FORT WORTH – An annual championship tradition was renewed on Sunday.
 
No. 3 TCU shut out Texas Tech 4-0 in the ITA Kickoff Weekend regional final to secure its spot in the ITA Indoor National Championships, held from Feb. 17-20 in Chicago.
 
The Horned Frogs (5-0) have qualified for Indoor Nationals for five consecutive seasons. Sunday's victory punctuated the program's 20^th all-time berth to the grand finale of collegiate indoor tennis. TCU has now won 11 consecutive ITA Kickoff Weekend matches, all of which have been sweeps inside the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

"I thought we played really well in the top of the lineup," head coach David Roditi said. "Texas Tech – we know each other very well. They were coming off a really good win yesterday. We knew we would get their best shot. Our guys did a great job of handling it. To win one and two in doubles, and then win one through three in singles, it's a good sign that the top of our lineup is performing well. We had great fan support again today, and I want to thank everyone who came out and our TCU athletics support staff who worked tirelessly to make ITA Kickoff Weekend possible. Now, we get a chance to defend our indoor national title, up in Chicago, a place where we've had a lot of success and a city where we have a lot of friends and alumni. Go Frogs."
 
For the first time this season, TCU was challenged in doubles. The Horned Frogs' No. 1 doubles team of Sander Jong and Lui Maxted coasted to a 6-2 win, but the Red Raiders (2-3) responded with a 6-3 victory in the third flight. The defeat on court three marked the first doubles set the Horned Frogs have dropped in 2023.
 
The doubles point in turn boiled down to the action on court two, where the All-American duo of Luc Fomba found themselves in a 5-5 gridlock. Fomba and Fearnley, though, lived up to their preseason ITA No. 1 ranking, as they won six of the final eight points to secure a 7-5 win and clinch the doubles point.
 
Texas Tech offered little resistance from there, as Fearnley, Jong and Fomba swept courts 1-3 in singles play to punch TCU's ticket to the Windy City. The Horned Frogs won nine-of-10 completed singles sets.
 
The victory extended the Horned Frogs' winning streak over Texas Tech to nine. TCU now leads the all-time series between the two programs 42-6.
 
Doubles Rundown
 
Jong and Maxted, the No. 4 ITA doubles team, faced off with Texas Tech's Reed Collier and Dimitrios Azoidis. The tandem won four straight games to stake TCU to a 1-0 doubles head start.
 
They are now 10-3 when paired together in 2022-2023 and 31-9 all-time.
 
Texas Tech counterpunched on court three, as the Red Raider team of Piotr Pawlak and Franco Ribero upset TCU's Sebastian Gorzny and Pedro Vives 6-3.
 
Fearnley and Fomba alternated points with Texas Tech's Olle Wallin and Tyler Stewart for the first 10 games before closing the show with consecutive wins.
 
TCU has yet to drop a doubles point this season and is 29-2 in doubles play over the last two seasons.
 
Doubles Results

1. #4 Sander Jong / Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Reed Collier / Dimitrios Azoidis (TTU): 6-2
2. Jake Fearnley / Luc Fomba (TCU) def. Olle Wallin / Tyler Stewart (TTU): 7-5
3. Piotr Pawlak / Franco Ribero (TTU) def. Sebastian Gorzny / Pedro Vives (TCU): 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
 
Singles Rundown
 
Fomba finished first on court three, outclassing Azoidis 6-3, 6-2. He never trailed in the match. 
 
The four-time All-American sports the best overall record of any Horned Frogs three weeks into the spring season. He is 10-0 and has yet to surrender a set in singles or doubles.
 
Fearnley then put TCU within a point of clinching. He faced off with Wallin for the second time in 2022-2023 in the No. 1 singles post. Fearnley notched 6-3 victories in both sets. He previously defeated Wallin in the round of 16 of the ITA Texas Regional on Oct. 15 on his way to the semifinals of the tournament.
 
Jong's grit shone through on court two. He smoked Collier 6-1 in the opening set. Collier, though, built a 3-0 advantage in the second frame. Jong fired back with three straight wins of his own to even the score. The Big 12 rivals then alternated the next four games to maintain a tie at 5-5. Jong, who received the No. 1 singles assignment in TCU's first three matches, snapped the stalemate and earned the match-clincher via a 7-5 set two win.
 
Maxted was trending toward his fifth straight singles win on court four before play was halted. He dropped set one to Ribero 2-6 but fired back in the second set with a 6-2 win of his own. Maxted held serve amidst a 1-1 tie when TCU clinched.
 
Singles Results

1. #8 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. Olle Wallin (TTU): 6-3, 6-3
2. Sander Jong (TCU) def. Reed Collier (TTU): 6-1, 7-5
3. #28 Luc Fomba (TCU) def. Dimitrios Azoidis (TTU): 6-3, 6-2
4. Lui Maxted (TCU) vs. Franco Ribero (TTU): 2-6, 6-2, 1-1, unfinished
5. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) vs. Tyler Stewart (TTU): no result
6. Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) vs. Lorenzo Esquici (TTU): no result

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
 
Up Next
 
TCU hits the road for its first real test of the season. The Horned Frogs face No. 11 Tennessee on Rocky Top at 4 p.m. on Thursday to kick off a three-match ranked road slate. Following the tilt in Knoxville, TCU heads to Chapel Hill to meet No. 17 North Carolina at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 5. The gauntlet concludes with a bus ride to Waco to meet No. 12 Baylor at 6 p.m. on Feb. 8.