TCU Storms Past Wichita State Monday, 5-2
TULSA, Okla. – The No. 47 TCU men’s tennis team cruised to a 5-2 victory against Wichita State at the Case Tennis Center Monday.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” TCU head coach David Roditi said. “We showed a lot of character today. This could have been a possible trap match for us. After playing three top-ranked teams this week, we had to show up to play an unranked team in tough conditions on the road. It was our fourth match in six days and I thought we handled it well.”
“We didn’t know if we were playing indoors or outdoors until 45 minutes before first serve,” Roditi added. “We still don’t have our full lineup out there and in a time when we could have been thinking about our excuses, we jumped on them from the beginning and never looked back.”
TCU stayed consistent with the rest of the season, garnering the doubles point for the seventh time through the first nine matches. The Horned Frogs’ top tandem of seniors Emanuel Brighiu and Christopher Price picked up the initial win, dismantling WSU’s team of Vlad Marinescu and Valentin Mihai by the score of 8-0. Zach Nichols and Daniel Sanchez clinched the 1-0 advantage for the Purple and White with an 8-5 win over Guillermo Nicol and Patrick Stiebinger.
“Our doubles lineup continues to put us in a position to win,” Roditi said. “It is impressive anytime you can win 8-0 at the No. 1 doubles spot.”
The Frogs continued to put the pressure on in the singles action, starting with a straight-set win from Brighiu against Marinescu from the top court. Nichols pushed the TCU lead to 3-0, posting a an impressive 6-1, 6-2 victory over Stiebinger.
Junior Slah Mbarek had the chance to seal the team win for the Frogs from the second court. The Tunis, Tunisia, native accepted the challenge sent TCU into the winner’s circle with a straight-set win over the Shockers’ Matheus Pariera, 6-1, 6-2.
After the Frogs clinched the match, WSU would rattle off a pair of victories at the bottom of the lineup. Price would end the evening with a 6-4, 6-4 win over David Cavalcanti.
TCU return to action on the road at Texas Tech on March 6.
