April 16, 2006
SALT LAKE CITY - The 33rd-ranked TCU men's tennis team stumbled against 59th-ranked San Diego State by a score of 4-3 on Sunday to close out the 2006 regular season. In its inaugural campaign as a member of the Mountain West Conference, the men's tennis squad finished in second place in the regular-season standings with a record of 5-1.
San Diego State, the defending MWC champion, used victories in two of the three doubles matches to grab a 1-0 lead. TCU's tandem of senior Jacopo Tezza and freshman Kriegler Brink prevented the Aztecs' sweep with an 8-6 decision at No. 2 over Anthony Gomez and Stephan Timu.
SDSU's Benedikt Stronk stretched his team's lead with a 6-2, 6-1 win versus TCU sophomore Cosmin Cotet at No. 3. Gomez brought the defending champions within a point of the victory with a 6-4, 6-3 tally over Freitas at No. 5.
40th-ranked Andrei Mlendea cut into the Aztecs' lead and put the Frogs on the scoreboard with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph at No. 2 over Dickhardt. For Mlendea, it is his fourth win in as many matches and he concluded conference play with a perfect 5-0 mark.
Barbu brought TCU within one point of San Diego State with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 6 over Robert Sabo.
Tezza won the sixth contest of his last season and knotted the match at 3-3 with a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory at No. 3 over Timu.
The match came down to the action on court No. 1. Groh was able to slip past 96th-ranked Abreu 7-6(2), 6-3 to clinch for the Aztecs.
With the loss, TCU fell to 14-9 overall and 5-1 in Mountain West Conference play. The Frogs head to San Diego, Calif., on April 26 to compete in the MWC Tournament. Opponents and times will be announced later in the week.
No. 59 SDSU def. No. 33 TCU, 4-3
Singles
1. Christian Groh (SDSU) def. Rafael Abreu (TCU); 7-6(2), 6-3
2. Adrea Mlendea (TCU) def. Markus Dickhardt (SDSU); 6-1, 6-3
3. Benedikt Stronk (SDSU) def. Cosmin Cotet (TCU); 6-2, 6-1
4. Jacopo Tezza (TCU) def. Stephan Timu (SDSU); 7-6(4), 6-2
5. Anthony Gomez (SDSU) def. Jordan Freitas (TCU); 6-4, 6-3
6. Radu Barbu (TCU) def. Robert Sabo (SDSU); 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 5, 2, 6, 4, 1
Doubles
1. Benedikt Stronk/ Markus Dickhardt (SDSU) def. Rafael Abreu/ Jordan Freitas (TCU); 8-4
2. Kriegler Brink/ Jacopo Tezza (TCU) def. Stephan Timu/ Anthony Gomez (SDSU); 8-6
3. Christian Groh/ Rober Sabo (SDSU) def. Cosmin Cotet/ Radu Barbu (TCU); 8-4
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
