The TCU men’s tennis team dropped a close match against the Utah State Aggies on Sunday with a score of 4-3. The No. 12 ranked Horned Frogs welcomed the Aggies to Fort Worth over the weekend as a part of the 2017 ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
The Horned Frogs got off to a quick start taking the doubles point to open the afternoon, winning 2 of the 3 doubles matches. Reese Stadler and Jerry Lopez won the No. 1 doubles match 6-0, while Alex Rybakov and Guillermo Nuñez topped their Aggie opponents 6-3.
After taking the 1-0 lead, the Horned Frogs would lose the next two singles points on courts six and two.
Down 2-1, TCU’s No. 1 singles player, sophomore Alex Rybakov, defeated Kai Wehnelt of USU handedly, 6-0, 6-1. With the match even at two points each, the Horned Frogs briefly took the lead as senior Jerry Lopez, No. 101 in the ITA rankings, beat Jaime Barajas 6-1, 6-3.
TCU would go on to lose the last two singles points in matches that went three sets each, resulting in a 4-3 final score.
While the upset was clearly a disappointment, head coach David Roditi made sure to acknowledge the positives. “We have players playing for us that are giving it their all,” Roditi said. “We have over a week to get better tennis wise and body wise.”
The Horned Frogs fell to 2-2 on the season after the loss on Sunday. “We know it’s a long season and we will continue to improve,” Roditi said.
TCU opened the season with a 4-2 loss at No. 13 Northwestern before going on to sweep Tulsa on the road and The University of the Pacific in Fort Worth.
The Frogs will be back in action on Feb. 7 at 5:30 when they host Midwestern State University.
