TCU
Air Force
Frogs Blank Air Force in Home Finale
4/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 16, 2010
Results | Photo Gallery 
FORT WORTH—TCU posted one of its most lopsided wins of the season Friday while closing out its home schedule with a 7-0 victory over Air Force at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The decision marked the second shutout this spring by the Horned Frogs.
TCU improved to 9-10 overall and 3-2 in Mountain West Conference play, while Air Force dropped to 10-10 overall and 0-5 in the MWC.
The Frogs breezed to their second 7-0 victory of the season, and the first since a Jan. 31 win over No. 66 Texas A&M Corpus-Christi. The squad swept the three doubles matches before dominating singles play with six decisions in straight sets.
Junior Emanuel Brighiu clinched the TCU team victory at No. 1 singles by defeating Lance Wilhelm, 6-4, 6-4. The win marked Brighiu's first match clincher of the spring.
Kelubia Mabatah, the lone senior on the TCU roster, made his fourth appearance of the spring in the lineup while playing the No. 5 spot for the first time in his two seasons on campus. The Houston native's final career home match ended with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Stephen Katrein, as Mabatah improved to 3-1 this spring.
Freshman Santiago Centeno cracked the singles lineup for the first time in spring dual-match play. He easily downed the Falcons' Sam Barnes, 6-0, 6-3.
Other Frog winners Friday included junior Zach Nichols at No. 2 over Austin Francis, 6-0, 6-2; freshman Marius Cirstea at No. 3 over Taylor Soster, 6-2, 6-0; and Sören Goritzka at No. 4 over Brett Rodgers, 6-3, 6-3.
TCU began the day's competition by sweeping the three doubles matches. Goritzka and Nash recorded the team point with an 8-4 victory over Barnes and Alex Beaussart at the No. 3 position after Nichols and sophomore Paul Chappell posted an 8-3 winner over Francis and Wilhelm at No. 2. Brighiu and junior Christopher Price, the nation's 67th-rated doubles tandem, downed Rodgers and Soster by an 8-6 count at the top position to finish off the doubles competition.
"It's been a tough year that's been a real challenge for us, and we've had so many close matches that just haven't gone our way," head coach Dave Borelli said. "Today was a really good day. We played well and seemed to have a lot of fun. We will be going into the conference tournament as an underdog for the first time in a long time, but I think it's going to be a good position for us. We have a lot of ability, a good group of guys and I think the breaks are about to start going our way.
"We still have one more tough conference road match at New Mexico this weekend, and then we have another tough one next week at Texas A&M. Our goal is to hang losse and have fun while continuing to condition hard, which we have been focusing on here in last few weeks of the season. We want to finish the year in a positive way heading into the tournament."
TCU next wraps up its 2010 Mountain West Conference schedule Sunday with a 2 p.m. CT match at New Mexico.
Results
#63 TCU 7, Air Force 0
April 16, 2010
Fort Worth, Texas
Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center/Bernard J. "Tut" Bartzen Varsity Courts
Doubles
1. #67 Emanuel Brighiu/Christopher Price (TCU) def. Brett Rodgers/Taylor Soster (AF) 8-6
2. Paul Chappell/Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Austin Francis/Lance Wilhelm (AF) 8-3
3. Sören Goritzka/Cameron Nash (TCU) def. Sam Barnes/Alex Beaussart (AF) 8-4
Singles
1. *Emanuel Brighiu (TCU) def. Lance Wilhelm (AF) 6-4, 6-4
2. Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Austin Francis (AF) 6-0, 6-2
3. Marius Cirstea (TCU) def. Taylor Soster (AF) 6-2, 6-0
4. Sören Goritzka (TCU) def. Brett Rodgers (AF) 6-3, 6-3
5. Kelubia Mabatah (TCU) def. Stephen Katrein (AF) 6-3, 6-2
6. Santiago Centeno (TCU) def. Sam Barnes (AF) 6-0, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,2,1*,6,5,4)
*—Clinched Team Victory
Players Mentioned
