THE RUNDOWN
LUBBOCK – The MSU Mustangs went toe-to-toe with 24^th-ranked Texas Tech on Friday afternoon at the McLeod Tennis Center in an exhibition matchup in Lubbock.
 
The Mustangs claimed one of the doubles matches while forcing the Red Raiders into three sets in half the singles matches.
 
The Mustangs were unable to claim the doubles point against the Red Raiders, but did manage to hold on for a victory at the No. 3 line. Sophomore Denney Norrie and freshman Alex Martinez Roca fought off Pyry Hyrkkonen and Matheus Leite, 6-4, to earn a win at No. 3 doubles. Senior Vasudev Vijayaraman and freshman Nolan McCaig were unable to rally late after holding an early lead over Justin Bloss and Ilgiz Valiev at No. 2 doubles, falling 6-3. At the No. 1 line, junior Dillon Pineda and sophomore Angel Palacios were bested by Jackson Cobb and Connor Curry, 6-2.
 
In singles play, Valiev defeated sophomore Joshua Sundaram at the No. 2 line to give TTU a 2-0 advantage in the match. Minutes later, Norrie failed to break serve late, dropping his matchup with Hyrkkonen, 6-1, 6-4 at the No. 5 line to extend the lead to 3-0 for the Red Raiders. At the No. 1 line Vijayaraman dominated the first set, but was unable to close the deal against Curry, falling in three, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. McCaig fought valiantly against Leite at No. 4, but bowed out in a tiebreaker, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Martinez Roca came close to knocking off Bloss at the No. 6 line, going to a tiebreaker in the first set before falling in three, 6-7(4), 6-3, 1-0 (8).

BOX SCORE
Doubles
No. 1 – Jackson Cobb/Connor Curry (TTU) def. Dillon Pineda/Angel Palacios (MSU) 6-2
No. 2 – Justin Bloss/Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) def. Vasudev Vijayaraman/Nolan McCaig (MSU) 6-3
No. 3 – Denney Norrie/Alex Martinez Roca (MSU) def. Pyry Hyrkkonen/Matheus Leite (TTU) 6-4
 
Singles
No. 1 – Connor Curry (TTU) def. Vasudev Vijayaraman (MSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 – Ilgiz Valiev (TTU) def. Joshua Sundaram (MSU) 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 – Jackson Cobb (TTU) def. Dillon Pineda (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 – Matheus Leite (TTU) def. Nolan McCaig (MSU) 6-4, 7-6 (3)
No. 5 – Pyry Hyrkkonen (TTU) def, Denney Norrie (MSU)6-1, 6-4
No. 6 – Justin Bloss (TTU) def. Alex Martinez Roca (MSU) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 1-0 (8)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (2, 5, 1, 4, 6, 3)

UP NEXT
Midwestern State is back in action at the MSU Tennis Center on Friday, Feb. 2 against Seminole State. First serve is set for 1 p.m.