Men's Tennis: Sweet 16 Preview
5/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The postseason run by the No. 6 TCU men's tennis team will continue in Waco, Texas, as the Horned Frogs are set to take on No. 12 Wake Forest at Noon on Thursday, May 14 at the Hurd Tennis Center on the campus of Baylor in the third round of the NCAA Division I Team Championship.
The Horned Frogs (23-7) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the ninth time in program history and first time since 2004 with wins over Marist (4-0) and No 30 Tulsa (4-0) in the first and second rounds. The third round match with put TCU up against the Demon Deacons (24-7) and the teams will be facing off for the second time this season, as Wake Forest was able to come away with a regular-season 4-3 victory on March 8.
TCU QUICK HITS
-The 23 wins posted by TCU under fifth year head coach David Roditi were the most since 2001
-16 of the 23 wins this spring were over ranked foes, while the Frogs remained undefeated at home with a perfect 15-0 record
-The Horned Frogs defeated not one, but four ranked opponents this season and downed Texas A&M twice for the first time since 2006 and Texas for the first time since 1996
-TCU has won nine of its last 10 matches and 14 of its last 16 matches, with its only losses coming to the top ranked teams in the nation - No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Baylor
-All seven of TCU's losses this season have come to teams ranked within the top-20, with its worst loss coming to then-No. 20 Wake Forest on March 8
-The Frogs have been ranked within the top-20 for 14 straight weeks and within the top-10 for six consecutive weeks
-TCU qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor competition for the first time under the ITA Kick-Off era and first time since 2001
-Guillermo Nuñez had a 19-match winning streak during his debut campaign and posted a 19-1 record in dual matches
-Five different Frogs have picked up at least 20 wins this season: Nuñez (26), Norrie (24), Dachs (23), Stein (22) and Johnson (20)
-Three student-athletes are riding winning streaks in singles action: Norrie (8), Dachs (6), Nuñez (4)
-In doubles action, the two ranked pairs on the team in No. 23 Chappell/Stein and No. 30 Johnson/Norrie each have 20 plus wins on the season
-Johnson and Norrie have won their last eight consecutive matches and are 13-2 in dual matches
NCAA HISTORY
-TCU is making its 26th appearance in the NCAA Championship
-This is the second appearance in the last three seasons and the second appearance under the helm of David Roditi
-The Frogs advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2004 and for the ninth time in program history
-The best finish for TCU in the NCAA Championship was a Final Four appearance on three occasions - 1989, 1996 and 2001
-TCU has played in Waco in the NCAA Championship on only one previous occasion in which Baylor was hosting the first and second rounds
FAMILIAR FOES
-TCU has faced 10 of the Sweet 16 in regular-season action this spring
-The Frogs are one of four Big 12 teams to make the third round, with all four teams ranked inside the top-10 of the ITA poll
-TCU has a 5-7 record against opponents in the Sweet 16
-The team posted wins against Texas, Illinois, South Florida along with two wins over Texas A&M-All seven of TCU's losses this season come against teams that will be competing in the third round: Oklahoma, UCLA, Wake Forest, Virginia, Duke and Baylor.
-TCU has faced two of the Sweet 16 opponents twice this season. The Frogs defeated Texas A&M twice, while fell to Baylor twice.
ONLY PLAYING THE BEST
-TCU has only played the best this season with 23 of the 30 opponents ranked within the ITA top-70
-Nine of the opponents faced this spring have been ranked within the top-10 in the country
-13 of the opponents faced this spring have been ranked within the top-25 in the country
-The Frogs defeated not one, but four ranked opponents within the top-10
-The longest losing streak TCU faced this season came with losses at the ITA National Team Indoor competition, where the Frogs dropped matches to three top-10 ranked opponents in Virginia, Duke and UCLA
NCAA SINGLES & DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIPS
-TCU will have multiple representatives in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships when the matches start following the conclusion of the team competition
-Nick Chappell will be making an appearance for the second straight season, while Cameron Norrie earned a singles bid as well
-Guillermo Nuñez was named the first alternate in the singles bracket
-Chappell and Will Stein will be making an appearance in the doubles bracket for the second consecutive season
-Norrie and Trevor Johnson are in the second alternate position in the doubles bracket
-TCU has not had two singles qualifiers since 1996, when Roditi and fellow senior Paul Robinson both qualified
-If Nuñez is to make the bracket, it will make the first time in the history of the program that three Frogs will be competing in the singles bracket
-The team has been represented by two doubles teams in the championship on two occasions: 1996 and 1975
SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
No. 6 TCU vs. No. 12 Wake Forest - Noon
SATURDAY
NCAA Quarterfinals - Noon
MONDAY
NCAA Semifinals - 1 p.m.
TUESDAY
NCAA Team Championship Match - 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
