TCU Men's Tennis Opens 2005 Dual Match Season Friday

Jan. 27, 2005

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MATCH #1

#17 TCU (0-0) vs. #70 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (0-0)
Jan. 28, 2005 • Fort Worth, Texas • 1:30 p.m. CST

ABOUT THE MATCH
Friday marks the third consecutive year that 17th-ranked TCU has opened its season against No. 70 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Horned Frogs defeated the Islanders 6-1 in both of their prior meetings. The match will take place at TCU's Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center on the Bernard J. "Tut" Bartzen Varsity Tennis Courts at 1:30 p.m. CST. The match-up is the first of the year for Corpus Christi as well.

A RICH NCAA HISTORY
The Horned Frogs have a rich tradition of excellence in the NCAA Tournament. TCU has made 19 appearances in the event since the current team format was adopted in 1977. TCU has been in every tourney since 1991 and made 17 of the past 18 NCAAs. The Purple and White owns a record of 25-19 in the tournament and has made three appearances (1989, 1996, 2001) in the national semifinals. TCU has also reached at least the NCAA quarterfinals on seven occasions (1982, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001). In the individual championships, TCU had a string of 27 consecutive appearances from 1975 to 2001. During that span, TCU won one doubles title, coming in 1981 with Karl Richter and David Pate. In 1996, Ashley Fisher and Jason Weir-Smith finished as the runner-ups. Several Horned Frogs reached the round of 16 in singles, but Esteban Carril is the only one to advance to the quarterfinals. Carril made his run his sophomore year in 1999.

LIVE MATCH SCORING
Live match scoring via the Internet is back for a second season this spring. It is featured on the official Web site of TCU athletics, www.GoFrogs.com. Updates from the match are given periodically as the players progress and the order of finish, along with match notes, are also available on the page.

A WORLDLY BUNCH
Six different countries are represented on TCU's roster this year including England (Jordan Freitas), Italy (Fabrizio Sestini and Jacopo Tezza), Romania (Radu Barbu), Spain (Jacob Martin), the United States (Robert Gallman, Collin Hart and Andrew Ulrich) and Venezuela (Rafael Abreu). TCU's American players also comprise the entire sophomore class.

NEW FACES
Two new Horned Frogs were added to the roster for this season. Jordan Freitas, a transfer from Tyler Junior College, joined the squad last fall. Radu Barbu came to TCU in late January.

FROGS IN THE RANKINGS
Fabrizio Sestini is the lone Frog among the singles rankings to start the season, coming in at a career-high 34th. He is also listed in the doubles ratings at No. 8 with Rafael Abreu. Sestini and Abreu began the fall campaign ranked eighth as well.

RIVE RECORD BREAKDOWN
Head coach Joey Rivé enters his fifth season with TCU, boasting a 69-32 (.683) record with the Horned Frogs. In his four years, the Frogs have gone 43-8 (.843) in home matches, 9-17 (.346) in away matches and 17-7 (.708) when playing on neutral ground.

ANOTHER CHALLENGING SCHEDULE
The Purple and White will face at least 15 teams that ended the 2004 season ranked among the top 75 and square off with at least 11 that competed in the NCAA Tournament.

Schedule