Men’s Tennis: TCU Finishes as Runner Up at NCAA National Championship

The Frogs defeated OU, UT, and Virginia among others on their way to the championship meet.

TCU Men’s Tennis recently wrapped up a very successful postseason run that saw them advance to their second straight national championship match, but unfortunately, fall just short of defending their title. The Frogs finished with an impressive record of 27-4 and an 8-0 record in Big 12 conference play.

As the number two overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Frogs hosted a regional in the first round and first faced off against Abilene Christian. TCU secured the doubles point thanks to wins from the Jack Pinnington and Cooper Woestendick pairing over the top pairing from ACU and the Albert Pedrico and Julian Alonso pairing over the second pair from ACU. Roger Pascual carried the momentum into singles with a 6-1, 6-1 win over his ACU counterpart, making it 2-0 Frogs. Pedrico put the Frogs one point away from clinching the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win. Pinnington sent the Frogs to the regional final and completed the 4-0 sweep with a dominant 6-3, 6-3 win over the top singles player from Abilene Christian.

The Frogs took on the number 24-ranked Oklahoma Sooners in the regional final in Fort Worth. Again, TCU got out to an early lead with a doubles point win thanks to victories from all three doubles pairs. Oklahoma evened the scoring at 1-1 with a singles win from their number four player before Woestendick gave TCU back the lead with a 7-5, 6-4 win over the number three singles player from OU. The Sooners again responded with a win from their number five singles player to even the score at 2-2. TCU would take control with a win from Pinnington over the top singles player from OU in three sets with a final score of 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2. Lui Maxted sent TCU to the Super Regionals with a gutsy three-set win over the number two singles player from OU with a final score of 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

In the Super Regionals, the Frogs would have an opportunity to get revenge on the number 15-ranked UCF Knights, who defeated TCU in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament earlier in the season. For the third straight match, TCU opened the scoring with a doubles point win. Maxted and Pedro Vives took down the top doubles pair from the Knights by a score of 6-3, and Pinnington and Woestendick clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win over their UCF counterparts. The Frogs would stay hot in singles with a 6-2, 6-3 win from Pedrico to push the lead to 2-0. Pascual made it 3-0 in favor of the Frogs with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over his UCF opponent. Maxted provided the knockout blow and completed the 4-0 sweep of UCF with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 win in singles.

TCU next traveled to Waco for the NCAA National Championship Tournament and was first matched up against the number four overall seeded Virginia Cavaliers. Yet again, TCU captured the doubles point to go ahead 1-0 early, thanks to a 6-4 win from Maxted and Vives and a 7-6 (7-4) win from Pinnington and Woestendick. The Hoos responded quickly, however, with two singles wins on courts one and two to take a 2-1 lead. Pedrico evened the score at 2-2 for the Frogs with a 6-3, 6-4 win on court five. Maxted gave TCU back the lead and a point away from clinching the match with a 6-4, 7-5 singles win. Virginia tied the match again with a singles win, meaning it would all come down to court six and Duncan Chan for the Frogs. Chan took the first set in a tie breaker but dropped the second set 1-6. Chan showed off the ice in his veins and clinched the singles win and the match with a 6-4 win in the final set to send the Frogs to the next round.

In the NCAA Semifinals, the Frogs faced off against a familiar foe in the number three-seeded Texas Longhorns. TCU collected its fifth straight doubles point thanks to a 6-3 win from the Pedrico and Chan pair and a 6-3 win from the Maxted and Vives pair. Maxted pushed the lead to 2-0 with a straight sets win in singles by a final score of 6-3, 6-0. Texas would cut into the lead with a singles win before Pedrico made it 3-1 Frogs with a 7-5, 6-2 straight sets singles win. The Horns cut the lead to 3-2 before Pascual sent the Frogs to the National Championship match with a three-set win on court six with a final score of 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.

The number one-seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons waited for the Frogs in the natty, and for the first time all tournament, the Frogs were unable to win the doubles point, and TCU started in an early 1-0 hole. Wake Forest extended their lead to 2-0 with a singles win before Pedrico got the Frogs on the board with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 singles win. Wake Forest responded with a win to push the lead to 3-1 before the Frogs pulled back within a point, thanks to a singles win from Maxted by a score of 6-1, 7-6 (7-3). Unfortunately, Wake Forest would go on to clinch the win with a singles win on two.

Even with the heartbreaking ending, TCU Men’s Tennis had an incredibly successful 2025, where they set a new program record for total wins. This also wraps up the collegiate careers of Jack Pinnington, Lui Maxted, and Pedro Vives, all of whom have been pillars of the program and led the most successful era in TCU Tennis history.