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Horned Frogs Fall to Texas in Big 12 Championship - TCU Athletics
STILLWATER, Okla. – TCU came up short in its bid for a repeat Big 12 Championship, falling to No. 5 Texas, 4-0, in Sunday's final at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
GoFrogs: Horned Frogs Fall to Texas in Big 12 Championship
STILLWATER, Okla. – TCU came up short in its bid for a repeat Big 12 Championship, falling to No. 5 Texas, 4-0, in Sunday's final at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
The third-ranked Horned Frogs lost the doubles point and were swept on courts three through five in singles play. Courts one and two featured four top-10 players and saw a third frame. TCU was up a set on six when play was stopped.
"Texas was too good today," said head coach David Roditi. "They played better, they deserved it. Proud of our guys. We kept fighting until the end. They were just too good. They didn't let us in. We had some opportunities. There are definitely some things there to learn. All the credit goes to Texas, their players, their staff, their coaches, everybody. Congratulations. Like I said yesterday, they're one of the best teams in the country, if not the best team on paper, and they showed it today. We get a couple weeks before we host the first round of the NCAA Tournament and it's time to get better, go back and learn from this, and come back even stronger for Nationals."
Sunday's dual was the seventh meeting in the last two seasons between the Horned Frogs and Longhorns, four of which have been for a conference or national championship. TCU split a regular season twin bill with Texas, downing the Longhorns 4-3 on March 2 in Fort Worth. The victory marked TCU's last match with its singles and doubles lineup at full strength.
TCU concludes the regular season 22-4 overall. The Horned Frogs are all but certain to earn a national seed and hosting rights through Super Regional weekend in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year.
Doubles Rundown
TCU struck first on court one, as the newly minted pair of Jake Fearnley and Pedro Vives rode a double break to a 6-3 takedown of No. 22 Elliot Spizziri and Siem Woldeab. Fearnley and Vives picked up their second ranked win in as many days. They partnered for the first time ever in TCU's 4-1 semifinal triumph over No. 9 Oklahoma.
Vives' most common doubles partner, Sebastian Gorzny, has been sidelined since March 15. TCU has been forced to alter its pairings match-by-match in the absence of the ITA No. 5 doubles tandem and Texas capitalized on courts two and three.
Pierre-Yves Bailly and Eshan Talluri evened the action at one court apiece, defeating No. 87 Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted, 6-2, on two. Micah Braswell and Cleeve Harper hung an identical score on TCU's Jack Pinnington and Kaj Quirijns to clinch the doubles point.
TCU fell to 17-9 in doubles play. Sunday's defeat signified just the second time all season TCU failed to win the match after surrendering the doubles point.
Doubles Results
- Jake Fearnley / Pedro Vives (TCU) def. #22 Elliot Spizziri / Siem Woldeab (Texas): 6-3
- Pierre-Yves Bailly / Eshan Talluri (Texas) def. #87 Duncan Chan / Lui Maxted (TCU): 6-2
- Micah Braswell / Cleeve Harper (Texas) def. Jack Pinnington / Kaj Quirijns (TCU): 6-2
Singles Rundown
Woldeab a fifth-year senior, extended Texas' lead to 2-0 after defeating the freshman Chan 6-2, 6-2, on five.
No. 86 Pierre-Yves Bailly then defeated Maxted, 72nd in the latest ITA singles rankings, 6-3, 6-4, in the fourth position.
39th-ranked Gilles-Arnaud Bailly earned the match clincher with an identical score as his older brother vs. No. 55 Vives at three.
Pinnington led Spizziri, the nation's top-ranked player all season, 6-2, 5-5, before the fifth-year secured a break to extend the match. Pinnington has played 13 straight matches on the top court dating back to March 10, going 9-2 in that span. All of his matches have been against ranked players.
Fearnley battled No. 3 Micah Braswell on two in just his third match back from a five-week injury absence. He dropped the first set, 4-6, but broke Braswell twice in the second frame. Braswell is 35-2 overall and has won 32 straight matches.
Tomas Jirousek faced No. 59 Jonah Braswell on six and took the first set, 6-3, and trailed 2-5 in set two at the time of the clinch.
Singles Results
- #10 Jack Pinnington (TCU) vs. #1 Elliot Spizziri (Texas): 6-2, 5-7, unfinished
- #8 Jake Fearnley (TCU) vs. #3 Micah Braswell (Texas): 4-6, 6-2, 1-2, unfinished
- #39 Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (Texas) def. #55 Pedro Vives (TCU): 6-3, 6-4
- #86 Pierre-Yves Bailly (Texas) def. #72 Lui Maxted (TCU): 6-3, 6-4
- Siem Woldeab (Texas) def. Duncan Chan (TCU): 6-2, 6-2
- Tomas Jirousek (TCU) vs. #59 Jonah Braswell (Texas): 6-3, 2-5, unfinished
Up Next
The NCAA Tournament selection show airs live at 5:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 29 on NCAA.com. NCAA Regionals run from May 4-5.
