TCU
#13 North Carolina
Final Four Frogs
5/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
WACO, Texas -- A backhand down the line from senior Arnau Dachs sealed a 4-1 quarterfinal victory for the No. 6 TCU men's tennis team over No. 13 North Carolina, as the Horned Frogs advanced to the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Final Four on Saturday afternoon at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.
The Horned Frogs (25-7) reached the 25-win plateau for only the fourth time in program history and will play in its fourth Final Four and first since 2001 after defeating the Tar Heels (24-11). Head Coach David Roditi will lead his team into a semifinal showdown with familiar foe and No. 1 Oklahoma on Monday at 1 p.m., in Waco.
"Well, just an unbelievable college match," Roditi said. "Two good teams playing each other, leaving absolutely everything we both have on the court. We just had to get on the winning side today. That's a well-coached team and it's a team we've been battling for the last few years. It always comes down to a few points and it was no different today.
"Today our seniors stepped up and especially Nick Chappell who stepped up huge. We got three points from our seniors in singles and we had two seniors winning in doubles. That's the beauty about today's win. It was a completely different group than maybe it was in other matches when you had (Guillermo) Nuñez and (Cameron) Norrie stepping up in the singles. Today, they allowed other guys to step up and that's what makes a good team, that you can get points at any position at any time. It gives us depth and makes us tough to beat."
Doubles action was a complete battle for points, as two of the matches came down to a tiebreaking decision. The No. 30 pair of Trevor Johnson and Cameron Norrie bounced back from a loss on Thursday to take out Esben Hess-Olesen and Brayden Schnur, 8-6, at the No. 1 position and get the first win for TCU.
With the other matches in tiebreakers, it was a back-and-forth fight for points, with North Carolina ultimately defeating Guillermo Nuñez and Hudson Blake on court three to even out the doubles decision. The newly formed pair of Nick Chappell and Facundo Lugones used their experience and topped Brett Clark and Robert Kelly, 8-6, in the tiebreaker at the No. 2 position to give TCU the early 1-0 lead in the match.
Lugones kept the momentum going into singles action and completely dominated court four for the Frogs with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jack Murray for his 21st win of the season and third consecutive victory.
North Carolina would get their lone point of the match with a victory at the No. 2 position, but TCU responded with No. 49 Chappell picking up his sixth victory of the season over a ranked opponent with a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 11 Schnur.
Up 3-1, TCU would look towards their seniors for the final point and Dachs would deliver as he fought back from being down 3-0 in the second set to win his match in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, and clinch the match for the Frogs.
TCU and the Sooners will be facing each other for the 20th time in program history on Monday. Oklahoma won the regular-season Big 12 match-up between the teams on April 25 with a 4-1 win in Norman, Okla.
Tennis Match Results
North Carolina vs TCU
May 16, 2015 at Waco, Texas
(Hurd Tennis Center)
#6 TCU 4, #13 North Carolina 1
Singles competition
1. #49 Nick Chappell (TCU) def. #11 Brayden Schnur (UNC) 6-4, 6-2
2. #28 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. #59 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
3. #39 Cameron Norrie (TCU) vs. Brett Clark (UNC) 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 1-0, unfinished
4. Facundo Lugones (TCU) def. Jack Murray (UNC) 6-3, 6-1
5. Arnau Dachs (TCU) def. Robert Kelly (UNC) 6-4, 7-5
6. Will Stein (TCU) vs. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) 3-6, 6-5, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #30 Cameron Norrie/Trevor Johnson (TCU) def. Esben Hess-Olesen/Brayden Schnur (UNC) 8-6
2. Nick Chappell/Facundo Lugones (TCU) def. Brett Clark/Robert Kelly (UNC) 8-7 (8-6)
3. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. Guillermo Nuñez/Hudson Blake (TCU) 8-7 (7-5)
Match Notes:
North Carolina 24-11; National ranking #13
TCU 25-7; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,2,1,5)
Players Mentioned
