March 6, 2010
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Texas A&M women's tennis team won the doubles point and earned four straight-set singles victories to defeat TCU, 5-2, today at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
"I'm really, really proud of this team, especially after what we've been through, losing some close matches after having them right there," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "One of our key goals today was to come in and want this more. From the start of the match through the end of the match, I felt like we wanted this, and I'm proud of the team for laying everything out there and coming away with a good win."
A&M (4-4) took a 1-0 lead after winning two of three doubles matches. Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas) and Sheri Olivier (Topeka, Kan.) had their serve broken in the first game at No. 3 doubles but then won four consecutive games to build a commanding 4-1 lead against Idunn Hertzberg and Gaby Mastromarino. The teams then held serve for three games before the 48th-ranked Aggie duo reeled off three straight games to win the match, 8-3.
Elzé Potgieter (Bloemfontein, South Africa) and Nazari Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico) quickly followed with an 8-3 victory at the No. 1 line over Kayla Duncan and Katariina Tuohimaa to clinch the point for A&M. The Aggie tandem never trailed in the match, winning their first three games and later expanding the lead to 6-1. The teams then held serve to close out the match.
A&M appeared in position to sweep the doubles as the Aggie duo of Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.) and Christi Liles (Largo, Fla.) jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Nina Munch-Soegaard and Maria Babanova at the No. 2 position. TCU got within 5-4 before A&M won the next two games to pull out to a 7-4 lead. The Frogs then reeled off three games to tie the score at 7-7 and force a tiebreaker.
A&M scored the first point of the tiebreaker, but TCU tied the score at 1-1 and never trailed after that. The score was knotted at 6-6 when the Frogs won the next two points to win the match.
A&M bounced right back in singles, recording four straight-set victories to take control of the match.
"I was a little worried after we lost the last doubles match in the tiebreaker, and I didn't want the momentum of this match to switch," Kleinecke said. "The girls started out the singles very well and kept TCU from thinking that they were going to win."
Lauren Santacroce (Spring, Texas) was first off the court after disposing of Hertzberg, 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 4 position. Liles followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Mastromarino at No. 5 to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead.
Urbina, ranked No. 74 in singles, quickly followed with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over 110th-ranked Duncan at No. 2 to clinch the win for the Aggies. Frank then ran her winning streak to seven after finishing off 86th-ranked Tuohimaa, 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 3 line to make the score, 5-0.
Potgieter and Munch-Soegaard were in the process of splitting sets at No. 1, and Davidson and Babanova were early in their second set when Frank put the Aggies up, 5-0. Munch-Soegaard, ranked 94th, dropped her first set to 57th-ranked Potgieter, 6-3, but came back to win the second set, 6-2, and force a 10-point super tiebreaker. Munch-Soegaard then put the Frogs on the scoreboard with a 10-5 victory in the tiebreaker.
Babanova earned the final point for TCU with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Davidson at the No. 6 position.
"It's tough to come away with a win at somebody else's place," Kleinecke said. "I'm just happy that we handled that. There have been a lot of battles with TCU, and they are a good, solid team. I didn't think this was a match that was easy for us to win. We had to lay a lot out there."
In addition to enjoying the win, Kleinecke was pleased to see two of his former standout players now in the coaching ranks. Sarah (Foster) Gray and Anna Lubinsky serve as assistant coach and volunteer assistant coach, respectively, at TCU. Both completed their illustrious A&M playing careers in 2007 after leading A&M to the NCAA second round, a 21-7 record and a No. 25 final ranking.
"I'm proud that they are coaching," Kleinecke said. "It was fun, but I'm glad we came away with the win."
A&M evened its record at 4-4 with the victory, while TCU suffered its seventh consecutive loss and dropped to 1-8.
The match wrapped up an eight-match road swing for A&M, which plays its first home match of the season on Tuesday, March 9 against in-state rival and 22nd-ranked SMU. First serve against the Mustangs is 6 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
"We are all so tired of traveling right now," Kleinecke said, "and we are excited to finally be able to play at home in front of our fans."
All newly appointed Fish Camp counselors will be admitted free to the SMU match by either wearing their Fish Camp T-shirts or with a flyer they received.
In addition, the popular "Where's Wilson" promotion continues this season. Wilson, a smiling tennis ball, will be hiding at every home match this season at the Mitchell Tennis Center. The one lucky fan who finds him each match will receive a prize compliments of Texas A&M University and will be entered into a grand prize contest which will be held during the women's tennis team's State Farm Lone Star Showdown match against rival Texas on April 20. Fans are encouraged to come out to the matches early to increase their chances of being the first person to find Wilson.
Live scoring of all A&M women's tennis matches is available at AggieAthletics.com.
(#47) Texas A&M 5, (#62) TCU 2
March 6, 2010
Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center
Fort Worth, Texas
Attendance: 165
Singles
1. (#94) Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU) def. (#57) Elzé Potgieter (TAMU), 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (5)
2. (#74) Nazari Urbina (TAMU) def. (#110) Kayla Duncan (TCU), 6-1, 6-2
3. Morgan Frank (TAMU) def. (#86) Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU), 6-3, 6-2
4. Lauren Santacroce (TAMU) def. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU), 6-1, 6-2
5. Christi Liles (TAMU) def. Gaby Mastromarino (TCU), 6-2, 6-3
6. Maria Babanova (TCU) def. Stephanie Davidson (TAMU), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles (A&M wins the point)
1. Potgieter/Urbina (TAMU) def. Duncan/Tuohimaa (TCU), 8-3
2. Babanova/Munch-Soegaard (TCU) def. Frank/Liles (TAMU), 8-7 (6)
3. (#48) Davidson/Sheri Olivier (TAMU) def. Hertzberg/Mastromarino (TCU), 8-3
Order of finish
Doubles: 3, 1, 2
Singles: 4, 5, 2*, 3, 1, 6
*Clinched match
Team records
Texas A&M: 4-4
TCU: 1-8