Tennis Frogs Survive Scare From Southern Cal
5/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 19, 2001
ATHENS, Georgia (May 19, 2001) -- The fifth-seeded TCU men's tennis team narrowly avoided a loss from upset-minded Southern Cal in the round of 16 at the 2001 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia, beating the Trojans 4-2 in a match that lasted for four hours, ten minutes. With the win, the Horned Frogs advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament for a second consecutive year, where they will face in-state rival Texas A&M who dispatched LSU 4-1. Texas A&M defeated TCU 5-2 earlier this year.
In doubles, USC's 11th-ranked team of Ryan Moore and Nick Rainey defeated TCU's No. 16 Trace Fielding and Jimmy Haney 8-3 at the one slot. The Frogs responded with an 8-5 victory at three doubles thanks to Scott Eddins and Petr Koula, but USC took the two spot with Andrew Park and Damien Spizzo's 9-7 win over the Frogs' Esteban Carril and Toni Gordon.
Down 1-0, TCU sophomore Jimmy Haney and junior Daniel Wajnberg won their matches in straight sets at five and six singles over Parker Collins and Ruben Torres to take a 2-1 lead.
However, as Haney and Wajnberg won their matches, the Frogs dropped the first set in one through four singles.
At four singles, TCU sophomore Toni Gordon dropped his first set 6-3 and found himself down 2-0 in the second, but the Spain-native battled back to win the second 6-4, and took the match at love in the third, giving the Frogs their third point.
Gordon said after the match, "The guy I was playing had a tricky eye and I started to get very mad at the calls he was making. Coach (Rive) told me to calm down and at that point, I just wanted to beat the guy because he wasn't being very nice."
Needing only point to clinch the match, the Horned Frogs dropped one singles when senior All-American Esteban Carril's left leg began to cramp up in the third set, crippling him for the remainder of the set which he lost 6-1.
With Carril's loss, TCU senior Scott Eddins rose to the occasion and beat the Trojans' Damien Spizzo in a third set tiebreaker 7-3 to give the Horned Frogs the 4-2 victory.
Eddins said of his win, "We worked so hard all year. I was down a couple of match points (in the second set). I pride myself on sticking in and showing the guy that I'm not going to give him anything. I came through today. All you can do is keep pushing."
The Frogs' win over USC marked their first win in school history over the Trojans in six tries. TCU is also now 6-3 this season when losing the doubles point.
No. 4 TCU (23-3) vs. No. 24 Southern California (15-9) at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex (McWhorter Courts)
Singles
No. 1?? #16 Andrew Park (USC) def. #10 Esteban Carril (TCU) 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 No. 2?? #43 Trace Fielding (TCU) vs. #37 Ryan Moore (USC) 6-7(3), 6-2, 4-5, susp. No. 3?? Scott Eddins (TCU) def. Damien Spizzo (USC) 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(3) No. 4?? Toni Gordon (TCU) def. Nick Rainey (USC) 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 No. 5?? Daniel Wajnberg (TCU) def. Ruben Torres (USC) 6-3, 6-4 No. 6?? Jimmy Haney (TCU) def. Parker Collins (USC) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1?? #11 Moore/Rainey (USC) def. #16 Fielding/Haney (TCU) 8-3 No. 2?? Park/Spizzo (USC) def. Carril/Gordon (TCU) 9-7 No. 3?? Eddins/Petr Koula (TCU) def. Collins/Torres (USC) 8-5
Final Score: TCU 4, USC 2
