TCU
NCAA Individual Championships
Norrie Earns All-America Honors
5/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas - An upset of one of the top ranked players in the country by freshman Cameron Norrie in the singles bracket highlighted the second day of competition for TCU men's tennis team at the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Singles and Doubles Championship at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas on Thursday.
No. 39 Norrie topped No. 6 Søren Hess-Olesen of Texas, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in the Round of 32 to move into the Sweet 16 and become the 22nd Horned Frog and 44th All-America selection in TCU men's tennis program history. This is the first All-America honor for the program since 2006 and the first singles All-America selection since 2001.
Norrie was not finished and paired up with fellow freshman Trevor Johnson to down No. 52 Jordan Angus and Filip Vittek of San Diego, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 and move into the Sweet 16 in the doubles bracket.
The season ultimately came to an end for teammates Guillermo Nuñez, Nick Chappell and Will Stein. No. 59 Nuñez dropped a 6-0, 6-3 decision to No. 32 Jakob Sude in the second round of the singles bracket, while No. 23 Chappell and Stein saw their TCU careers come to an end at the hands of defending national champions and No. 4 Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese of Tennessee, 7-6(2), 6-2, in the opening round of the doubles bracket.
"Today was another full day today with four matches," head coach David Roditi said. "It's a bit nostalgic with the end of two seniors who have been a big part of this program for all four years. Nick and Will played well, but had to play the defending NCAA Champions and couldn't get that win. It's been fun watching them grow into men and we will miss Nick and Will.
"Cameron had a very good day and beat one of the best and toughest players in the tournament in Søren. It was high quality match and I'm proud of the way he continued to fight regardless of the score. He and Trevor competed well and got the win and I'm sure they will continue to raise their level as they play more and more."
Norrie faced a battle from the beginning of his singles match, as Hess-Olesen broke the freshman early to go up 2-1. Norrie was able to break back to get the match back on serve, as each player held serve until 5-5. Hess-Olesen once again was able to break Norrie and then held serve to steal the first set, 7-5.
Up 4-3 in the second set, Norrie took control of the match and broke Hess-Olesen to go up 5-3 and serve for the match. Norrie easily won five of the next six rallies and claimed the second set, 6-3, as he took his momentum into the third set.
Hess-Olesen would not go down easily, as he quickly broke Norrie to go up 2-0 in the final set. The setback did not faze the Auckland, New Zealand native as he went on to win six of the next seven points to finish out the set, 6-3, and take the victory.
The No. 30 duo of Norrie and Johnson paired up later in the afternoon and got the second win of the day for the Frogs. The pair made quick work of Angus and Vittek of San Diego in the first set with a 6-3 victory, but a late break in the second set cost them the win, as San Diego claimed a 6-4 win. The duo did not falter and ended the match by breaking the San Diego pair in the final set to win in three sets with a 6-4 win.
Norrie will open Friday by taking on No. 14 Libitetis of Tennessee at 10 a.m., in his third round singles match, while he and Johnson will face No. 19 Hess-Olesen and Lloyd Glasspool of Texas at 2 p.m., in the doubles bracket Sweet 16 match.
Players Mentioned
