MTEN Preview: Round of 16
5/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The road to the national championship continues for the No. 4 TCU men's tennis team as they are set to face No. 13 Cal on Friday, May 20 in the Round of 16 of the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Team Championship at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
The 9 a.m., match on Friday will be a rematch from earlier this season, as the Bears (19-6) upset the Horned Frogs (26-3) in a February meeting in Austin, Texas. Friday's appearance in the Round of 16 is the 10th in program history for TCU and the second straight season after making a run to the Final Four last season.
Tickets
All-Session Tickets that will last for all 12 days of the team and individual competitions are $125 for adults and $75 for youth and students with valid ID and can be purchased online at TulsaHurricane.com/2016NCAATennis. Daily Tickets can be purchased each day on-site at the Main Ticket Tent/Spectator Entrance on the north side of the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Adult tickets are $15, while Youth tickets can be purchased for $8.
Live Updates
Live results and video of all the matches at the championship can be found at StreamTennis.com/Tulsa. Final results and a recap of the TCU matches can be found on GoFrogs.com following the completion of the competition each day. In-match updates can be found by following TCU men's tennis on twitter (@TCUMensTennis).
TCU Quick Hits
-The 26 wins posted by TCU under sixth year head coach David Roditi were the most since 1989 when the Frogs made their first Final Four
-23 of the 26 wins this spring were over ranked foes, while the Frogs remained undefeated at home with a perfect 15-0 record
-The Horned Frogs defeated 13 opponents ranked within the Oracle/ITA top 25, nine within the top 15 and five within the top 10
-TCU has won 21 of its last 22 matches, with its only losses on the season coming to teams ranked inside the Oracle/ITA top 25
-The worst loss that TCU has suffered this season is to then-No. 24 Cal on February 7 (4-2), with the Bears being the Frogs' Sweet 16 opponent
-The Frogs have been ranked within the top-10 for 23 straight weeks dating back to last season
-TCU has been ranked inside the top 5 of the Oracle/ITA poll every week this season except for one
-TCU qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor competition for the second straight season under the ITA Kick-Off era
-Five different Frogs have picked up at least 20 wins this season: Trevor Johnson (26), Jerry Lopez (26), Cameron Norrie (23), Guillermo Nuñez (21) and Alex Rybakov (20)
-Four student-athletes are riding winning streaks in singles action: Rybakov (8), Johnson (5), Norrie (4) and Lopez (3)
-TCU has three ranked singles players (No. 5 Norrie, No. 24 Rybakov and No. 86 Nuñez) and had up to four ranked in a single week
-In doubles action, the Frogs have one ranked doubles pair in No. 65 Hudson Blake and Reese Stalder
-Blake and Stalder have won seven of their last 10 matches
-Norrie and Rybakov hold the best record in doubles action with an 11-1 mark including nine wins in their last 10 dual matches
NCAA History
-TCU is making its 27th appearance in the NCAA Championship
-This is the third appearance in the last four seasons and the third appearance under the helm of David Roditi
-The Frogs advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season and for the 10th time in program history
-The best finish for TCU in the NCAA Championship was a Final Four appearance on four occasions - 1989, 1996, 2001 and 2015
-TCU has played in Tulsa for the NCAA Championship on two other occasions including a Round of 16 appearance in 2004 and first round action in 2009
Familiar Foes
-TCU has faced 8 of the Sweet 16 in regular-season action this spring
-The Frogs are one of four Big 12 teams to make the third round, with the Frogs holding the highest ranked at No. 4
-TCU has an 8-2 record against opponents in the Sweet 16
-The team posted wins against Oklahoma State (2), Stanford, USC, SMU, Oklahoma (2) and Texas
-Two of TCU's three losses this season have come to opponents that are in the Sweet 16 - Cal and Virginia
-This marks the second straight season that the Frogs will be facing an opponent that they lost to in the regular season in the third round. Last spring, TCU lost to Wake Forest, 4-3, during the regular season before upending the Demon Deacons, 4-0, in the Sweet 16
-TCU lost to Cal, 4-2, at an indoor match played in Austin, Texas in February before falling to No. 1 Virginia in the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship
Only Playing the Best
-TCU has only played the best this season with 26 of the 29 opponents ranked within the ITA top-70
-Seven of the opponents faced this spring have been ranked within the top-10 in the country
-Nine of the opponents faced this spring have been ranked within the top-15 in the country
-16 of the opponents faced this spring have been ranked within the top-25 in the country
-The Frogs defeated not one, but five ranked opponents within the top-10
-TCU did not lose more than one match in a row this season. The most losses the Frogs had were two in the month of February with the team going undefeated in January and March while only suffering one loss in April
-TCU started the season with its first 11 opponents ranked in the Oracle/ITA poll
There is No Place Like Home
-For the second straight season under the David Roditi era, TCU posted a perfect 15-0 record at home at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center
-Dating back to last season, the Frogs have now won 30 consecutive matches on their home courts
-Of the 78 points available in all of the matches, TCU was able to win 66 of the points
-The Frogs blanked 10 opponents on the Bernard J. `Tut' Bartzen Varsity Courts
-TCU hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championship for the second straight season as well and was able to pick up 4-0 victories over Jackson State and No. 36 LSU
-Rain does not stop tennis for the day, as the Frogs also have an indoor tennis facility which will always keep tennis match on time
The Rise of the Freshmen
-Since last season, TCU had depended greatly on those Horned Frogs who are making their debut campaigns
-This year, Alex Rybakov has been a consistent presence at No. 1 and No. 2 singles while also going 11-1 at No. 3 doubles with sophomore Cameron Norrie
-Rybakov became the second straight TCU freshman to earn Big 12 Freshman of the Year, ITA Texas Region Rookie of the Year and Player to Watch
-Reese Stalder has moved his way up the doubles lineup and paired with junior Hudson Blake, as the duo have been dominant at the No. 1 position and are ranked No. 65 currently
-Eduardo Nava was a late signee who has been a consistent competitor at the bottom of the singles lineup for the Frogs with a 4-0 mark at the No. 5 position
No Seniors - No Problem
-After helping lead TCU to a Final Four in their freshmen seasons, Cameron Norrie, Trevor Johnson and Guillermo Nuñez used their sophomore campaigns to become leaders to a young squad that features no seniors
-Norrie has been stable at the top singles spot all season long and is nearly unstoppable in doubles with freshman Alex Rybakov with an 11-1 record on the season
-Johnson was named captain of the young squad and can be counted on for a point in singles while also pairing up with Nuñez in doubles action
-Nuñez went 19-1 a season ago in dual matches and is 21-12 overall this year consistently playing at the No. 3 spot in singles
Our Attendance is the Best
-The TCU tennis team is not only known for its great tennis play at home, but also its amazing atmosphere and large crowds
-The Frogs are back-to-back-to-back ITA Attendance Race winners after winning the crown from 2013-15
-From 2013-15, TCU led the nation in each of the four major categories: total attendance, average attendance, single-match attendance and number of top-5 attended matches.
-Under the helm of Roditi, the infamous `Roditi Rule' has emerged within the Big 12 Handbook which states: "Spectators are to behave under the same principles/guidelines of other sports."
-Since its inception, TCU has gained some of its largest crowds the last two seasons
-Under the new ITA Attendance Race rules this season, TCU led the country in the month of April with three matches eclipsing the 1,000-fan threshold
NCAA Singles Championships
-TCU will have two representatives in the NCAA Singles Championship when the matches start following the conclusion of the team competition
-2015 ITA Singles All-American Cameron Norrie will be making his second straight appearance and is seeded sixth in the bracket and was the Big 12 Conference automatic bid, while freshman Alex Rybakov earned an at-large bid
-This marks the second straight season and the ninth time in program history that TCU has two players qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship
-Norrie became the second freshman in TCU history to earn All-America honors as a freshman last season after David Pate earned the honors in singles and doubles in 1981
-Rybakov was ranked as high as No. 15 this season and is 20-5 in his debut campaign after being named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and ITA Texas Region Rookie of the Year and Player to Watch
Players Mentioned
