NCAA Preview: Illinois
5/17/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
(20-4)
(23-7)
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TwitterMay 17, 2018
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The postseason for the No. 8 TCU men's tennis team will continue with a third-round matchup against No. 9 Illinois at the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship on Friday, May 18 at 3 p.m., CT at the Leighton Family Courts inside the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston, Salem, N.C.
The Horned Frogs (20-4) will be facing the Illini (23-7), for the second time this season and the second straight year in the Round of 16, on the Lower Courts in the facility. Should rain move the match indoors, TCU and Illinois will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to play at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on the campus of UNC at 4 p.m., CT.
TCU Quick Hits
-TCU enters postseason as the three-time reigning Big 12 regular season champions and winners of five of the last six league trophies handed out between the regular season and the conference tournament
-The 20 wins posted by TCU under eighth year head coach David Roditi marked the fourth straight season with 20+ wins
-12 of the 20 wins this spring were over ranked foes
-The Horned Frogs defeated nine opponents ranked within the Oracle/ITA top 25, five within the top 15 and two within the top 10
-TCU has won 14 of its last 15 matches played and put together a 12-match winning streak to end the regular season
-The Frogs went 5-0 in Big 12 play for the second straight season and became only the second program in league history to accomplish the feat in back-to-back seasons
-After starting the season 3-2 with a loss to an unranked opponent in San Diego and falling out of the top 25 in the Oracle/ITA rankings, TCU went on a tear to win 17 of the last 19 matches during the season and reached a season-high ranking of No. 6
-The Frogs started the season ranked No. 10 and remained there the entire month of January before returning to the top 10 the first week of April
-Four student-athletes are riding winning streaks in singles action: Stalder (9), Rybakov (3), Nuñez (2) and Johnson (1)
-TCU has four ranked singles players (No. 21 Alex Rybakov, No. 61 Alastair Gray, No. 65 Trevor Johnson and No. 114 Guillermo Nuñez)
-In doubles action, the Frogs have two ranked doubles pairs (No. 6 Guillermo Nuñez/Alex Rybakov and No. 70 Alastair Gray/Alex Rybakov)
-TCU has won the doubles point 21 times this season including the last 15 straight matches. The Frogs last dropped the doubles point on March 2 at Illinois.
-Rybakov and Nuñez are set to appear in the NCAA Individual Championships that will take place from May 23-28. Already an ITA Singles All-American, Rybakov became an ITA Doubles All-American with Nuñez by virtue of having a top-8 seed in the championship
-Rybakov earned an at-large bid and will be competing in the singles championship for the third straight season, while Johnson earned a spot on the alternate list
NCAA History
-TCU is making its 29th appearance in the NCAA Championship
-This is the fifth appearance in the last six seasons and the fifth appearance under the helm of David Roditi
-The Frogs advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season and for the 17th time in program history
-TCU is one of seven schools to make an appearance in the Sweet 16 for the last four straight seasons (TCU, Texas, Wake Forest, UCLA, UNC, USC and Ohio State)
-The senior class of Guillermo Nuñez and Trevor Johnson are the third in TCU program history to make four straight Sweet 16 appearances. The other two senior classes were led by TCU alumni and assistant coach Devin Bowen (1994) and head coach David Roditi (1996)
-The best finish for TCU in the NCAA Championship was a Final Four appearance on four occasions - 1989, 1996, 2001 and 2015
-TCU will be playing in Winston-Salem and the state of North Carolina for the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history
Live Video & Results
Live video and scoring of the matches can be found at WakeForestSports.com. Final results and a recap will be available at GoFrogs.com following the completion of the competitions. In-match updates can also be found by following TCU men's tennis on twitter (@TCUMensTennis).
Players Mentioned
