Texas A&M
Colorado
Women's Tennis Defeats Colorado, 6-1; Remains Undefeated at Home
Mar 18, 2011 | Women's Tennis
March 18, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's team got a boost from two players who haven't seen a lot of court time this season and raced to a 6-1 victory over Colorado tonight at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Aggies, who remain undefeated in home matches at 6-0, improve to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 matches. They also notched their 13th consecutive victory against the Buffaloes, who were making their final trip to College Station as members of the Big 12 Conference.
Colorado falls to 3-8 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12 after suffering its fifth straight loss.
The Aggies managed the convincing win despite using an altered lineup. With freshman Christi Potgieter (Petrusville, South Africa) out of the match with a thumb injury, junior Sheri Olivier (Topeka, Kan.) came through for her in doubles, and junior Lauren Santacroce, playing her first match of the spring season, had a commanding performance in singles.
"We are constantly talking to the team that everybody is important," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "It is not just the six in there. I felt like tonight it was great for Sheri to step in when Christi couldn't play with her thumb (injury). I thought it was great for her to step in and get the win in the doubles, and I thought it was great for Lauren to get the win in the singles. It is not easy to do. They had not played any for a long time, and to have them step in was a big plus."
The Aggie duo of Morgan Frank (Oldsmar, Fla.) and Nazari Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico) set the tone early, cruising to an 8-0 win against Ania Anuszkiewicz and Kristina Schleich to improve to 7-2 at the No. 2 doubles line.
A&M's Janelle Cuthbertson (Perth, Australia) and Christi Liles (Largo, Fla.) overcame a 4-1 deficit at the No. 1 line, winning six consecutive games to take a 7-4 lead against Michala Hedelund Jensen and Kristina Schleich. The teams then held serve for the remainder of the match, and A&M went on to win, 8-5, clinching the doubles point for the Aggies.
"I was pleased with the outcome, obviously, but I was more pleased with the singles than I was the doubles," Kleinecke said. "I felt like we didn't do well at No. 1 doubles, getting down 4-1. The way it was is a lot of our errors. They did the right thing by making us play a lot of balls, but we were giving them too much help there. But then we did come back."
Moments later, Olivier and Stephanie Davidson (Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas), completed an 8-6 victory over Carla Manzi Tenorio and Winde Janssens at the No. 3 line to cap A&M's third doubles sweep of the season.
It was Davidson's eighth doubles victory in her last nine matches and the 88th of her career, moving her into a tie with Martina Nedorostova (1999-2002) for seventh in the A&M career records.
Santacroce then took advantage of her opportunity to play in singles and dominated Kristina Barber, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 6 line to put A&M up 2-0.
Frank also was on a mission after having an off match in the loss to Texas last weekend. The senior won the first five games against Probert at No. 2 and went on to win the first set, 6-2. Frank then blanked Probert, 6-0, in the second set to put A&M up 3-0.
It was Frank's 79th career victory, putting her within four wins of breaking into the top 10 in the A&M career record books.
"Another person that I thought did very well tonight was Morgan Frank," Kleinecke said. "The thing about it is that she did not show up against Texas. That was a bad day for her, and that has been her driving force right now. She came out, and from the warm-up through everything, I felt like she was ready to play tonight.
"This is not an easy team for her to play. She has an easy time getting up for ranked teams but has a hard team getting up for teams that she doesn't feel are going to push her. I was very proud of the way she came through."
Moments later, Liles finished off Manzi Tenorio, 6-1, 6-2 to clinch the win for the Aggies. It was Liles' sixth win in the last seven matches.
Urbina, ranked No. 18 in the nation in singles, improved to 8-2 at the No. 1 position -- including 2-0 in Big 12 matches -- and kept the Buffs off the scoreboard, winning eight consecutive games to complete a 6-3, 6-0 victory against Schleich.
Cuthbertson, who moved up to Potgieter's No. 4 spot in the lineup, did not fair as well, dropping a 6-3, 6-2 decision to Janssens.
It would be the only point for the Buffs as Davidson, who moved up to the No. 5 position, quickly followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Anuszkiewicz to complete A&M's 6-1 victory, which took just under three hours.
A&M returns to the Mitchell Tennis Center on Sunday as the Aggies play host to the Missouri Tigers. First serve is slated for noon.
Free live video and scoring of all A&M homes matches are available at AggieAthletics.com. In addition, get updates on Twitter @AggieTennis.
No. 26 Texas A&M 6, Colorado 1 Singles
College Station, Texas
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
Attendance: 284
1. (#18) Nazari Urbina (TAMU) def. Kristina Schleich (CU), 6-3, 6-0
2. Morgan Frank (TAMU) def. Abbie Probert (CU), 6-2, 6-0
3. Christi Liles (TAMU) def. Carla Manzi Tenorio (CU), 6-1, 6-2
4. Winde Janssens (CU) def. Janelle Cuthbertson (TAMU), 6-3, 6-2
5. Stephanie Davidson (TAMU) def. Ania Anuszkiewicz (CU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Lauren Santacroce (TAMU) def. Kristina Barber (CU), 6-1, 6-1
Doubles (A&M wins the point)
1. Cuthbertson/Liles (TAMU) def. Michala Hedelund Jensen/Probert (CU), 8-5
2. Frank/Urbina (TAMU) def. Anuszkiewicz/Schleich (CU), 8-0
3. Davidson/Sheri Olivier (TAMU) def. Janssens/Manzi Tenorio (CU), 8-6
Order of finish:
Doubles: 2, 1, 3
Singles: 6, 2, 3*, 1, 4, 5
*-clinched match
Team records:
Texas A&M: (7-3, 1-1 Big 12)
Colorado (3-8, 0-2 Big 12)
Follow A&M on Twitter @AggieTennis.
Players Mentioned
