FORT WORTH, Texas -- The No. 35 Cornell men's tennis team will look to make its first-ever Super Regionals appearance when it faces off against the #4-seeded Texas Christian University Horned Frogs on Saturday from Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
#35 CORNELL AT #4 TCU
SITE: Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center - Fort Worth, Texas
DATE and TIME: Saturday, May 4 at 2 p.m. CT
RECORDS: Cornell (19-6, 5-2 Ivy League), TCU (23-4, 5-2 Big 12)
SERIES RECORD: Tied, 0-0
WATCH LIVE: Playsight
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
LAST TIME OUT: BIG RED SWEEPS ARKANSAS IN OPENING ROUND
Cornell will look to continue to feed off its momentum after a 4-0 sweep of the Arkansas Razorbacks in the opening round of the NCAA Team Championships from Fort Worth. The Big Red's victory over the Hogs is the second win over an SEC opponent, as the team took down the Auburn Tigers during last season's Durham Regional.
The Big Red had to work for the point in doubles. Arkansas took the first swing from the No. 3 position, with Connor Smillie and Karlo Kajin handing Radu Papoe and Samuel Paquette their fifth loss via a 6-1 decision to put the pressure on. Cornell countered immediately from the No. 1 position of the rackets of Nathan Mao and Adit Sinha, as the junior combo slayed its first ranked opponent since late March in a 6-2 victory over No. 30 Bozo Barun / Jared Horwood. With doubles at a standstill, the attention turned to the decisive No. 2 battle of Melvin Manuel / Alan Sau Franco and Petar Teodorovic / Eric Verdes. Both duos split the opening 12 games to force the match into a tiebreaker. Teodorovic and Verdes stood tall in the tiebreaker with a 7-4 win to seal the point for Cornell.
Shifting into singles, Sinha used his momentum from doubles to cruise to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over No. 93 Gerard Planelles from the No. 2 position to put the Big Red ahead, 2-0. Mao was next in the win column for Cornell, taking a 6-3, 6-1 decision against Karlo Kajin to put the Big Red a point from clinching the match. Freshman Eric Verdes came up immediately after in the lineup for Cornell, making his first appearance in the singles lineup since late March. The Romanian had to work for the opening set, forcing a tiebreaker at 6-6 after falling behind early. Verdes put on his hard hat and went to work in the tiebreak with a 7-0 sweep to take the first game and put the pressure on Benedikt Emesz. The second set was no problem for the freshman, knocking out Emesz with a 6-3 victory to clinch Cornell's spot in the second round for the second consecutive season.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Big Red has made the NCAA Team Championships three times in program history before this year's version. Cornell earned its first appearance in 2011 after winning the outright Ivy League title with a 26-5 overall record and a 7-0 mark in conference action. The team headed to the Lexington Regional to battle Louisville but could not handle the Cardinals, losing 4-0. Cornell's second appearance in the tourney came via winning a share of the Ivy League title at 22-4 and 6-1 in conference action. Earning an at-large bid into the championships, the Big Red secured its first regional win in program history with a 4-0 sweep of Rice before being swept by host Baylor in the Waco Regional final.
Cornell's final championships appearance came last season, earning another at-large berth to the Durham Regional after finishing the regular season 17-7 and 4-3 in the Ivy League. The Big Red had to sweat out a 4-3 victory in the first round against No. 23 Auburn thanks to a three-set win in No. 3 singles for Petar Teodorovic over No. 111 Finn Murgett (7-5, 4-6, 6-4). Cornell would fall to the host Blue Devils, 4-1, in the second round.
INSIDER: TCU
The Horned Frogs come into Saturday's match at 23-4 overall and advanced to the Regional final after a 4-0 sweep of UC Irvine in the opening round Friday evening. TCU has also dominated at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center, posting a 10-0 record this season, including a 4-3 victory over No. 6 Tennessee on February 4. Ranked opponents have been a theme for the Horned Frogs, with 22 of its 25 opponents seeing time in the ITA team standings. TCU is 18-4 in those matches and has won six out of seven. The lone loss came to No. 5 Texas in the Big 12 Championship on April 21.
Seven Horned Frogs singles players have put together 10 or more wins during the dual season, headlined by Jake Fearnley. Ranked as the No. 7 singles player according to the ITA, Fearnley has put forward a 12-2 record this spring and is currently riding a three-match winning streak extended with a 6-2, 6-2 win over UC Irvine's Hiroki Sakagawa. Jack Pinnington is behind his teammate at No. 13 at 16-4 this spring. Pinnington is also riding a five-match winning streak dating back to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Oklahoma State's Tyler Zink. Pedro Vives (No. 73), Sebastian Gorzny (No. 77), and Liu Maxted (No. 78) round out the five Horned Frogs that are ranked in singles.
Shifting to doubles, Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives headline the top Horned Frog duo in the ITA rankings at No. 7 overall. The sophomore and junior have put together an 8-2 record from the No. 1 position and have won five straight matches. Freshman Duncan Chan and junior Liu Maxted have put together the best overall record at 14-9 and played a bulk of their matches from the No. 2 position, posting an 8-2 mark.
UP NEXT
If Cornell wins, it will head to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in program history. Supers will run from Friday, May 10 - Saturday, May 11 at a site to be announced.
