The RoundHouse | 5/17/2019 3:17:00 PM

 
Wichita State coach Danny Bryan first paired Marius Frosa and Murkel Dellien three years ago in a tournament in California. 
 
The move surprised both of them.
 
"Danny just said our names, put together for the first time, during the match," Frosa said. "We had no idea. I looked at (Dellien) and said 'Let's go.'"
 
Three years later, through living together, lots of talks about positivity, Dellien's superstition about lucky shirts and interludes with other partners, the pair is on its way to the NCAA Doubles Championships. The juniors entered the 32-team field as at-large pick with play beginning on Monday in Orlando. 
 
They are the eighth Wichita State doubles team to make the field, the first since 2015 (Tin Ostojic and Tomislav Gregurovic).
 
Frosa and Dellien went 9-1 this spring and are No. 35 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
 
It started with a March 5, 2017 win over a team from 39^th-ranked Cal Poly in Stockton, Calif., a move that Bryan made as an experiment. Frosa and Dellien won their first three matches together.
 
"They were good tennis players, but they hadn't had much experience with doubles," Bryan said. "We were struggling in doubles. One day, we said, 'Hey, let's just see what they do.' We put them together and they won a lot of matches. It was kind of a running joke on the team, because they really weren't having much success with anybody else."
 
Frosa, from Romania, and Dellien, from Bolivia, went 10-4, mostly at No. 2 and No. 3, during their first spring together. They both say their playing styles meshed. That year, their language difference presented a challenged and they largely communicated using basics such as "stay" and "go wide."
 
"Both of us were in the Intensive English program," Frosa said. "So, our English was not amazing. We could understand each other – we knew some words."
 
As sophomores, Dellien moved in a house with Frosa. Both men say that time together helped their chemistry and communication. They recognized that both valued an upbeat demeanor during matches. They study together, proof-reading papers and assignments. When they win a match, Dellien prefers to stick with the same clothes for the next match.
 
"When you live with someone, you share your thoughts," Frosa said. "That helped me to know how he thinks. For him, he likes me to be energetic and positive during the match. We are doing that together. We bring that energy. That's a result of understanding each other."
 
As sophomores, they went 9-6 and 8-5 at No. 1 doubles. This season, Bryan tried other pairings before matching them again in March.
 
"Their game styles mesh well," Bryan said. "Murkel is a little more serious person. On the court, he is very emotional, extremely competitive. Marius is a little more laid-back and goofy. Murkel fires Marius up a little bit."
 
They peaked at No. 25 in the ITA rankings the spring, on the strength of wins over opponents ranked No. 26 (Charlotte) and No. 30 (Memphis). Their loss is to UCF's 18^th-ranked team of Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel, 6-7 (5-7).
 
"Murkel is more of the aggressive player and Marius is a ball-striker, he hits the ball very clean, but he's not as aggressive," Bryan said. "Murkel does a good job of applying pressure at the net and he cleans up a lot of the volleys, easier balls after Frosa hits some lasers."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.