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[SIZE=14pt]Frogs Put Away Utah at Home[/SIZE]
[SIZE=12pt]TCU sweeps doubles, Mbarek and Cirstea extend winning streaks
[/SIZE]Results | Photo Gallery
FORT WORTH—TCU opened its weekend of Mountain West Conference competition with a 4-3 home win over Utah Thursday evening at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The match marked the Frogs' first at home in regular-season conference play since the spring of 2007.
TCU improved to 8-8 overall on the spring and 2-1 in the MWC standings. Utah fell to 6-12 overall and 1-2 in the MWC. The victory snapped a two-match Frog losing streak to the Utes and improved the squad's record in the all-time series to 5-2.
The evening began with the Frogs sweeping the three doubles matches. The two squads then split the six singles matches, as TCU squeaked out the team victory. Junior Zach Nichols clinched the TCU win with a straight-set winner in a second-set tiebreaker at No. 2 singles, 7-6, 7-6 (3), over Utah's Jason Smits. The victory moved Nichols' spring record to 10-6.
Sophomore Slah Mbarek and freshman Marius Cirstea each posted easy victories in straight sets at the Nos. 3 and 5 positions, respectively, to continue winning streaks. Mbarek took care of Alex Golding, 6-2, 6-0, to run his spring-high winning streak to four straight matches, while Cirstea earned his career-best third consecutive win, 6-4, 6-3, over Stephen Jacobs.
Sophomore Christopher Price won his opening set at No. 4 singles, but Utah's Timmy Allen hung tough to win the second set and supertiebreaker after the team decision had been reached, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 1-0 (13-11). Junior Emanuel Brighiu fell in straight sets at No. 1 to Phillip Eilers, 6-3, 6-2, as did senior Kelubia Mabatah at the No. 6 spot to Dmytro Mamedov, 6-4, 6-3. Mabatah was making only his third appearance this spring in the Frog lineup and his first since the opening weekend of play back in January.
TCU's top pairing of Brighiu and Price, which is rated No. 61 nationally, clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 win at the No. 1 position over Eilers and Golding. Nichols and sophomore Paul Chappell got the Frogs started in doubles with an easy 8-2 win in the No. 3 slot over Jacobs and Benito Suriano. Mbarek and junior Cameron Nash followed by making it a 3-0 TCU sweep with a victory in the tiebreaker at No. 2 over Allin and Smits, 8-7 (4).
"It was nice to win here at home," head coach Dave Borelli said. "We played well in the doubles, and that's what has really let us down in the last few matches when we have struggled. Cameron and Paul both played well in doubles, and Marius and Slah also played very well in singles. Chris and Zach both competed well, and Zach was able to hold back a fight in his match. I thought it was a good effort overall."
TCU returns to action Saturday at 11 a.m., when it plays host to No. 34 BYU at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Results
#56 TCU 4, Utah 3
April 8, 2010
Fort Worth, Texas Christian University
Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center/Bernard J. "Tut" Bartzen Varsity Courts
Doubles
1. #61 Emanuel Brighiu/Christopher Price (TCU) def. Phillips Eilers/Alex Golding (Utah) 8-4
2. Cameron Nash/Slah Mbarek (TCU) def. Timmy Allin/Jason Smits (Utah) 8-7 (7-4)
3. Paul Chappell/Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Stephen Jacobs/Benito Suriano (Utah) 8-2
Singles
1. Phillip Eilers (Utah) def. Emanuel Brighiu (TCU) 6-3, 6-2
2. *Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Jason Smits (Utah) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
3. Slah Mbarek (TCU) def. Alex Golding (Utah) 6-2, 6-0
4. Timmy Allin (Utah) def. Christopher Price (TCU) 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 1-0 (13-11)
5. Marius Cirstea (TCU) def. Stephen Jacobs (Utah) 6-4, 6-3
6. Dmytro Mamedov (Utah) def. Kelubia Mabatah (TCU) 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,1,5,6,2*,4)
*—clinched team victory
