MTEN Preview: Columbia & Dartmouth
3/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas - Riding a 19-match home winning streak, the No. 3 TCU men's tennis team returns to action at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center to host No. 39 Columbia and No. 35 Dartmouth on March 19 and March 20, respectively.
The Horned Frogs (11-2) will first face the Lions (10-4) on Saturday at Noon, before competing against the Big Green (11-4) on Sunday at 1 p.m. The matches are free to all fans and those in attendance can also enjoy free pizza from Buffalo Bros., and free popcorn from King Korn. Fans are also able to participate in a prize court during the break between doubles and singles sponsored by Smoothie King and Palm Beach Tan.
During the match on Saturday against Columbia, fans will also be able to participate in the annual TCU men's tennis Easter Egg Hunt that will follow the doubles matches that is sponsored by Putt Putt Golf and Games, Main Event Entertainment and Sweet Sammies Cookies & Ice Cream.
TCU Notables
TCU picked up win No. 11 on Tuesday night as they battled No. 29 Tulsa for over three hours to secure a 4-2 victory. The win marked the 19th straight on the Bernard J. 'Tut' Bartzen Varsity Courts and 10th win this season over a ranked foe.
Four players continue to be ranked in the Oracle/ITA National singles poll with Cameron Norrie holding steady at No. 2, while Alex Rybakov moved up to No. 16. Guillermo Nuñez checks in at No. 48, while Eduardo Nava sits at No. 109. Nuñez has the longest winning streak on the team currently as he has grabbed victory in his last six straight matches for an 9-3 mark in dual matches.
In doubles, Nuñez has also put together a winning streak with partner Alex Rybakov as the duo have won their four of their last five matches and are currently 7-3 on the season. Hudson Blake and Reese Stalder have also strung together victories in three of their last four matches with the duo recording an 8-6 record thus far this season.
Scouting the Lions
Columbia has won six of their last seven matches including a 4-3 victory over No. 44 SMU on Thursday night. The only loss the Lions have suffered in the last few weeks was a 4-2 upset by Michigan on March 12.
Columbia has one singles player ranked along with two doubles pairs. Shawn Hadavi holds the lone singles ranked at No. 64 as the junior is 15-11 on the season with wins over three ranked opponents. Hadavi is also ranked in the doubles poll with partner Richard Pham as the duo check in at No. 10. Michal Rolski and Mike Vermeer round out the ranked players at No. 32 in the doubles poll.
Scouting the Big Green
Dartmouth enters the weekend riding a six match winning streak and will face SMU on Saturday before heading to Fort Worth to face TCU. In the streak, the Big Green have only downed one ranked opponent in No. 45 Minnesota.
Dovydas Sakinis holds the only singles ranked at No. 55 with a 14-9 record on the season including a 7-7 mark in dual match action. Sakinis is also ranked in doubles with partner Roko Glasnovic at No. 59. The pair are 5-1 this season with all matches played on court one.
All-Time Series
TCU and Columbia will be meeting for the eighth time in program history with the Frogs holding the advantage in the overall series record at 4-3. TCU won the first two matches the teams played in 2008 and 2009, but Columbia has won three of the last five including the last match played in 2014. All seven previous matches played took place in Fort Worth.
TCU and Dartmouth are facing off for only the second time in program history after meeting up for the first time just last spring. The Frogs came away with the victory in the inaugural match, 5-2, and this will mark the second straight season that the two teams have faced off in Fort Worth.
Live Results
Live results of the matches can be found at TCU.StatBroadcast.com, with final results and a recap available at GoFrogs.com following the completion of the competitions on each day. In-match updates can also be found by following TCU men's tennis on twitter (@TCUMensTennis).
Players Mentioned
