Tennessee Ends Tennis Frogs' Hopes For NCAA Title
5/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 22, 2001
ATHENS, Georgia (May 22, 2001) -- The TCU men's tennis team saw its hopes for the program's first-ever NCAA title come to an end on a rainy, Tuesday afternoon on the Hopkins Indoor Courts in Athens, Ga. at the hands of the eighth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers by a 4-0 score. The Frogs are now 0-3 in the national semifinals of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships.
TCU fell behind early 1-0 when they lost a hottly contested doubles point. After splitting the one and three slots, the point was decided in a tiebreaker at two doubles where the Volunteers' Peter Handoyo and Paul Podbury picked up a 7-3 win to clinch the point over TCU's Esteban Carril and Toni Gordon.
With only four indoor courts to use for the match, one through four singles were played first and the Frogs dug themselves in a hole from which they could not climb out by losing the first set in all the matches. TCU did the same thing against USC in their opening round match in Athens, but the Volunteers prevented the Frogs from making a comeback by winning one through three singles in straight sets for the 4-0 victory.
After the match, TCU first-year head coach Joey Rive said, "It was a tough day for us today. I don't know if we played our best today. Tennessee did a good job of getting up on us in the singles. They played a good match. They have good guys right down the line. Indoors was a change for us. Outdoors we feel more comfortable."
Approximately 30 minutes before the match's noon start time, a thunderstorm rolled in from the west and forced the match indoors, a situation where the Horned Frogs were 8-1 coming in to the match.
When asked about his opinion of the season as a whole, Rive remarked, "When you look at all the programs that lace it up at the beginning of the year, to think we could reach the semifinals of the indoors and the semis at the national tournament, it's a great accomplishment. It was a great season."
TCU finished the regular season with a 24-4 record, at total it last equaled in 1995 when the squad finished 24-6.
TCU senior Esteban Carril has not made a decision yet regarding his status for the singles competition for the NCAA Championships. Senior Trace Fielding will compete in the singles as well as the doubles with sophomore partner Jimmy Haney.
No. 4 TCU (24-4) vs. No. 6 Tennessee (23-5) at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex (Hopkins Indoor Courts)
Singles
No. 1?? #31 Mark Parsons (UT) def. #10 Esteban Carril (TCU) 6-1, 6-4 No. 2?? #58 Mario Toledo (UT) def. #43 Trace Fielding (TCU) 6-3, 6-1 No. 3?? #25 Peter Handoyo (UT) def. Scott Eddins (TCU) 6-3, 7-6(2) No. 4?? Toni Gordon (TCU) vs. #54 Adam Carey (UT) 4-6, 5-5, susp. No. 5?? Daniel Wajnberg (TCU) vs. #95 Paul Podbury (UT) 2-1, susp. No. 6?? Jimmy Haney (TCU) vs. Simon Rea (UT) 0-1, susp.
Doubles
No. 1?? #16 Fielding/Haney (TCU) def. #20 Carey/Parsons (UT) 8-5 No. 2?? Handoyo/Podbury (UT) def. Carril/Gordon (TCU) 9-8(3) No. 3?? Toledo/Rea (UT) def. Eddins/Petr Koula (TCU) 8-6
Final Score: TCU 0, Tennessee 4
