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The TCU Horned Frogs (22-3, 8-0 Big 12) Men's Tennis team won't have an opportunity to add another Big 12 Championship to their collection. They lost a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon to UCF in the Big 12 Championship semifinal dual in Waco. The Knights came from behind to win 4-3.
The Horned Frogs won the doubles point and then won two singles matches in straight sets to take a 3-0 lead. With four singles matches still to be decided, TCU just needed one of them to advance to Sunday's finals. Instead, UCF won all four of those matches to capture the win.
It was the first loss on outdoor courts for TCU this season. After losing to Wake Forest in the finals of the ITA Indoor National Championships on February 18, the team had won 13 straight matches, including a sweep of Big 12 regular season opponents. “Credit to UCF,” said head coach David Roditi.
“They handled it coming down to the end really well. They handled the conditions and the pressure very well at the end, so credit to them. The coaches did a great job of keeping those guys calm and collected, and we did not.
That was the difference. It sucks as a coach when you feel like you didn’t help your guys out there. It’s a tough feeling, but we’ll go back to the drawing board.
We get two weeks now to prepare for the NCAA Tournament. Proud of the way our guys fought regardless of anything going on. They left it on the court.
We’ve just got to learn from it and move on.” The Frogs played without a pair of nationally ranked players in No. 8 Pedro Vives and No.
96 Cooper Woestendick, while Albert Pedrico was forced to medically retire on court three in singles play. The tight matches played on the doubles courts certainly foreshadowed what was to come the rest of the afternoon. Jack Pinnington, Woestendick’s usual partner, moved down to court three, where Julian Alonso played only his second dual doubles match of the year and first since the Frogs’ season opener on Jan.
11. Playing together for the first time, Pinnington and Alonso rolled over Nicolas Oliveira and Paul Colin via a 6-3 margin. The other two courts were much tighter, with both coming down to tiebreakers.
Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico played on Court One, whereas they normally play on Court Two. They lost their set 6-7 after losing the tiebreaker 7-9. The doubles point was determined on Court Two with Filip Apltauer and Lui Maxted winning 7-6, after winning their tiebreaker 8-6.
Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Killer Frogs message board community today! The injuries forced two-thirds of TCU’s lineup to play two courts higher than normal. The Frogs again put themselves in a position to win the match, though. Maxted, Pedrico, and Chan put a trio of opening sets on the board on Courts Two, Three, and Five.
Chan was able to win his match on Court Five 6-2, 6-1, putting the Frogs up 2-0. Chan notched his fourth consecutive win spanning TCU’s last six matches. His 21 combined wins trail only Maxted for the team lead.
Maxted was next to finish, winning his match on Court Two 6-2, 6-3. This gave the Frogs a 3-0 lead. Maxted is now enjoying a six-match singles winning streak.
He continues to lead TCU in overall victories (26) and dual wins (15). Those wins were all the Frogs would get for the rest of the day. UCF would win the next four matches to win the dual 4-3.
Jack Pinnington lost in straight sets on Court One 1-6, 6-7 (3-7). This gave UCF its first point, making the score TCU 3 - UCF 1. The remaining three courts all went to decisive third sets.
On Court Three, Pedrico had to retire due to an ankle injury, making the score TCU 3 - UCF 2. Roger Pascual fell on Court Four 2-6, 6-0, 3-6. Apltauer was not far behind, losing on Court Six 2-6, 6-4, 4-6.
These two losses gave the Knights the four points necessary to win the dual and advance to the finals on Sunday. They will face Arizona for the championship. TCU still has one of the best records in the nation and should have locked in a national seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
This will have the Frogs hosting a Regional and Super Regional when the tournament starts next Month. The NCAA Tournament selection show is Monday, April 28. Recommended Articles.
