Air Force Academy

April 27, 2011

The Air Force men's tennis team wrapped up its 2010-11 campaign Wednesday with a 4-0 loss to 54th-ranked TCU in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Collins, Colo. The Falcons finished the season with a 10-14 record.

In doubles play the Horned Frogs came out swinging and never looked back. TCU began the match by claiming a victory at the No. 2 position, with Paul Chappell and Cameron Nash notching a speedy 8-1 win over Taylor Soster and Alex Grubbs. Moments later, the Horned Frog tandem of Daniel Sanchez and Zach Nichols secured an 8-4 victory over Alex Beaussart and Steven Young to capture the doubles point.

TCU's Christopher Price claimed the first singles victory of the match after Soster had to retire due to a shoulder injury in the first set at No. 3 singles. Nichols then notched a straight-sets win over Andy Jackson (6-3, 6-1) at the second position to put TCU up 3-0 in the dual. Moments later, Slah Mbarek closed out the dual for the Horned Frogs, recording a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Grubbs at the No. 4 spot. The other three matches were halted at that time.

"We needed to play our best tennis today and it didn't happen," said Air Force head coach Dan Oosterhous. "It's been a season of up and downs for our team and unfortunately we finished the season not playing our best. Our seniors did a great job this year we'll miss their leadership. Team captain Taylor Soster suffered a shoulder injury in singles and it was a difficult way to finish his last match as a Falcon. Alex Beaussart played very well and was fighting hard at 4-6 when the match was decided. Both seniors leave a great legacy and have lots to proud of in the Air Force tennis careers."

Singles
1. #72 Emanuel Brighiu (TCU) vs. Lance Wilhelm (AFA) 6-4, 4-1, DNF
2. Zach Nichols (TCU) def. Andy Jackson (AFA) 6-3, 6-1
3. Christopher Price (TCU) def. Taylor Soster (AFA) 5-0, ret.
4. Slah Mbarek (TCU) def. Alex Grubbs (AFA) 6-3, 6-1
5. Soren Goritzka (TCU) vs. Steven Young (AFA) 6-4, DNF
6. Daniel Sanchez (TCU) vs. Alex Beaussart (AFA) 6-4 , DNF
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 4

Doubles
1. #48 Brighiu / Price (TCU) vs. Wilhelm / Jackson (AFA) 5-2, DNF
2. Paul Chappell / Cameron Nash (TCU) def. Soster / Grubbs (AFA) 8-1
3. Sanchez / Nichols (TCU) def. Beaussart / Young (AFA) 8-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3