The featured match of the day took place in Tampa as No. 3 TCU rolled into town to face No. 17 South Florida. South Florida got the win at No. 1 doubles but TCU came back and won at No. 2 and No. 3 with Hudson Blake and Reese Stalder clinching the point 7-6(1) at No. 2.
Each team picked up three first sets in singles but South Florida struck first when Justin Roberts closed out Eduardo Nava 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4. TCU freshman Alex Rybakov put the Horned Frogs back ahead 2-1 when he ran through Dominic Cotrone 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 and a short while later Jerry Lopez would make it 3-1 with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Peter Bertran at No. 5.
Guillermo Nunez clinched TCU’s win over Illinois last Sunday and he’d clinch again today with a 7-6(6), 7-5 win over Sasha Gozun at No. 4. Nunez trailed 4-1 in the second set before winning six of the last seven games to close it out.
They played both of the remaining matches out and in a battle of top five players it was South Florida’s Roberto Cid knocking off TCU’s Cameron Norrie 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. TCU’s Trevor Johnson also picked up a win at No. 6 defeating Sebastien Butler 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Johnson trailed 3-1 in the third before rallying.
#3 TCU 5, #17 South Florida 2
March 5, 2016 at Tampa, Florida (USF Varsity Courts)
Doubles Competition
1. #40 Dominic Cotrone/Justin Roberts (USF) def. Cameron Norrie/Trevor Johnson (TCU) 6-4
2. Hudson Blake/Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Sasha Gozun/Robert Cid (USF) 7-6(1)
3. Alex Rybakov/Guillermo Nunez (TCU) def. Peter Bertran/Everth Dzib (USF) 6-3
Singles Competition
1. #5 Roberto Cid (USF 14.39) def. #2 Cameron Norrie (TCU 14.67) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
2. #24 Alex Rybakov (TCU 14.51) def. #35 Dominic Cotrone (USF 14.34) 6-3, 6-2
3. #49 Guillermo Nunez (TCU 13.98) def. Sasha Gozun (USF 13.46) 7-6(6), 7-5
4. Justin Roberts (USF 13.16) def. Eduardo Nava (TCU 13.95) 6-2, 6-2
5. Jerry Lopez (TCU 13.61) def. Peter Bertran (USF 13.30) 6-4, 7-5
6. Trevor Johnson (TCU 13.72) def. Sebastien Butler (USF 11.96) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Match Notes
TCU 9-2; National Ranking #3
South Florida 7-5; National Ranking #17
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,2,5,3,6,1)
T-3:00 A-187
Post-Match Quotes from TCU’s recap:
Head Coach David Roditi –
“Today was a great road win for the guys. This was completely different conditions than last weekend and against a very good, well coached top tennis program. Due to I being busy all week having a baby, assistant coach Devin Bowen has done a tremendous job getting the squad ready to battle. He and Facundo Lugones have been doing all the work.
“The doubles point on the road is great to get and we had our bottom two teams step up huge and win it. USF does not lose the point very often and they did have a guy hurt that I think would have made a big impact in their doubles lineup. Alex Rybakov and Jerry Lopez did a good job of getting quick singles points that put them in a tough situation where we just needed one more win. It was nice to get two more with Guillermo Nuez clinching and Trevor Johnson pulling it out 7-5 in the third set. It is great to see different players stepping up for our squad and now they hit the road to Orlando to play UCF tomorrow. Thanks to our loyal tennis letterman who came to watch and our academic advisor Rosie Tarnowski for doing babysitting duties. It sure was a team effort today.
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It was a good weekend for Princeton against the Big Ten as the Tigers took out #24 Penn State earlier today 6-1. Princeton was coming off a 6-1 over Indiana yesterday and had the quick turnaround this morning with the early start time but if they were tied you sure couldn’t tell from the scorelines.
Penn State took the doubles point by winning at No. 2 in a tiebreak (score unknown) but Princeton rebounded in singles by taking four first sets.
Diego Vives, Alex Day, and Josh Yablon each won in straight sets at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5 to put Princeton up 3-1 but each of the remaining matches would go three sets. Luke Gamble would get the clincher at No. 4 with 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 win over Aws Laaribi and then both Kial Kaiser and Tom Colautti would also win to give Princeton the singles sweep.
Note: No. 3 singles played a tiebreak at 3-3 in the third set hence the 4-3 final.
#38 Princeton 6, #24 Penn State 1
March 5, 2016 at Princeton, New Jersey (Jadwin Gym)
Doubles Competition
1. Day/Gamble (PRIN) def. Christian Lutschaunig/David Kohan (PSU), 7-5.
2. Matt Barry/Leo Stakhovsky (PSU) def. Colautti/Vives (PRIN), 7-6.
3. Constant De La Bassetiere/Aws Laaribi (PSU) def. Johnathan Carcione/Yablon (PRIN), 6-4.
Singles Competition
1. Diego Vives (PRIN 13.28) def. #59 Leo Stakhovsky (PSU 13.26), 6-1, 6-3.
2. No. 108 Alex Day (PRIN 12.94) def. Constant De La Bassetiere (PSU 13.57), 6-4, 6-3.
3. Tom Colautti (PRIN 13.10) def. No. 98 Matt Barry (PSU 13.47), 5-7, 6-4, 4-3*.
4. Luke Gamble (PRIN 13.00) def. Aws Laaribi (PSU 13.02), 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.
5. Josh Yablon (PRIN 13.02) def. Ben Lieb (PSU 13.17), 6-3, 6-4.
6. Kial Kaiser (PRIN 12.79) def. Tomas Hanzlik (PSU 13.18), 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.
Match Notes
Princeton 11-4; National Ranking #38
Penn State 10-2; National Ranking #24
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,2,5,4,6,3)
Coach Billy Pate on the match: “It is very rare to lose a doubles point and come back to win all six singles againast a team the caliber of Penn State. We actually played pretty well in doubles and simply fell on the short end, so in a way it gave us a better sense of urgency. The team showed me a lot today in terms of their grittiness and perseverance. This was a significant win and a great weekend for us. We now have a few days off for the guys to get through midterms before embarking on spring break and another set of very challenging matches before Ivy League play begins. I really like where we are right now as a team, but it’s vital we keep our foot on the gas pedal and remain focused for the challenges ahead.”
“We played an extremely well-coached Princeton team, said head coach
Jeff Zinn. “They play an aggressive style of tennis and we just weren’t playing it back.
“We had three three-set matches that we couldn’t finish and that was the match, said Coach Zinn. “We played great at doubles and will work on finishing out those three-set singles matches this next week in Florida.
“Playing Princeton at their place is always tough, said assistant coach Paul Tobin. “The courts are super fast and that isn’t always consistent with how we play. As a team, we must learn how to attack and take more risks when playing on these quick surfaces.
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