University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Advance to NCAA Tennis Championship Finals With 4-0 Win Over TCU
5/22/2001
Listen Coach Fancutt's Comments Following Match
ATHENS, Ga.-- Tennessee advanced to the NCAA championship match with a 4-0 win over Texas Christian in today's semifinal round at the University of Georgia Tennis Complex. The Vols, winners of their last five consecutive matches, will meet the winner of today's Georgia-SMU match tommorow at 4 p.m. for the national title.
The Vols' only other NCAA Tennis final was in 1990, where they lost to Stanford 4-3 in Indian Wells, Calif.
"Right now we are playing like a finely tuned machine," Tennessee head coach Michael Fancutt said. "It is going to take a pretty good team to beat us in the finals. We are just really fired up and ready to go tomorrow. At one point in the match I found myself just sitting there on the sidelines watching my guys play saying to myself, boy, these guys are good."
Tennessee (23-5) began today's match by taking its 10th doubles point in the last 12 matches. The Vols remain undefeated (16-0) on the season when taking the doubles point.
Tennessee's Simon Rea and Mario Toledo won their fifth match together in six tries with an 8-6 victory over Scott Eddins and Pter Koula in the No. 3 match. TCU (24-4) came back and tied the doubles frame at one match apiece with an 8-5 win by No. 16 Jimmy Haney and Trace Fielding over No. 20 Mark Parsons and Adam Carey in the No. 1 match. The No. 2 match proved to be decisive with the Vol tandem of Peter Handoyo and Paul Podbury taking on TCU's Eseban Carril and Toni Gordon. The match went back and forth until the two duos finished the frame tied 8-8, before Handoyo and Podbury took a 7-3 decision in the tiebreaker, clinching the doubles point for the Vols.
The Vols did not let up in the singles segment, winning the first three matches to advance to the title match. Tennessee's Mario Toledo, who has been the hero by capturing the clinching point in the Vols' two previous NCAA matches, was the Vols' first winner today in the No. 2 match. The 58th-ranked Toledo won his sixth straight match overall and his fourth consecutive over a ranked opponent, handing TCU's Trace Fielding his first NCAA tournament loss 6-3, 6-1. Tennessee senior Mark Parsons, ranked No. 31 nationally, continued his fine play in a 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 10 Esteban Carril in the No. 1 match. The win was Parsons' second straight over a top 20 opponent and gave Tennessee a commanding 3-0 lead.
Vol juniors Adam Carey and Peter Handoyo were left, with both players needing to win only one game to win their matches. It was No. 25 Handoyo who would complete the Vols' sweep of the Frogs by defeating TCU's Scott Eddins 6-3, 7-6(2).
"Our top four players have just been fantastic," Fancutt said. "You would probably have to go back a long time to find the last time someone beat Stanford's No.'s 1-4 in a match. Then today our guys just came out aggressive again and all four of our players won their first set and then finished them (TCU) off."
Georgia defeated Tennessee two times previously this season. The Bulldogs won the first match 6-1 in Athens April 1, and took a 4-3 in the SEC tournament final April 22 at Lexington.
Tennessee was scheduled meet SMU March 9, but the match was cancelled. The Vols are 5-1 all-time against the Mustangs and are 16-37 against the Bulldogs.
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| Tennessee 4 TCU 0 May 22 2001 NCAA Tennis Championships - Semifinals Athens, Ga. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| DOUBLES | |||
| 1. (national ranking) | W | ||
| TCU | Trace Fielding/Jimmy Haney (16) | 8 | TCU |
| Tennessee | Adam Carey/Mark Parsons (20) * | 5 | |
| 2. | W | ||
| TCU | Esteban Carril/Toni Gordon | 8 | |
| Tennessee | Peter Handoyo (44)/Paul Podbury * | 9(3) | Tennessee |
| 3. | W | ||
| TCU | Scott Eddins/Petr Koula | 6 | |
| Tennessee | Simon Rea/Mario Toledo * | 8 | Tennessee |
| SINGLES | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. (national ranking) | 1 | 2 | 3 | W | |
| TCU | Esteban Carril (10) | 1 | 4 | ||
| Tennessee * | Mark Parsons (31) | 6 | 6 | Tennessee | |
| 2. | 1 | 2 | 3 | W | |
| TCU * | Trace Fielding (43) | 3 | 1 | ||
| Tennessee | Mario Toledo (58) | 6 | 6 | Tennessee | |
| 3. | 1 | 2 | 3 | W | |
| TCU | Scott Eddins | 3 | 6 | ||
| Tennessee * | Peter Handoyo (25) | 6 | 7(2) | Tennessee | |
| 4. | 1 | 2 | 3 | W | |
| TCU | Toni Gordon | 4 | 5 | ||
| Tennessee * | Adam Carey (54) | 6 | 5 | suspended | |
| 5. | 1 | 2 | 3 | W | |
| TCU * | Daniel Wajnberg | 2 | |||
| Tennessee | Paul Podbury (95) | 1 | suspended | ||
| 6. | 1 | 2 | 3 | W | |
| TCU | Jimmy Haney | 0 | suspended | ||
| Tennessee * | Simon Rea | 1 | |||
| Order of finish: #2, #1, #3 | Tennessee 4-0 | ||||
