No. 16 TCU could not over come an early 3-0 deficit at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Tuesday. The loss meant University of North Carolina improved to 7-0 on the season.

After dropping both doubles matches and the first two singles matches, senior Trevor Johnson got the Frogs on the board with a come-from-behind victory over No. 94 Robert Kelly. Johnson picked up his fourth consecutive win and gave TCU a fighting chance at knocking off the No. 3 Tar Heels.

However, nationally ranked junior Alex Rybakov was stunned by the Tar Heels’ Benjamin Sigouin in a 7-6 (10-8), 7-5 thriller to give UNC the win.

TCU head coach David Roditi was particularly impressed with Sigouin’s performance.

“Their No. 1 player served great and played very good indoor tennis to beat Rybakov,” Roditi said. “I give credit to him.”

Guillermo Nuñez and Reese Stadler picked up singles win over nationally-ranked Tar Heels, but by then the match had been decided, ending 4-3 in favor of North Carolina.

In the loss, Nuñez and Stadler both picked up their first wins over nationally-ranked opponents in three-set victories.

Roditi said he was proud of the way his team battled back from the early deficit.

“It’s good to know we have that heart and fight in us,” Roditi said. “We just dug ourselves a little too big of a hole.”

Up Next:

TCU returns home to take on USF (2-4) at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9.