Horned Frogs Win Fifth Straight

Wednesday, March 13

Knoxville, Tenn.

10:30 AM

TCU

#22 Tennessee

Horned Frogs Win Fifth Straight

3/13/2019 3:22:00 PM | Men's Tennis

TCU 4, Tennessee 0 (PDF)

TCU battled its way to a 4-0 victory on the road over No. 22 Tennessee.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A road battle for the No. 12 TCU men's tennis team resulted in a 4-0 victory over No. 22 Tennessee on Wednesday morning at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tenn.

It was a battle for points from the very beginning of the match as the Horned Frogs (10-3) and the Volunteers (10-4) went back-and-forth in doubles action. Late breaks on the top two courts proved to be the difference as the No. 56 pair of Alastair Gray and Alex Rybakov finished first with a 6-4 win on court two. No. 18 Bertus Kruger and Reese Stalder finished it off at the top position with an identical 6-4 victory as the duo won their fifth straight match and improved to 4-0 over ranked opponents by downing the No. 36 ranked duo of Timo Stodder and Preston Touliatos.

Tennessee did not back down and rose to the challenge in singles action as they captured the first set on four of the six courts. TCU continued to battle and was able to take the second sets to force decisive third sets. The bottom of the lineup got it done for the Frogs as No. 86 Kruger was the only court to finish in straight sets as the sophomore put point No. 2 on the board with a 6-3, 7-5 win on court four. Luc Fomba used a late break in the third set on court five to get his own victory as the freshman took out Martim Prata, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5, for his third straight win. Fellow freshman Sander Jong clinched it for TCU on court six as the Amsterdam native came back from dropping the opener to win it, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Quotes from the Match
Head Coach David Roditi
"What a road win for the boys. This match was the furthest from a 4-0 win. If our team hadn't been ready for a dog fight, then it would have been 4-0 the other way. During the whole doubles time, we were either down or even. We were mostly down and our boys hung in there and they were clutch with late breaks to get that critical road doubles point. Then in singles, we got off to great starts on several courts and I felt their coaches did an incredible job of helping them come back. We had huge wins at bottom of lineup again. I love the fact that with this team, we have always been able to find four points from different positions. The level of play at the No. 1 position was very high in my opinion and getting the second sets on courts one and two to extend the matches was huge moral lift for our squad. I'm very proud of the way our Frogs fought and competed today. I also want to thank the Frogs that flew here to cheer us on because that is always awesome."

Match Results
TCU vs Tennessee
Mar 13, 2019 at Knoxville, Tenn.
(Goodfriend Tennis Center)
#12 TCU 4, #22 Tennessee 0

Singles competition
1. #59 Timo Stodder (UT) vs. #7 Alex Rybakov (TCU) 6-3, 5-7, 3-0, unfinished
2. #93 Adam Walton (UT) vs. #26 Alastair Gray (TCU) 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 1-2, unfinished
3. Scott Jones (UT) vs. #115 Reese Stalder (TCU) 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 4-2, unfinished
4. #86 Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Luca Wiedenmann (UT) 6-3, 7-5
5. Luc Fomba (TCU) def. Martim Prata (UT) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
6. Sander Jong (TCU) def. Pat Harper (UT) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. #18 Reese Stalder/Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. #36 Timo Stodder/Preston Touliatos (UT) 6-4
2. #56 Alex Rybakov/Alastair Gray (TCU) def. Scott Jones/Pat Harper (UT) 6-4
3. Adam Walton/Martim Prata (UT) vs. Eduardo Roldan/Juan Martin (TCU) 5-4, unfinished

Match Notes:
TCU 10-3; National ranking #12
Tennessee 10-4; National ranking #22
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (4,5,6)

Up Next
TCU will return home for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 16 as the Frogs host Pepperdine at 11 a.m., before taking on LMU at 3:30 p.m., at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.