TCU
Sacramento State
Frogs Back on Track at Home
3/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 18, 2010
FORT WORTH—The TCU men's tennis team snapped a three-match skid Thursday during a 5-2 home victory over visiting Sacramento State at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
TCU, listed No. 42 in Tuesday's latest release of the ITA national team rankings, improved to 6-5 this season, while Sacramento State dropped to 6-7.
"Sacramento State lost close ones to Tulsa and Oklahoma State this season, and I think they are a tough team," head coach Dave Borelli said. "They played tough today against us, but we played better today than we have the last few times out. I thought overall it was a good effort from us."
After winning the doubles point for a quick 1-0 lead on the Hornets, TCU mixed up its singles lineup with positive results, taking 4-of-6 matches to help the team regroup from its recent struggles.
The Frogs took the doubles point for the second straight day by winning matches at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions by identical 8-6 counts. Sophomore Slah Mbarek and freshman Sören Goritzka, playing at No. 2, downed Sac State's Jason Smith and Holden Ching, while juniors Zach Nichols and Paul Chappell clinched the point at No. 3 with a victory over Tim Lantin and Anton Stryhas.
The Hornets earned the first doubles victory at No. 1 by Marko Starcevid and Kiryl Harbatsiuk over juniors Emanuel Brighiu and Christopher Price.
TCU earned wins in the first three singles decisions to clinch the team decision. Goritzka earned his second match-clinching victory of the spring to tie Mbarek for the team lead, downing Starcekiv at the No. 6 position in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. Mbarek earlier snapped a three-match losing streak after moving down from his previous position of No. 1 to No. 3. He defeated Smith in two sets, 6-4, 6-4, to improve to 7-3 this spring, which matches Nichols and Price for the team's top record.
Price also earned his seventh win by posting TCU's first singles victory of the evening at the No. 5 slot, 6-3, 6-4 over Lantin. Freshman Marius Cirstea earned a big win himself after the team outcome had been decided, downing Ching in three sets at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Cirstea's winner marked his first this spring.
Brighiu dropped a tough decision at No. 1 singles to Harbatsiuk, the nation's No. 64-ranked player, 0-6, 7-5, 2-6. Brighiu moved into the Frogs' top slot for the first time this spring, which set up the rest of the TCU lineup to take four of the other five singles points.
The Hornets gained their other point at No. 2 singles, where Stryhas defeated Nichols, ranked No. 99 nationally, in a match that reached the super tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (8).
"I was very happy with Marius earning that win to get that monkey off his back," Borelli said. "He was down in the match and came back and won it. Hopefully he can build on that and gain some confidence, because he's a good player. Zach had a chance to beat a good player himself and let him off the hook, but he'll get more chances down the stretch.
"I think switching up the singles lineup helped us today, but it's a hard one to figure out. We are solid 1-through-6, and each of our guys are fairly even. We're still trying to figure that out, but today was a good step forward."
The Horned Frogs will return to action next Wednesday, March 24, with a 5 p.m. road match at SMU.
Results
No. 42 TCU 5, Sacramento State 2
March 18, 2010
Fort Worth, Texas (Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center/Bernard J. "Tut" Bartzen Varsity Courts)
Doubles
1. Marko Starcevic/Kiryl Harbatsiuk (SSU) def. Emanuel Brighiu/Christopher Price (TCU), 8-1
2. Slah Mbarek/Sören Goritzka (TCU) def. Jason Smith/Holden Ching (SSU), 8-6
3. Zach Nichols/Paul Chappell (TCU) def. Tim Lantin/Anton Stryhas (SSU), 8-6
Singles
1. #64 Kiryl Harbatsiuk (SSU) def. Emanuel Brighiu (TCU), 6-0, 5-7, 6-2
2. Anton Stryhas (SSU) def. #99 Zach Nichols (TCU), 4-6, 6-3, 10-8
3. Slah Mbarek (TCU) def. Jason Smith (SSU), 6-4, 6-4
4. Marius Cirstea (TCU) def. Holden Ching (SSU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
5. Christopher Price (TCU) def. Tim Lantin (SSU), 6-3, 6-4
6. *Sören Goritzka (TCU) def. Marko Starcevic (SSU), 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,3,6*,1,4,2)
*-clinched team victory
Players Mentioned
