FROGS UPEND NO. 17 TULSA

TULSA, OKLAHOMA (February 21, 2009) The No. 37 TCU men’s tennis team earned a thrilling 4-3 victory Saturday evening over No. 17 Tulsa at the Hurricane’s Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The win marked the highest-ranked opponent the Horned Frogs have defeated under third-year Head Coach Dave Borelli.

TCU improved to 2-4 on the season with the win, which ended a three-match Frog losing streak. Each of TCU’s matches this season has been against squads listed among the ITA’s national team rankings.

“This is why we are playing this type of schedule,” Borelli said. “We are 2-4 against six great teams. I would much rather be 2-4 against this kind of schedule than be 6-0 against lesser competition. If we want to continue to elevate our program, we are going to have to go toe-to-to with these great teams.”

The team decision came down to a three-set thriller at No. 3 singles between Frog freshman Slah Mbarek and Tulsa’s Alberto Sottocorno. After dropping the first set, Mbarek rallied to win each of the final two sets with 7-5 scores to give the Frogs the team victory.

Mbarek trailed 5-3 in the third set before making a gutsy comeback. He won the next game, then fought off two match points while down 5-4 to even up the match at 5-5. With the match tied up, Mbarek won each of the eight points over the final two games to close out a 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory.

Facing a 3-2 deficit earlier in the evening, TCU gained a huge victory from sophomore Zach Nichols at No. 4 singles to keep the team’s victory hopes alive. Nichols triumphed in a pair of tiebreakers over Wojciech Starakiewicz to earn a two-set win, 7-6, 7-6. He trailed by a 7-6 margin in the final tiebreaker before winning five of the final eight points.

Senior Kriegler Brink notched the Frogs’ first singles win in three sets over Philip Stephens after dropping the first set, 6-4. Brink responded in dominating fashion by taking the next two sets, 6-1, 6-2, to improve his season record in dual matches to 5-1.

Sophomore Emanuel Brighiu fell to the nation’s top-ranked player in Arnau Brughes, but it took Brughes three sets to close out the Frogs’ No. 1 player, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2. The Hurricane also notched wins by Ashley Watling over junior Adrian Simon (6-4, 6-4) at No. 5 singles and Ross Cunningham over Kelubia Mabatah (6-3, 6-1) at No. 6 singles.

TCU jumped on top of the Hurricane early by winning two of three doubles matches to claim a 1-0 advantage. Brighiu and Simon, ranked 32nd in the latest ITA doubles rankings, upended the nation’s No. 5-ranked tandem of Brughes and Stephens, 8-6. Mbarek and Brink also helped seal the doubles point with an 8-2 victory over Cunningham and Starakiewicz.

“Slah was incredible the way he battled, and I was pleased with the way Kriegler was able to come from behind and win,” Borelli said. “Our doubles also played well. I’m just very proud of the way our guys competed.”

TCU faces another highly ranked opponent Sunday, when it travels to Stillwater, Okla., to take on No. 18 Oklahoma State.


Results
No. 37 TCU 4, No. 17 Tulsa 3
Feb. 21, 2009
Tulsa, Okla. (Michael D. Case Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. Emanuel Brighiu/Adrian Simon (TCU) def. Arnau Brughes/Philip Stephens (Tulsa)
– 8-6
2. Slah Mbarek/Kriegler Brink (TCU) def. Ross Cunningham/Wojciech Starakiewicz
(Tulsa) – 8-2
3. Ashley Watling/Alberto Sottocorna (Tulsa) def. Christopher Price/Zach Nichols
(TCU) – 9-8

Singles
1. (1) Arnau Brughes (Tulsa) def. (68) Emanuel Brighiu (TCU) – 6-0, 4-6, 6-2
2. Kriegler Brink (TCU) def. Philip Stephens (Tulsa) – 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
3. Slah Mbarek (TCU) def. Alberto Sottocorno (Tulsa) – 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
4. Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Wojciech Starakiewicz (Tulsa) – 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (11-9)
5. Ashley Watling (Tulsa) def. Adrian Simon (TCU) – 6-4, 6-4
6. Ross Cunningham (Tulsa) def. Kelubia Mabatah (TCU) – 6-3, 6-1