Wednesday, March 20
Fort Worth, Texas
6:30 PM
TCU
4
vs
1
#12 Columbia
TCU Fights Past Columbia
3/20/2019 11:08:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Horned Frogs were in for a battle as the team came out on top on Wednesday, 4-1.
FORT WORTH, Texas – A top-15 battle ensued on Wednesday night and the No. 10 TCU men's tennis team came out of the fight on top as they Horned Frogs picked up the 4-1 victory over No. 12 Columbia at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center for the team's eighth straight win and seventh over a ranked opponent.
TCU (13-3) jumped out to early leads on two of the doubles courts against the Lions (9-2) with the No. 6 pair of Bertus Kruger and Reese Stalder holding on for 6-3 victory on court two for the duo's seventh straight victory. The Frog pair of Luc Fomba and Sander Jong were up 5-2, but Columbia battled back by winning five straight games to steal the match, 7-5, on court three to even up the fight for the doubles point.
Alastair Gray and Alex Rybakov found themselves down a break on the top court, but broke back to send the doubles point decision into a tiebreaker. The teams stayed on serve until Columbia's return went into the net for a minibreak for the Frogs and then Gray served out a winner to give TCU the 7-5 victory and the doubles point.
TCU took the momentum into singles as the Frogs took all six first sets with No. 7 Rybakov getting his ninth victory over a ranked opponent as he topped No. 16 Jack Lin, 6-1, 6-2, on court one. Columbia did not back down from the challenge and took the second sets on all five remaining courts to push the match decision into the third sets. It was the upperclassmen that got it done for TCU as senior Stalder took out No. 91 Adam Ambrozy on court three, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to give the Frogs the 3-1 lead. No. 25 Gray clinched the overall match victory with the junior using a late break to get the 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win on court two over No. 41 Victor Pham.
Quotes from the Match
Head Coach David Roditi
"That was a battle just as we all expected. Any time you beat a team like Columbia in a battle then it means we did a lot of good things and we competed well. The beauty is that we can play better in several spots. We are giving too many points away still especially in critical moments. We need to clean that up. I am proud of our men for finding ways to win and for their fight. They love playing in front of the fans and they take a lot of pride playing here and that helped a lot today. We really appreciate our fans coming out and the next five matches at home will have the tailgate trailer and it's going to be an amazing atmosphere. I hope all of Fort Worth takes advantage of it.
"We play Columbia every year and their coach Bid (Goswami) is a legend. This is his last time here as he is retiring and we want to wish him the best and thank him for always being willing to battle it out."
Match Results
Columbia vs TCU
Mar 20, 2019 at Fort Worth, Texas
(Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
#10 TCU 4, #12 Columbia 1
Singles competition
1. #7 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #16 Jack Lin (CU) 6-1, 6-2
2. #25 Alastair Gray (TCU) def. #41 Victor Pham (CU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. Reese Stalder (TCU) def. #91 Adam Ambrozy (CU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
4. #115 Bertus Kruger (TCU) vs. Rian Pandole (CU) 6-2, 5-7, 5-0, unfinished
5. Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. Timothy Wang (CU) 6-3, 4-6, 1-5, unfinished
6. Austen Huang (CU) def. Sander Jong (TCU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Alastair Gray/Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #12 Jack Lin/William Matheson (CU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. #6 Reese Stalder/Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Adam Ambrozy/Austen Huang (CU) 6-3
3. Victor Pham/Rian Pandole (CU) def. Luc Fomba/Sander Jong (TCU) 7-5
Match Notes:
Columbia 9-2; National ranking #12
TCU 13-3; National ranking #10
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,6,3,2)
T-3:03 A-537
Up Next
TCU will next welcome Arizona State on Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m., to the Bernard J. 'Tut' Bartzen Varsity Courts.
TCU (13-3) jumped out to early leads on two of the doubles courts against the Lions (9-2) with the No. 6 pair of Bertus Kruger and Reese Stalder holding on for 6-3 victory on court two for the duo's seventh straight victory. The Frog pair of Luc Fomba and Sander Jong were up 5-2, but Columbia battled back by winning five straight games to steal the match, 7-5, on court three to even up the fight for the doubles point.
Alastair Gray and Alex Rybakov found themselves down a break on the top court, but broke back to send the doubles point decision into a tiebreaker. The teams stayed on serve until Columbia's return went into the net for a minibreak for the Frogs and then Gray served out a winner to give TCU the 7-5 victory and the doubles point.
TCU took the momentum into singles as the Frogs took all six first sets with No. 7 Rybakov getting his ninth victory over a ranked opponent as he topped No. 16 Jack Lin, 6-1, 6-2, on court one. Columbia did not back down from the challenge and took the second sets on all five remaining courts to push the match decision into the third sets. It was the upperclassmen that got it done for TCU as senior Stalder took out No. 91 Adam Ambrozy on court three, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to give the Frogs the 3-1 lead. No. 25 Gray clinched the overall match victory with the junior using a late break to get the 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win on court two over No. 41 Victor Pham.
Quotes from the Match
Head Coach David Roditi
"That was a battle just as we all expected. Any time you beat a team like Columbia in a battle then it means we did a lot of good things and we competed well. The beauty is that we can play better in several spots. We are giving too many points away still especially in critical moments. We need to clean that up. I am proud of our men for finding ways to win and for their fight. They love playing in front of the fans and they take a lot of pride playing here and that helped a lot today. We really appreciate our fans coming out and the next five matches at home will have the tailgate trailer and it's going to be an amazing atmosphere. I hope all of Fort Worth takes advantage of it.
"We play Columbia every year and their coach Bid (Goswami) is a legend. This is his last time here as he is retiring and we want to wish him the best and thank him for always being willing to battle it out."
Match Results
Columbia vs TCU
Mar 20, 2019 at Fort Worth, Texas
(Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
#10 TCU 4, #12 Columbia 1
Singles competition
1. #7 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #16 Jack Lin (CU) 6-1, 6-2
2. #25 Alastair Gray (TCU) def. #41 Victor Pham (CU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. Reese Stalder (TCU) def. #91 Adam Ambrozy (CU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
4. #115 Bertus Kruger (TCU) vs. Rian Pandole (CU) 6-2, 5-7, 5-0, unfinished
5. Luc Fomba (TCU) vs. Timothy Wang (CU) 6-3, 4-6, 1-5, unfinished
6. Austen Huang (CU) def. Sander Jong (TCU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Alastair Gray/Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #12 Jack Lin/William Matheson (CU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. #6 Reese Stalder/Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Adam Ambrozy/Austen Huang (CU) 6-3
3. Victor Pham/Rian Pandole (CU) def. Luc Fomba/Sander Jong (TCU) 7-5
Match Notes:
Columbia 9-2; National ranking #12
TCU 13-3; National ranking #10
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,6,3,2)
T-3:03 A-537
Up Next
TCU will next welcome Arizona State on Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m., to the Bernard J. 'Tut' Bartzen Varsity Courts.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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