While the Texas Tech men's tennis team will look to win on the road in the NCAA Tournament, the women's tennis team will look to win next season.
The Red Raiders could not secure home court advantage heading into the NCAA Tournament, with a 4-3 loss to No. 25 Texas A&M in the opening round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
With a 4-1 win over Oklahoma followed by a 4-0 loss to No. 3 Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament, the 12-11 Lady Raiders will prepare for the offseason instead of the postseason.
Although Tech lost the match, Tech men's coach Tim Siegel said he was pleased with his team's effort against A&M and performance in certain spots.
"We played well, we played hard," he said. "We played very well in the doubles. Bojan (Szumanski) played exceptionally well to win at No. 1 after losing badly to the same player just a few weeks earlier."
With the defeat, the Tech men lost the opportunity to host the NCAA. If the Red Raiders had won, they would have the chance to host the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The top 16 teams in the country are rewarded with home matches to start the tournament. Tech sits at No. 17 in the country in the final rankings.
The selections for the NCAA Tournament will be made at 1 p.m. today on ESPNews.
The Red Raiders have to play the waiting game to find out where they will be sent for the first round, while Siegel said any possibility will be difficult.
"Now, at this point, we are going to be sent to one of three teams, I believe: Michigan, Illinois or Pepperdine," he said. "Obviously, all those teams are very strong."
Pepperdine, Illinois and Michigan are the No. 13, No. 15 and No. 16 teams in the country, respectively. Florida State, another possibility, is No. 14 in the nation. Siegel said he does not believe his team will be sent to Tallahassee.
The Red Raiders still are motivated to perform in the NCAA tournament, as Szumanski said the team is viewing the loss of the opportunity to host as a challenge.
"We definitely have a lot of motivation," he said. "We actually all feel that, even though we are not hosting, we have a big chance to win the first round and make it to the Sweet 16. This team is strong, and we showed that we can beat Top 20 and Top 10 teams."
As the men are entering the pinnacle of their season, the Lady Raiders' season is finished after the team was swept by Baylor in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament.
Tech women's coach Cari Groce said she is proud of her team and the way they performed throughout the year.
"We certainly went out there and our players played," Groce said. "They just went out and fought extremely hard and had a lot of great spirit. I was really, really pleased with the way it ended."
The Lady Raiders are still a program looking to find an identity, but Groce said she views this season as a positive.
"We have a vast majority of our team coming back," she said. "They know that we ended the year playing and carrying ourselves as a team and going out and fighting the way that we want them to play and fight. They get that now. They understand that."
Each year, teams in every sport have to deal with new, incoming players and hope the new combinations will work.
The Lady Raiders are no exception to this rule.
"When you add some new players who, tennis-wise, are even stronger on the court and then they come in and learn our mentality of the returning players," Groce said, "I think it shows a very, very good future."
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