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Frogs
quell Baylor’s early intensity The 90-minute bus ride from Waco to Fort Worth didn’t lessen the intensity of the Baylor men’s tennis team Wednesday. The Bears arrived at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center chanting and clapping.
But before the doubles competition was complete, a lot of Baylor’s fury was silenced as the Frogs swept the doubles point and went on to a 7-0 victory. The match was a lot closer than the 7-0 finish appears as every point came with arduous efforts from players and jeers across the net. TCU senior Esteban Carril and his opponent Csongor Bibza exchanged stares throughout the match and questioned several of each other’s calls. Between games in the doubles play, Baylor’s Nathan McGregor cursed at Horned Frog senior Scott Eddins. And a taunting penalty was called in the singles match between TCU senior Petr Koula and McGregor. The match defined what college tennis matches in Texas are becoming — a battle between rivals. “Right now you’ve got the West Coast and Texas (leading the college tennis ranks),” Eddins said. “When I got here my freshman year, it was just TCU and Texas. Now there are a lot of good teams in Texas.” Six Texas teams are ranked in the top 40. The Frogs at No. 2, Texas A&M at No. 5, Southern Methodist at No. 9, Texas at No. 14, Baylor at No. 32 and Rice at No. 38.
“It’s good knowing you’re in a region where you play the best teams,” Eddins said. “The fact that we’re No. 2 and we play in this region really says something about how good this team is.” Koula said the rankings don’t matter when it comes to matches between Texas schools. “No matter if we’re No. 2 or No. 28, there is always a rivalry with Baylor and other Texas programs,” he said. “When you play a rival, you want to leave it all on the court.” TCU, which scheduled five opponents from Texas this season, is 3-1 against in-state rivals. And matches against Rice and SMU have yet to be played. But sophomore Antonio Gordon said the Baylor win was one of the most important. “This is the greatest thing this season,” he said. “We always have tennis battles against them.” Gordon said Texas has more rivalries than any other state. “Currently, there are four Texas teams in the top 15,” he said. “More teams keep making it into the top 20, so more rivalries are developing.” As the rivalries heighten, more Texas schools will have long bus rides with intense competition waiting to welcome them at the end of the ride.
Rusty Simmons |
