The TCU men’s tennis fell to No. 31 Oklahoma, 4-3, at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Okla. Sunday.
“We lost a tough one today, but I saw a huge improvement in our team,” TCU head coach David Roditi said. “Our goal was to figure out ways to come back in matches after we dropped the opening set and we did that twice today. If we can compete the way we did today, we will have a good conference season and I’m proud of the guys. I think we learned something about our team today.”
OU needed a tiebreaker to edge TCU in doubles portion. The Frogs top tandem of Emanuel Brighiu and Christopher Price cruised to an 8-2 win against the Sooners’ team of Ionut Beleleu and Tsvetan Mihov. After OU evened the doubles tally on the middle court, the duo of Laurentlu Gavrila and Lawrence Formentera clipped TCU’s pairing of Paul Chappell and Cameron Nash, 9-8 (3).
The two teams traded wins in singles action. TCU sophomore Soren Gortizka put up the first win to even the team score, taking down Gavrila from the No. 4 court, 6-3, 6-4.
After the Sooners’ picked up wins at the top two courts, the Frogs rallied to claim a pair of three-set victories from Daniel Sanchez and Chappell. Sanchez scrapped to defeat Mihov, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5, while Chappell upended Formentera, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
With the team score knotted at 3-3, OU’s Peerakit Siributwong and TCU’s Price had the weight of the match on their shoulders. After winning the first set, Price droppes a second-set tiebreaker. In the end, the Sooners would pick up the team win on Siributwong’s 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory.
No. 61 TCU (5-10) will return to action Saturday, March 26, heading to Houston to take on Rice.
No. 31 Oklahoma (9-3) def No. 61 TCU (5-10), 4-3
Headington Family Tennis Center | Norman, Okla.
SINGLES
1. Costin Paval (OU) def. Emanuel Brighiu (TCU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Ionut Beleleu (OU) def. Slah Mbarek (TCU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Peerakit Siributwong (OU) def. Christopher Price (TCU) 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3
4. Soren Gortizka (TCU) def. Laurentlu Gavrilla (OU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Daniel Sanchez (TCU) def. Tsvetan Mihov (OU) 5-7, 6-1, 7-5
6. Paul Chappell (TCU) def. Lawrence Formentera (OU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 6, 5, 3*
DOUBLES
1. #44 Brighiu/Price (TCU) def. Beleleu/Mihov (OU) 8-2
2. Paval/Siributwong (OU) def. Mbarek/Sanchez (TCU) 8-6
3. Gavrila/Formentera (OU) def. Chappell/Nash (TCU) 9-8 (3)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*