Thursday, February 7, 2008

TCU men’s tennis sweeps UT Arlington, Abilene Christian

By Pegasus News wire

TCU's take

The No. 62 TCU men's tennis team pushed their record to 5-0 this season with two shutout victories against UT-Arlington and Abilene Christian on Monday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

"I thought the kids competed really well today," said TCU head coach Dave Borelli. "It was really good to get to play both outdoors and indoors. I'm really excited about the upcoming week, and we have to keep getting better and better."

The Horned Frogs opened with a 7-0 shutout over UTA in the first half of the doubleheader.

The doubles team of Zach Nichols and Jack Seider remained undefeated on the season with an 8-1 rout of Dmitry Minkin and Gonzalo Bienzobas at the No. 3 spot. The 44th-ranked duo of Kriegler Brink and Cosmin Cotet also remained unbeaten, clinching the doubles point with an 8-3 victory over David Costa and Hugo Taracido. The Horned Frog duo of Caleb Bulls and Jack Seider completed the doubles sweep with a dominating 8-3 victory over Brieuc Hamon and Nishant Hari.

Seider cruised in singles play, defeating Hari at the No. 6 position by a score of 6-0, 6-1. Brink put the Frogs up 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Hamon at the No. 4 spot.

Nichols, ranked No. 94 nationally, clinched the match for TCU when Taracido was forced to retire due to injury. Nichols was up on his UTA opponent by a score of 6-1, 4-1 when the match was called.

No. 27 Cotet cruised along at the top singles position, posting a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Costa, followed by freshman Casey Powers, who knocked off Bienzobas at the No. 5 position by a score of 6-4, 6-1. Simon, ranked No. 54 in the nation, completed the sweep with a 1-6, 6-1, 10-7 win over Minkin.

The men won their fifth consecutive match of the season on the indoor courts with a 6-0 decision over Abilene Christian.

All three TCU doubles teams posted 8-6 victories over their Wildcat opponents. The Frogs switched the teams up, as Cotet and Simon paired up at the No. 1 position and Brink and Powers teamed at No. 3.

Seider jumped out to the first singles victory again with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Brian Joiner, while Cotet followed with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Ryan Hudson.

Brink clinched the match for TCU, defeating Luke Hawk by a score of 6-1, 6-3. Nichols triumphed over Joey Farias at the No. 4 position by a score of 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, while Simon closed the match out with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 defeat of Juan Nunez.

TCU will return to action on Monday, hosting Dallas Baptist and No. 42 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

UTA's take

UT Arlington men's tennis fell 7-0 to No. 63 TCU Wednesday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The Mavs fall to 1-4 on the season.

Sophomore Dmitry Minkin had the best opportunity to score for the Mavs as the No. 2 single. Minkin won his first set 6-1, but No. 54 ranked Adrian Simon came back to take the point 6-1, 10-7.

UTA will have a week off to refocus, as its next action will be in its first doubleheader of the season on Thur., Feb. 14. The Mavs will play host to Centenary College at 10 a.m. and then face-off with Cameron at 3 p.m. at the UTA Tennis Center.

Sources: TCU and UTA

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