April 10, 2009

SAN DIEGO—The TCU men’s tennis team kept its regular-season conference title hopes alive Friday with a 4-2 victory over No. 38 San Diego State at the Aztec Tennis Center.

The victory evened up 45th-ranked TCU’s season record at 10-10 overall, including a 4-1 mark in MWC play.

Thanks to New Mexico's win over previously unbeaten Utah earlier Friday, the Frogs can now earn at least a share of their second straight conference title Saturday with a win over Air Force in their regular-season finale. Another league crown would be especially impressive when taking account that TCU has not played one home match in the last two years in conference play.

Doubles for the match were held off until after singles play due to the threat of rain, then cancelled after TCU had clinched the team victory with four singles wins.

The match came down to the final singles decision, as sophomore Emanuel Brighiu, ranked 110th nationally, pulled out a three-set victory over SDSU’s Juan Gomez, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8). Brighiu fought off a match point in the tiebreaker for Gomez before battling back to earn his fifth victory in the last seven matches.

Kriegler Brink, ranked 76th nationally, continued his outstanding senior season by getting the Frogs started with an easy 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles over Bartosz Golas.

Achim Ceban evened the team battle for the Aztecs with a victory over TCU freshman Slah Mbarek at No. 1 singles, 7-6(2), 6-2, but sophomores Zach Nichols and Christopher Price responded by putting the Frogs up 3-1 with wins at the Nos. 4 and 5 positions, respectively. Nichols downed Giovanni Vaglietti, 6-4, 6-2, while Price earned a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Andre Feliz.

SDSU’s Tim Schulz Van Endert kept the Aztecs in contention with a three-set win over sophomore Casey Powers, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, at No. 6 singles before Brighiu clinched the team outcome.

“It was an emotional win, because both of the final two matches came down to the end in third sets,” head coach Dave Borelli said. “I was so happy for Brighiu, because he played one of the matches since he has been here to give us the win. We now need to win tomorrow, but right now I am just very happy with the way we performed today.”

TCU concludes its regular season Saturday, when it faces Air Force at 10 a.m. CT at the Aztec Tennis Center.

Results
No. 45 TCU 4, No. 38 San Diego State 2
April 10, 2009
San Diego, Calif. (Aztec Tennis Center)

Singles
1. Achim Ceban (SDSU) def. #62 Slah Mbarek (TCU), 7-6(2), 6-2
2. #110 Emanuel Brighiu (TCU) def. Juan Gomez (SDSU), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8)
3. #76 Kriegler Brink (TCU) def. Bartosz Golas (SDSU), 6-1, 6-1
4. Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Giovanni Vaglietti (SDSU), 6-4, 6-2
5. Christopher Price (TCU) def. Andre Feliz (SDSU), 6-4, 6-4
6. Tim Schulz Van Endert (SDSU) def. Casey Powers (TCU), 6-2, 4-6, 7-5

Order of Finish: 3,1,4,5,6,2

Doubles
No doubles due to threat of rain.