May 7, 2009

NCAA REGIONAL SITE (WATCH LIVE!!!)

FORT WORTH—The TCU men’s tennis team will make its 23rd NCAA Championships appearance this weekend when it matches up with host Tulsa in the opening round of NCAA Regional play Friday at 4 p.m. at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

The winner of Friday’s match will play the winner of Baylor-UMKC on Saturday at 4 p.m. The regional champion will then advance to compete in the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships held May 15-19 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas.

No. 38 TCU’s (12-11) opening-round meeting with 30th-rated Tulsa (21-9) will be the second this season between the Frogs and Golden Hurricane. TCU earned one of its biggest wins of the season in the first matchup back on Feb. 21, as the victory over the then 17th-ranked Hurricane marked the highest-rated opponent defeated in the Frogs’ three seasons under Head Coach Dave Borelli.

Live results from this weekend’s regional will be provided on Tulsa’s official athletics web site, TulsaHurricane.com.

PROBABLE TCU LINEUP
Singles
1. Slah Mbarek – 11-10 overall; 11-10 spring; 5-6 at No. 1 spot; 2-3 vs. nationally ranked
**Mbarek, ranked No. 83 nationally, has played top singles in 11 of his last 12 matches as a true freshman.

2. Emanuel Brighiu – 15-13 overall; 8-10 spring; 3-3 at No. 2 spot; 2-6 vs. nationally ranked
**Brighiu, ranked No. 114 nationally, began spring at top singles but dropped to No. 2 after dealing with a nagging elbow injury.

3. Kriegler Brink – 24-9 overall; 18-5 spring; 11-1 at No. 3 spot; 2-3 vs. nationally ranked
**Brink, ranked No. 78 nationally, leads TCU in wins overall, spring victories and winning percentage.

4. Zach Nichols – 24-14 overall; 12-8 spring; 10-3 at No. 4 spot; 0-2 vs. nationally ranked
**Nichols enters the weekend having won five straight singles matches.

5. Christopher Price – 12-10 overall; 10-8 spring; 10-2 at No. 5 spot; 0-1 vs. nationally ranked
**Price enters the weekend having won a team-best six straight singles matches.

6. Casey Powers – 7-10 overall; 7-8 spring; 6-7 at No. 6 spot
**TCU is 8-5 with Powers playing at No. 6 singles this spring.

Doubles
1. Brink/Mbarek – 15-2 overall; 15-2 spring; 9-1 at No. 1 spot; 3-1 vs. nationally ranked
**Ranked No. 39 nationally, the tandem leads TCU this spring in wins, winning percentage and is a team-best 3-1 vs. ranked opponents.

2. Brighiu/Simon – 19-11 overall; 10-8 spring; 6-4 at No. 2 spot; 3-3 vs. nationally ranked
**Ranked No. 31 nationally, Brighiu/Simon is TCU’s lone selection for the NCAA doubles field.

3. Nichols/Price – 7-6 overall; 7-6 spring; 6-6 at No. 3 spot; 2-0 vs. nationally ranked
**Has lost four of last six matches after winning four of the first six to open the spring.

SCOUTING THE TULSA GOLDEN HURRICANE
Tulsa enters the weekend with a 21-9 record and earned the No. 30 position in the latest release of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national team rankings. The squad, which reached a high national rating of No. 12 earlier this season, won its fourth consecutive Conference USA championship last month with a 4-1 victory over Rice.

Much like TCU, the Hurricane played a difficult schedule this season, having faced 17 ranked opponents, with victories in seven of those matches. In addition to having played each other once, the teams share seven common opponents: Texas, UT Arlington, SMU, San Diego, Texas A&M, Rice and Oklahoma State. The Frogs posted a 3-4 record against the group, with Tulsa going 4-3.

Senior Arnau Brugues, the nation’s top-ranked singles player, leads the Hurricane with a 40-3 record and has won 24 consecutive matches, each match of spring play. Brugues has finished each of the last three seasons with All-America honors. Also ranked nationally in singles for Tulsa is junior Philip Stephens (No. 99; 17-11 singles record).

Tulsa also boasts a pair of nationally ranked doubles teams in third-ranked Arnau Brugues
and Philip Stephens who are 17-7 on the season, and 86th-ranked James Seagraves and
Alberto Sottocorno who own a 4-3 record. Four Hurricane doubles tandems are listed in the ITA ratings: Brugues/Stephens (No. 11), Stephens/Viktor Kolik (No. 69), James Seagraves/Alberto Sottocorno (No. 79) and Stephens/Ross Cunningham (No. 83). Cunningham is out for the season after suffering a late-season injury.

TCU AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
TCU owns a long and prestigious history at the NCAA Championships. The squad has made 22 previous appearances while racking up the following highlights:

*TCU has made 22 appearances in 33 years since its first appearance in 1977, including 18 in the last 19 years.

*The team has advanced past the first round in 17 of 22 opportunities, including 11 straight years between 1991 and 2001.

*TCU has advanced to NCAA Quarterfinal play or further seven times, including four times in the semifinals. The Frogs’ last semifinal appearance came in 2001.

*In individual NCAA play, TCU has had at least one individual selection to the national field in 30 of the last 34 years. The Frog doubles team of Emanuel Brighiu/Adrian Simon will compete this season in the national tournament.

LAST MEETING: TCU 4, TULSA 3 (FEB. 21, 2009)
TCU earned a thrilling 4-3 victory over No. 17 Tulsa Feb. 21 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.

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, and 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.

FROGS WIN MWC REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP
TCU earned its second straight Mountain West Conference regular season championship with a 5-1 record during league play. No other conference team finished with better than a 4-2.

The Frogs’ lone setback came during a 5-2 loss to Utah on the Utes’ home courts. In fact, each of TCU’s MWC matches was held away from Fort Worth. The same was true a year ago, when the squad shared the league’s regular-season crown with New Mexico and Utah.

While the Frogs were able to defeat New Mexico during the regular season, the Lobos avenged their earlier loss with a 4-3 win two weeks ago during the final match of the MWC Championship. UNM earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship with the victory.

DOUBLES FUELING FROGS IN 2009
One of the advantages TCU used to its advantage on the way to earning a bid to the NCAA Championship was exceptional doubles play. The Frogs took the doubles point in 14 of 21 opportunities this season.

Two of the team’s doubles tandems rank among the nation’s top-39 duos: No. 31 Emanuel Brighiu/Adrian Simon and No. 39 Kriegler Brink/Slah Mbarek.

TCU EARNS FIVE ALL-MWC SELECTIONS
TCU received five selections on the All-Mountain West Conference Men's Tennis Team, the league announced at its annual awards banquet. The five selections were two more than those received by any other conference squad.

In addition to setting a high-water mark for the MWC this season, TCU also notched a program-best in its four seasons as a member of the league. Frogs previously earned four All-MWC honors in 2008 and three each in 2007 and 2006.

Three Frogs earned spots on the All-MWC Singles Team: Kriegler Brink, Emanuel Brighiu and Slah Mbarek. The tandems of Brink and Mbarek and Brighiu and Adrian Simon were named to the All-MWC Doubles Team.