TCU WIN SETS UP SHOWDOWN WITH NO. 6 BAYLOR

WACO, TEXAS (Janaury 31, 2010) The 38th-ranked TCU men’s tennis team opened its competition at ITA Kick-Off Weekend Sunday with an easy 4-0 win over No. 66 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Baylor Tennis Center. The Frogs persevered through temperatures dipping into the mid-30’s to run their season record to 3-0.

The victory sets up a Monday afternoon showdown between the Frogs and sixth-rated Baylor for the right to become one of 15 teams to advance to play in the ITA National Indoor Championships Feb. 12-15 in Charlottesville, Va. Monday’s match against the Bears has been scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center, weather permitting.

The Frogs, who had their full roster available for the first time this season, began the afternoon by sweeping the doubles point against the Islanders before taking the first three singles decisions to conclude the match.

TCU jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point. Junior Zach
Nichols and sophomore Paul Chappell, playing at the No. 3 position, earned a
quick 8-3 victory over Andrew Maingot and Nathan Robinson before sophomore Slah
Mbarek and freshman Sören Goritzka clinched the team point with an 8-6 decision
against Duje Janjic and Robert Raguz.

The following singles competition flew by just as quickly, with TCU taking
matches at Nos. 3, 5 and 6 singles in straight sets. Junior Christopher Price
put an end to the afternoon, clinching the Frogs’ team victory with a dominating
6-0, 6-0 decision over Maingot at the No. 6 spot. Mbarek, slotted at No. 3
singles against Alex Pavlov, and Nichols, who faced Robinson at the fifth
position, posted respective victories of 6-1, 6-3 and 6-1, 6-2.

Two players, junior Emanuel Brighiu and Goritzka, made their season debuts for
TCU after having sat out last Sunday’s opening matches. Brighiu, slotted in the
No. 2 singles position, and Gortizka, positioned at No. 4, both had their
singles matches go unfinished after the team victory had already been clinched.
Brighiu’s match with Price at No. 1 doubles also went unfinished, as did that of
the Frogs’ top singles player, freshman Marius Cirstea.

TCU improved to 6-1 all-time against the Islanders with Sunday’s win.

“I was really happy with the way our guys competed, because it was so cold out
and the ball was so heavy today,” head coach Dave Borelli said. “It was good to
get (Emanuel) Brighiu and Soren (Goritzka) out there for us, with both battling
through recent injuries.

“I think we are pretty solid right now, but we will be better. It’s tough to
tell on a day like this because conditions were so bad. Our guys are very good
competitors. We are solid 1-through-6 and mentally strong. That’s something
that’s important for a team to have. I think the guys did a great job today.”

Monday’s match with Baylor can be tracked live on the Internet, as real-time
results will be available on-line through BU’s official athletics web site,
BaylorBears.com.


Results
No. 38 TCU 4, No. 66 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Jan. 31, 2010
Baylor, Texas (Baylor Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. E. Brighiu/C. Price (TCU) vs. D. Novikov/J. Langford (TAMU-CC) unfinished
2. S. Goritzka/S. Mbarek (TCU) def. D. Janjic/R. Raguz (TAMU-CC) 8-6
3. Z. Nichols/P. Chappell (TCU) def. A. Maingot/N. Robinson (TAMU-CC) 8-3

Singles
1. Marius Cirstea (TCU) vs. Dmitry Novikov (TAMU-CC) unfinished
2. Emanuel Brighiu (TCU) vs. James Langford (TAMU-CC) unfinished
3. Slah Mbarek (TCU) def. Alex Pavlov (TAMU-CC) 6-1, 6-3
4. Sören Goritzka (TCU) vs. Robert Raguz (TAMU-CC) unfinished
5. Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Nathan Robinson (TAMU-CC) 6-1, 6-2
6. Christopher Price (TCU) def. Andrew Maingot (TAMU-CC) 6-0, 6-0*-clinched team
win

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,5,3)