Horned Frogs Honored by Big 12
5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas – TCU men's tennis student-athletes Alex Rybakov, Cameron Norrie, Guillermo Nuñez, Hudson Blake and Reese Stalder along with head coach David Roditi were honored by the Big 12 Conference by being named to the All-Big 12 teams, as announced by the league on Thursday.
For the second straight season, TCU was able to nab two of the main honors as Roditi was named Co-Coach of the Year for the second time while Rybakov becomes the second straight TCU honoree to earn Freshman of the Year. Rybakov, along with Norrie, were named to the All-Big 12 Singles First Team and the All-Big 12 Doubles Second Team. The top Horned Frog doubles duo of Hudson Blake and Reese Stalder earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Doubles First Team, while Nuñez rounded out the honorees with a selection to the All-Big 12 Singles Second Team.
Roditi has led the team back to the top-10 for two straight seasons as they currently sit at No. 4. A former TCU All-American, Roditi has guided his alma mater to back-to-back 20 plus win seasons for the first time since the 2000 and 2001 seasons. After a run to the Final Four for the first time since 2001 last season, Roditi has guided the team as they have strung together 17 straight wins, 28 consecutive victories at home and wins over 22 ranked foes. The team capped off a remarkable 2016 regular season by scoring the most wins in Big 12 action since joining the league in 2012 and clinching a share of the Big 12 regular season title and claiming the Big 12 tournament title for the first time in program history.
Rybakov joined the team in January and has already scored 20 wins in his debut campaign with a perfect 4-0 mark in conference action. The Coral Springs, Fla., native is 18-4 in dual matches and 10-4 against ranked opponents this season. At this point in the season, Rybakov has won eight straight matches and has scored a win in 17 of the team's victories this season. Rybakov entered the Oracle/ITA Singles poll at No. 122 in February and has only gone up from there. After defeating a top-10 opponent, Rybakov made an almost 100 jump in the rankings up to No. 24 and reached as high as No. 15 during the season. The freshman earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Championship that will be played May 25-30 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
In doubles action, Rybakov has paired with fellow top player Norrie and the duo has been a solid win in doubles action in dual matches for TCU this spring. The duo became a pair in March and strung together nine straight victories and helped the Frogs win the doubles point in eight of those matches. Five of the nine wins were by complete domination as Rybakov and Norrie only allowed their opponents to win one service game in the match.
Norrie earns a spot on the All-Big 12 singles team for the second straight season, as the sophomore is 21-7 overall this season with a 15-4 mark in dual matches. Ranked in the top 10 all spring long and currently ranked No. 5, Norrie has gone 16-7 this season against ranked opponents with a 12-4 mark at the top position. The 2015 ITA Singles All-American has won nine of his last 11 matches and earned a No. 6 seed for the upcoming NCAA Singles Championship which automatically makes an All-America honoree for the second straight season.
The top doubles pair and No. 65 ranked duo of Blake and Stalder have been a dominating presence for TCU. The pair have racked up 15 wins this season with 13 of them coming in dual matches. The duo also went a perfect 4-0 in in conference action and scored wins over four ranked opponents. Blake and Stalder have picked up wins in five of their last seven matches with three of those wins coming over ranked opponents.
Nuñez earned the final honors of the day with the sophomore also being named to an All-Big 12 Singles team for the second straight season. With 21 wins this season, Nuñez has posted a 13-7 record in dual matches with 10 of the win coming at the No. 3 position. The No. 86 ranked player in singles, Nuñez has scored wins over eight ranked opponents this season and won two Big 12 matches.
TCU is the No. 4 seed in the upcoming 2016 NCAA Division I Team Championship and will host the first and second round matches at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth from May 13-14. The Frogs will face Jackson State in the opening round on Friday at 1 p.m., while Rice and LSU will also be on hand for a first round match at 10 a.m. The winners of the two matches will face off in the second round on Saturday at 1 p.m.
All-Big 12 Honors
Coach of the Year: Brett Masi (Texas Tech) & David Roditi (TCU)
Freshman of the Year: Alex Rybakov (TCU)
Newcomer of the Year: Julian Cash (Oklahoma State)
Player of the Year: Julian Lenz (Baylor)
First Team
Singles
Julian Lenz, Baylor, Sr.
Cameron Norrie, TCU, So.
Alex Rybakov, TCU, Fr.
Axel Alvarez, Oklahoma, Sr.
Felipe Soares, Texas Tech, Sr.
Andrew Harris, Oklahoma, Jr.
Doubles
Hudson Blake, Jr. & Reese Stalder, Fr. (TCU)
Arjun Kadhe, Jr. & Julian Cash, So. (Oklahoma State)
Andrew Harris, Jr. & Axel Alvarez, Sr. (Oklahoma)
Second Team
Singles
Alex Sendegeya, Texas Tech, So.
Lucas Gerch, Oklahoma State, Jr.
Max Tchoutakian, Baylor, Jr.
Alex Ghilea, Oklahoma, Jr.
Jolan Cailleau, Texas Tech, Jr.
Guillermo Nuñez, TCU, So.
Doubles
Alex Rybakov, Fr. & Cameron Norrie, So. (TCU)
Lucas Gerch, Jr. & Jurence Mendoza, So. (Oklahoma State)
Hugo Dojas, Sr. & Felipe Soares, Sr. (Texas Tech)
Players Mentioned
