Thursday, February 28, 2008

Women’s tennis: TCU 6, SMU 1

By Pegasus News wire

TCU's take

The No. 31 TCU women's tennis team cruised past cross-town rival SMU on Wednesday by a score of 6-1 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The win pushes the Horned Frogs to 4-2 overall, while dropping the Mustangs to 8-3 on the season.

"SMU always presents a tough match," said TCU head coach Jefferson Hammond. "Being cross-town rivals, no one takes the match lightly and we're fortunate to get the win tonight. We got off to a good start in singles, and we continued to build on that throughout the match."

TCU began the match with the upper hand, as SMU was only able to field five players for Wednesday's contest. The TCU doubles team of Nina Munch-Soegaard and Katariina Tuohimaa toppled the 38th-ranked SMU duo of Nicole Briceno and Kseniia Tokarieva by a score of 8-3 at the No. 2 position to clinch the doubles point.

At the top spot, the 11th-ranked Horned Frog team of Macall Harkins and Anna Sydorska jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but trailed 7-6 before fighting back to take the 8-7(2) win to complete the doubles sweep. Harkins and Sydorska pushed their season record to 5-0 with the victory.

After a win by default at the No. 6 singles position, Munch-Soegaard put the Frogs up 3-0 with a dominating 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 73 Natalia Bubien at the No. 1 position.

Sydorska continued her stellar play on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Tokarieva at the No. 2 flight to clinch the match for TCU. The win was Sydorska's fifth consecutive singles victory.

Tuohimaa won her fourth match of the season on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Kristen Reid at the No. 5 position, while Kewa Nichols put TCU up 6-0 in the match with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Briceno.

"I'm proud of the fight we've had in the last four matches," Hammond said. "Win or lose, that's the most important part."

The Frogs will return to the courts on Saturday at 12 p.m. when they will play host to No. 73 Texas Tech.

SMU's take

The No. 62 Mustangs were unable to hold on against cross-town rival No. 31 TCU Wednesday night. The Horned Frogs won the match, 6-1, dropping the Mustangs to 8-3 on the season.

SMU played shorthanded Wednesday night, giving the Frogs a distinct advantage. The Mustangs were only able to field a team of five for the match.

In doubles, Natalia Bubien and Pavi Francis paired at No. 1 to face 11th-ranked Macall Harkins and Anna Sydorska. Bubien/Francis played the ranked duo close, but ultimately fell, 8-7 (2). Harkins/Sydorska started out up 4-0, but Bubien/Francis fought back to a 7-6 advantage, before the Frogs rallied to take the match, clinching the doubles point. At No. 2, the 38th-ranked pair of Nicole Briceno and Kseniia Tokarieva fought hard, but were unable to overturn Nina Munch-Soegaard and Katariina Tuohimaa, dropping the match, 8-3. The Mustangs were unable to field a third doubles pair and were forced to default the third match.

The Mustangs were also forced to default at the No. 6 singles slot.

At No. 1 singles, 73rd-ranked Natalia Bubien dropped only her third singles match of the year, falling to Munch-Soegaard in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Tokarieva also lost her match, falling at No. 2, 6-3, 6-2. In the fifth spot, Kristen Reid fought hard, but was unable to overtake Tuohimaa. Briceno was similarly stymied in the fourth spot, dropping her match, 6-4, 6-1, putting the Mustangs down, 6-0.

Francis was the final finisher for the Mustangs, notching SMU's only win of the evening in an epic battle at No. 3. Francis took the first set in a very close contest, beating Harkins, 7-6 (3). Harkins bounced back to take the second set, 6-4, forcing a third. Francis outlasted Harkins in the third set super tiebreaker, finally winning, 12-10.

"TCU is one of the toughest teams in our region and we always look forward to playing them," said head coach Lauren Longbotham-Meisner. "We had some chances in just about every match tonight, but we failed to capitalize on opportunities. I'm very proud of Pavi Francis, who played her best match so far this season. She showed a lot of pride and determination by pulling out the last match win with the team outcome already having been decided. Playing against tough competition usually brings areas of concern to our attention and tonight was no exception. Now the challenge is to address those areas in practice and turn them around before our next match."

The Mustangs have a short break before returning to the court Friday, Feb. 29 to take on Texas Tech at noon at the Lakewood Country Club in Dallas. SMU then heads to Las Vegas to face UNLV Sunday, March 2.

Sources: TCU and SMU

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