Tulane University
TCU (NCAA)
TCU Ends Tulane's Men's Tennis Season
May 13, 2001 | Men's Tennis
May 13, 2001
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU held off underdog Tulane University to end the Green Wave's 2001 season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center on the Texas Christian University campus.
Tulane had upset Baylor in the first round on Saturday. The loss also snapped the Wave's nine-match winning streak.
Tulane (16-9), ranked No. 40 in the nation, began the match in similar fashion to its first meeting with No. 4 TCU (22-3) this season by winning the doubles point. Tulane's 12th-ranked pair of freshman Michael Kogan (Kfar-Saba, Israel) and senior Mikko Viljanen (Vantaa, Finland) won an 8-6 match over No. 16 Trace Fielding and Jimmy Haney at one doubles to clinch the doubles point for the Green Wave. Sophomores Victor Romero (Atizapan, Mexico) and Jorge Lievano (Bucaramanga, Colombia) had an 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles.
The Horned Frogs responded with a fury in the singles, breezing through four, five and six singles to take a 3-1 advantage over the Conference USA champion Green Wave.
Tulane continued to battle the Frogs as Romero claimed a hard-fought, three-set match against TCU's Fielding. Fielding, ranked No. 43 in the nation, took the first set from the No. 94-ranked Romero 6-3, but dropped the second 3-6 and lost the match at 5-7 in the third.
Trailing 3-2, Tulane was relying on Kogan, the C-USA Player of the Year, at No. 1 singles. However, the Wave freshman, ranked No. 34 in the nation, could not top No. 10 ranked Esteban Carril. Carril managed an impressive 7-6, 6-4 victory to clinch the victory for the Horned Frogs. Kogan came in to the match with a 30-4 record, with one of those losses coming to Carril in Tulane's earlier meeting with TCU this season.
Carril said after the match, "I knew my match with (Kogan) wasn't going to be easy because he played so well in the first three games of our match. From there, I knew it would be a battle the rest of the way."
Tulane head coach Robert Klein said of his team's effort after the match, "We knew this would be a tough match and I'm proud of the way our guys fought out there today. This team has nothing to be ashamed of this season."
TCU will play Southern California in the next round of tournament in Athens, Georgia on May 19.
Tulane will have its doubles duo of Kogan and Viljanen in action at the NCAA Doubles Championship in Athens, beginning on May 24. Koagn will be in action in the singles draw beginning May 23. No. 4 TCU (22-3) 4, No. 40 Tulane (16-9) 2
Singles:
No. 1: #10 Esteban Carril (TCU) def. #34 Michael Kogan (TU): 7-6(6), 6-4
No. 2: #94 Victor Romero (TU) def. #43 Trace Fielding (TCU): 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
No. 3: Scott Eddins (TCU) vs. Mikko Viljanen (TU): 4-6, 6-3, 4-4 (Did not finish)
No. 4: Toni Gordon (TCU) def. Jorge Lievano (TU): 6-2, 6-2
No. 5: Daniel Wajnberg (TCU) def. Mattias Westerberg (TU): 6-3, 6-0
No. 6: Jimmy Haney (TCU) def. Goran Vasiljevic (TU): 6-3, 6-1
Doubles:
No. 1: #12 Kogan/Viljanen (TU) def. #16 Fielding/Haney (TCU): 8-6
No. 2: Carril/Gordon (TCU) def. Westerberg/Vasiljevic (TU): 8-4
No. 3: Romero/Lievano (TU) def. Eddins/Petr Koula (TCU): 8-6
Final Score: TCU 4, Tulane 2
Records:
Tulane (16-9)
TCU (22-3)
Players Mentioned
