March 22, 2006
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Sophomore Andrei Mlendea defeated his second straight Top 10 opponent as the No. 32 TCU men's tennis team downed No. 22 Texas A&M Wednesday night at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
TCU swept the doubles competition to claim a 1-0 match advantage. Sophomore Cosmin Cotet and Mlendea defeated No. 74 Matt Bain and Jerry Makowski 8-6 at court No. 2.
Seniors Rafael Abreu and Jordan Freitas, ranked No. 33 in the current ITA polls for doubles play, upended No. 64 Brett Joelson and Bryan Wooten 8-4 at No. 1 to capture the doubles point for the Frogs.
Freshman Kriegler Brink and senior Jacopo Tezza completed the sweep with a 9-8(4) win over A&M's Connor Pollock and Marcus Lunt.
Texas A&M evened the match tally at 1-1 when Joelson defeated TCU's Radu Barbu 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5. The Aggies claimed their first lead following Pollock's 6-4, 6-2 victory over Cotet at No. 3.
Tezza brought the match to its second tie of the evening with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 triumph over John Nallon at No. 4.
No. 64 Mlendea moved the Frogs within one point of the match victory by taking down No. 8 Makowski. Hailing from Oradea, Romania, Mlendea made his way into the ITA singles polls after taking down Baylor's No. 4 Lar Poerschke on March 7.
Freitas clinched the match for the Purple and White with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 5 over Matt Bain.
With the win, TCU improved to 7-4 on the season. The team returns to action on Saturday when it hosts No. 2 Pepperdine. Match time is scheduled for 6 p.m.
No. 32 TCU def. No. 22 Texas A&M, 4-3
Singles
1. No. 64 Andrei Mlendea (TCU) def. No. 8 Jerry Makowski (TAMU) 6-3, 7-6(4)
2. Bryan Wooten (TAMU) def. No. 70 Rafael Abreu (TCU) 0-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. Connor Pollock (TAMU) def. Cosmin Cotet (TCU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Jacopo Tezza (TCU) def. John Nallon (TAMU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Brett Joelson (TAMU) def. Radu Barbu (TCU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Jordan Freitas (TCU) def. Matt Bain (TAMU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 4, 1, 2, 6
Doubles
1. No. 33 Abreu/Freitas (TCU) def. No. 64 Joelson/Wooten (TAMU) 8-4
2. Cotet/Mlendea (TCU) def. No. 74 Bain/Makowski (TAMU) 8-6
3. Brink/Tezza (TCU) def. Pollock/Lunt (TAMU) 9-8(4)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
