (TTU) def. Ray Wu (C), 6-2, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1 Tanik/ Szumanski (TTU) def. Brunner/Josh Raff (C), 9-8

No. 2 Galvin/Scott Spencer (C) def. Paulsen/Halachev (TTU), 8-3

No. 3 Innerebner/ Teddy DiBlasi (TTU) def. Wu/Cherner-Ranft