TCU
NCAA Individual Championships
Norrie Advances to Elite 8
5/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas - After multiple rain delays, TCU freshman Cameron Norrie gutted out another three-set victory over No. 14 Mikelis Libietis of Tennessee, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the third round match of the 2015 NCAA Men's Tennis Division I Singles Championship on Friday at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.
Norrie becomes the second Horned Frog all-time in program history to qualify for the quarterfinals following in the footsteps of former TCU All-American Esteban Carrill who made the Elite 8 in 1999.
"Cameron dug in deep to win that match and I am very proud of him for that," head coach David Roditi said. "Cameron can be very tough to beat when he has that mindset. I love his competitiveness and it is a pleasure to watch. Mikelis is a very good player and very hard to play since he doesn't give you much rhythm."
It was an even battle to start the match as each player held their serve through the first eight games with the match all knotted up at 4-4. Libietis was then able to break Norrie on his serve and then served out the set to take the one-set advantage in the match with a 6-4 victory.
Norrie once again had to battle a comeback in the second set to stay in the match, with Libietis breaking the freshman on only his second service game to go up 2-1. Norrie was able to break Libietis twice and take a 4-2 lead in the match, but the Tennessee foe would not go down easily. Libietis was able to get the break back and even up the set again at 4-4. Norrie would hold serve and then break Libietis one final time to take the set, 6-4, and stay in the match.
The final set did not start well for Norrie as Libietis opened the set with a break and then held serve for a 2-0 lead. The Auckland, New Zealand native kept fighting and broke Libietis back to get the set back at serve at 4-4. Just as the second set ended, Norrie managed to take control of the match back by holding serve and then breaking Libietis to win the match and record his 28th victory of the season.
With his win over Libietis, Norrie has racked up 12 consecutive victories and 12 wins in his debut campaign over ranked foes. The freshman will take on No. 9 Quentin Monaghan of Notre Dame on Saturday at Noon.
The season did come to an end in the doubles bracket for Norrie and doubles partner Trevor Johnson, as they dropped their third round match to No. 19 Lloyd Glasspool and Søren Hess-Olesen of Texas with a 6-4, 6-0 defeat. The duo ended the season with a 22-7 record with six of the victories coming over ranked opponents.
"The Texas doubles team played very well," Roditi said. "They are going to be tough to beat going forward. It is very hard to make this tournament as an all-freshman doubles team, therefore Cameron and Trevor should be very pleased with their doubles performance this season. Now they must move forward and keep on working."
Players Mentioned
