TCU Men's Tennis Hosts South Alabama Wednesday

Feb. 22, 2005

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MATCH #4:

#13 TCU (3-0) vs. #51 South Alabama (5-1)
Feb. 23, 2005 • Fort Worth, Texas • 1:30 p.m. CST

ABOUT THE MATCH
The 13th-ranked TCU men's tennis team takes on No. 51 South Alabama Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas, at 1:30 p.m. CST. The match will be played on the Bernard J. "Tut" Bartzen Varsity Tennis Courts at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. TCU (3-0) has been idle since recording a 6-1 victory over BYU. South Alabama (5-1) is coming off a 4-3 win in Dallas against SMU Monday. The Jaguars lone loss on the year came Feb. 17 in Starkville, Miss., to Mississippi State by a 5-2 count. The Horned Frogs own a 5-1 all-time record against South Alabama and defeated the school 6-1 last year in Fort Worth. USA's one ranked player is Franticek Babej at No. 64.

LIVE MATCH SCORING
Live match scoring for home matches 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.

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.

HORNED FROGS IN THE RANKINGS
Fabrizio Sestini is the lone Horned Frog among the current singles rankings, coming in at a career-high 22nd. He is also listed in the doubles ratings at No. 13 with Rafael Abreu. Sestini and Abreu have been as high as eighth.

RIVE RECORD BREAKDOWN
Head coach Joey Rivé is in his fifth season with TCU, boasting a 72-32 (.692) record with the Horned Frogs. In his five years, the Frogs have gone 46-8 (.852) in home matches, 9-17 (.346) in away matches and 17-7 (.708) when playing on neutral ground.

C-USA PRAISE THIS SEASON
TCU is once again cleaning up on the Conference USA awards this season. Fabrizio Sestini won at least a share of Player of the Month honors for September, October and November. He shared the honor with his doubles partner, Rafael Abreu, in November. Sestini took home the first Player of the Week accolade in January as well.

Schedule