The TCU men’s tennis team is undefeated at home after Saturday’s senior day match against the University of Texas.
No. 7 TCU beat No. 10 Texas 4-1. The Frogs had not previously beaten the Longhorns since 1996.
Head coach David Roditi said he couldn’t have asked for a better senior day.
“At the end of the day it’s all about the guys. It’s all about that senior class,” Roditi said. “The first year the senior class played Texas it wasn’t even a match. They beat us 7-0.”
Roditi said he didn’t think senior day could have been scripted any better for senior Will Stein.
“You dream of perfect endings and what it’ll be like, but very rarely do they actually happen,” Stein said. “For my match in particular the struggle of closing it out and then to finally close it out at the end, it just doesn’t feel real.”
Stein said it is amazing to end the team’s regular season undefeated at home with the fans.
“We’ve had the No.1 attendance in the country the past two years and we haven’t really had winning matches to thank them,” Stein said. “Today was maybe our biggest thank you to the fans by pulling out the win. I couldn’t picture a better way to end senior day.”
Roditi said 2,112 fans were in attendance for Saturday’s match and it was incredible.
“I thought we came off as a really classy university. They saw the ‘Roditi rule’ today,” Roditi said.
“It’s not about heckling. It’s about enthusiasm, excitement and making these athletes feel relevant. Also, making the fans and the students feel like they can be college students when they come out to the matches.”
Freshman Cameron Norrie said the fans were loud when they needed to be and helped him through his match.
“I think the other team struggled with how involved our fans were in the matches,” Norrie said.
TCU reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2008 with its victory over Texas. With Saturday’s win, the Horned Frogs defeated their fourth opponent ranked in the top-10 this season.
The team will now wait for its seeding in the Big 12 Tennis Championships that will take place from April 24-26 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.
