TCU
#1 Oklahoma
Heartbreaking Loss Ends Season
5/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
WACO, Texas -- The No. 6 TCU men's tennis went to battle with No. 1 Oklahoma in the semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship, but came up just short, as the Sooners came away with a 4-3 victory on Monday afternoon at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.
The Horned Frogs (25-8) and the Sooners (29-2) battled to a tiebreaker on each of the three doubles courts and then went toe-to-toe in singles with the final match decided on a tiebreaker on court one. Oklahoma had the upper edge from winning the doubles point and came out with the victory to move into the championship match on Tuesday against No. 3 Virginia.
"Obviously, just a hell of a match," head coach David Roditi said. "It was exactly what I think everybody was expecting. The doubles point, I don't know how many times you've had three tiebreakers. It was just a battle. I'm proud our guys and proud of the way we fought back and how we hung in there under very tough conditions. We left it all out there and there's absolutely nothing to say except congratulations to Oklahoma for an unbelievable season. Those guys are not only great players, but they are coached well as well.
"I've been saying that Devin Bowen has done a great job of continuing to develop these guys. We're a better team than we were a month ago. We are a better team than we were two weeks ago and we're a better team than we were two months ago. We just ran out of shots there at the end. We were just so close. Credit to them, because they were dealing with a lot of stuff. They were breaking down physically and they won the points that they needed to win and that takes a lot of mental strength and a lot of experience. There are absolutely no regrets on our team. Zero regrets of did we prepare as well as we prepared? Could we have done anything else? There is absolutely nothing else we could have done with this team and this is as far as we could get."
The doubles point was as close of a battle as it was going to get, as all three courts came down to a tiebreaker for the match decision. The fight for points went back-and-forth, as neither team could gain an advantage in the tiebreaker. Oklahoma was able to get on top on court one and won the first match with a 9-7 win in the tiebreaker.
Moments later, Nick Chappell slammed down a big overhead to gain the mini break and then Facundo Lugones closed out the tiebreaker for TCU on court two by holding serve for a 9-7 victory and the pair's third consecutive win. The decision would come down to the tiebreaker on court three and the Sooners capitalized off an early mini break to take the tiebreaker 7-5 and win the doubles point.
Oklahoma went up 2-0 in the match with the victory on court five, but TCU did not back down as Lugones and Cameron Norrie gutted out straight-set victories to even up the score at 2-2. Lugones picked up his 22nd win of the season and third over a ranked opponent with a 6-1, 6-4 downing of No. 103 Alex Ghilea. Norrie made quick work of No. 44 Dane Webb and scored his 25th win of the season, eighth straight and eighth over a ranked opponent.
Senior captain Will Stein was down a set and a double break on court six, but saved two match points to even out the second set 5-5. Stein held serve to go up 6-5, but Florin Bragusi held his serve as well and sent the set into a tiebreaker. Stein fought hard and saved three match points after being down 5-1, but Bagusi ultimately prevailed in the tiebreaker 7-4 and gave the Sooners a 3-2 lead in the match.
With the top two positions battling it out for the final two points, freshman and No. 59 Guillermo Nuñez picked up the biggest win of his career by taking out No. 7 Andrew Harris in three sets. After dropping a tiebreaker in the first set, Nuñez took control of the match back and dominated the final two sets, 6-2, 6-0 for his 28th win of his debut campaign.
After evening out the match with the Nuñez victory, TCU turned to No. 49 Chappell on court one as he battled No. 1 Axel Alvarez. Oklahoma was able to steal the first set after a late break, 7-5, but Chappell broke back late in the second set to even it out at 5-5. Chappell would go up 6-5, but Alvarez held serve to send the match decision into a tiebreaker. Alvarez ultimately prevailed and took out Chappell in straight sets to give Oklahoma the final point for the victory.
"This is our first recruiting class and that's big for these guys," Roditi said. "They believed in something that didn't exist. It was just a dream and they made it happen.
"I can't thank our Athletic Director (Chris Del Conte) to do what he did today. To have his whole staff take a day off and put them in a bus and stop business at TCU in the athletic department and bring the whole staff and spend the whole day here to watch a men's tennis team. It's unheard of. I don't think anyone has ever done that and I can't be more proud to be at TCU."
The 2015 season is over for the team, but Chappell, Stein and Norrie have all earned bids in the 2015 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships that will start on Wednesday in Waco. Chappell and Stein will compete in the doubles bracket, while Norrie and Chappell will take part in the singles bracket. Nuñez is first alternate for the singles bracket and Norrie and Trevor Johnson are second alternates in the doubles bracket.
Tennis Match Results
TCU vs Oklahoma
May 18, 2015 at Waco, Texas
(Hurd Tennis Center)
#1 Oklahoma 4, #6 TCU 3
Singles competition
1. #1 Axel Alvarez (OU) def. #49 Nick Chappell (TCU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #59 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) def. #7 Andrew Harris (OU) 6-7(5-7), 6-2, 6-0
3. #39 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #44 Dane Webb (OU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Facundo Lugones (TCU) def. #103 Alex Ghilea (OU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Spencer Papa (OU) def. Arnau Dachs (TCU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Florin Bragusi (OU) def. Will Stein (TCU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
Doubles competition
1. #57 Andrew Harris/Alex Ghilea (OU) def. #30 Cameron Norrie/Trevor Johnson (TCU) 8-7 (8-6)
2. Nick Chappell/Facundo Lugones (TCU) def. Dane Webb/Spencer Papa (OU) 8-7 (9-7)
3. Axel Alvarez/Jose Salazar (OU) def. Guillermo Nuñez/Hudson Blake (TCU) 8-7 (7-5)
Match Notes:
TCU 25-8; National ranking #6
Oklahoma 29-2; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,3,4,6,2,1)
Players Mentioned
