Jan. 23, 2011
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Texas A&M women's tennis team suffered a 6-1 setback to No. 22 Arkansas in the Aggies' season opener at the Billingsley Tennis Center on the Dills Indoor Courts.
"I knew they were good, but I didn't think this would be a 6-1 match," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "We had a downright belief that we could win this match and that we were going to win this match, but when we got the shots to hit, we started to question ourselves. All it takes is one or two and the match can turn around.
"I have to give Arkansas credit for taking charge of the match and not letting up. They really took it to us."
A&M got a ranked win at the No. 1 doubles line to start the match, but it would be the only doubles victory for the Aggies as Arkansas took the point and an early 1-0 lead.
Sophomore Janelle Cuthbertson (Perth, Australia) and senior Christi Liles (Largo, Fla.) broke serve in the opening game against the 35th-ranked duo of Kate Lukomskaya and Kelsey Sundaramand and never trailed the remainder of the match en route to an 8-3 victory at the No. 1 line.
"That was a bright spot," Kleinecke said. "We were down 2-1 and playing like an outdoors doubles team, and then we took it back from them by being aggressive and making a change."
The other two matches were more tightly contested with Arkansas breaking away at the end to take 8-6 victories at both the No. 2 and No. 3 lines to capture the point. Aggie freshman Christi Potgieter (Bloemfontein, South Africa) made her collegiate debut at the No. 3 court, where she and sophomore Nazari Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico) won the first two games against Jade Frampton and Valentina Starkova. The Razorback tandem would fight back and later tied the match three times before taking its first lead at 6-5. A&M tied the match at 6-6, but Arkansas took the last two sets to win the match.
The point came down to the No. 2 court, where A&M's senior tandem of Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas) and Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.) was having to fight from behind against Arkansas' Claudine Paulson and Anouk Tigu. The Aggies trailed 5-2 and 7-4 but managed to get within a set at 5-4 and 7-6 to stay in contention. Arkansas then broke serve to go up, 7-6, and held serve to close out the match and clinch the point for the Razorbacks.
"The opportunities were there for us, but we questioned ourselves," Kleinecke said. "We would get up a game and instead of building the blocks and adding to that lead, we would fall down, 40-love. That is a mental letdown. You have to compete there. That is the only way to stair-step up. If we let up at all, as much parity as there is in college tennis, it is going to bite you.
"We played an outdoor doubles game and they played an indoor doubles game with a hard first serve and all over the net. We are used to retrieving a little bit, chasing down balls and not having to go for that big first shot right away in the point."
In singles, Arkansas won the first set on four of six courts, including the No. 3 court where Paulson put the Razorbacks ahead, 2-0, with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Potgieter. The first set was tied at 4-4 before Paulson won consecutive games to take the set. Potgieter won the opening game of the second set before Paulson reeled off six straight games to close out the match.
Emily Carbone gave the Razorbacks a 3-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Christi Liles at No. 4, and Stephanie Roy clinched the winning point for Arkansas with a come-from-behind 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Davidson at the No. 5 line.
Arkansas then built a 5-0 lead as Sundaram held off Cuthbertson, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 6.
No. 102-ranked Frank tallied the Aggies' only point with a three-set victory over Lukomskaya at the No. 2 line. Frank won the first set, 6-2, but found herself trailing, 4-1 in the second set. Frank came back to tie the score at 4-4. The set remained tied at 6-6 to set up a tiebreaker. The tiebreaker also was tied at 6-6 before Lukomskaya scored consecutive points to take the set.
With Arkansas having already clinched the match, the players played a 10-point super tiebreaker to determine the winner. Frank held a 6-4 lead and then won four of the next five points to get the win.
Tigu, ranked No. 26, capped Arkansas' win with a 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (4) victory over 17th-ranked Urbina.
Arkansas, which played a mock dual tournament last weekend and defeated North Texas yesterday, improves to 2-0 and avenges a 4-3 loss at A&M's Mitchell Tennis Center last year.
"It's not an excuse, but this was our first match," Kleinecke said. "They played a tournament last weekend and a match yesterday, so this was like their fourth match, and they played extremely well.
The Aggies return to action Sunday, Jan. 30 as they take on No. 32 Tulsa in the first match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Durham, N.C. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. (CT) at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on the Duke University Campus. No. 62 Brown and No. 7 Duke also face off in a first-round match at 9 a.m.
The consolation match will be Monday at 9 a.m. followed by the championship match at 1 p.m. The winner of the championship match receives a berth into the 16-team ITA Team National Indoor Championship, Feb. 18-21 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.
"We have to take this and learn from it, go to work and make corrections," Kleinecke added. "There are big things that are available for this team. We are a better team this year than last year, and I can guarantee you that attitude-wise, this team has been WORKING and they believe in themselves and this team."
No. 22 Arkansas 6, No. 36 Texas A&M
January 23, 2011
Billingsley Tennis Center on the Dills Indoor Courts
Singles
1. (#26) Anouk Tigu (UA) def. (#17) Nazari Urbina (TAMU), 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (4)
2. (#102) Morgan Frank (TAMU) def. Kate Lukomskaya (UA), 6-2, 6-7 (6), 1-0 (5)
3. Claudine Paulson (UA) def. Christi Potgieter (TAMU), 6-4, 6-1
4. Emily Carbone (UA) def. Christi Liles (TAMU), 6-3, 6-4
5. Stephanie Roy (UA) def. Stephanie Davidson (TAMU), 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
6. Kelsey Sundaram (UA) def. Janelle Cuthbertson (TAMU), 7-5, 6-4
Doubles (Arkansas wins the point)
1. Cuthbertson/Liles (TAMU) def. (#35) Lukomskaya/ Sundaram (UA), 8-3
2. Paulson/Tigu (UA) def. Davidson/Frank (TAMU), 8-6
3. Jade Frampton/Valentina Starkova (UA) def. Potgieter/Urbina (TAMU), 8-6
Order of finish
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 3, 4, 5*, 6, 2, 1
*Clinched match
Team records
Texas A&M: (0-1)
Arkansas: (2-0)