Men’s Tennis Duo Finishes National Runner-Up

From TexasTech.com

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech duo Felipe Soares and Hugo Dojas’ incredible run through the NCAA Championships came to an end on Monday evening in Waco, Texas as the tandem fell to No. 19 Texas’ Lloyd Glasspool and Soren Hess-Olesen in three sets (6-1, 3-6, 6-3) in the finale of the men’s doubles championship.

“Full congratulations to them,” Soares said, following the match. “They played very well. I wanted to win so bad, but unfortunately not this year. Maybe next year.”

Behind strong serving by the program’s first-ever singles quarterfinal participant, Soares led the Red Raider comeback in the second set, 6-3, to extend the match to a third set after Texas jumped out to a 6-1 advantage in the first frame.

“We started the match really slow,” Dojas explained. “We just didn’t have much energy, didn’t serve, return or volley well but we really picked it up in the second set which carried over into a tough third.”

Prior to Monday’s match, Texas Tech had not been broken all tournament long nor had played a third set.

Nonetheless, the battle continued into the finale with the Red Raiders tying it back up at two games a piece following a major stand by Dojas on the service line.

However, the match came down Soares on serve with Tech trailing 4-3. The Longhorns would go on to break serve and hold on for the win, 6-3 in the third, to clinch the national championship.

“It’s so tough when you’re this close,” head coach Tim Siegel said. “But I am so proud of our guys. They had a great year: top 20 team, beat the No. 1 team in the nation (Oklahoma) as a team. These two guys, though, they will be seniors next year and they are really going to make Texas Tech proud. I’m already looking forward to it.”

The second-place finish marks the second time in the last three years that the Red Raiders have made an appearance in the tournament finale. Raony Carvalho and Gonzalo Escobar also finished runner-up in 2012 to Ohio State.

Final Results
#19 Lloyd Glasspool/Soren Hess-Olesen (TEXAS) def. #22 Felipe Soares/Hugo Dojas (TEXAS TECH) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3