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TCU
drops crucial doubles point in loss to Aggies The women’s tennis match between No. 23 TCU and No. 19 Texas A&M proved the adage of “It’s never over until it’s over” Sunday. Although the dual match went back and forth all day, the Aggies (3-0) would go on to prevail in a tight, thriller 4-3. “A&M played a strong match,” head coach Roland Ingram said. “I thought that we could pull out the victory in the doubles matches.” Instead, the Frogs (3-1) only won one out of three doubles matches as sophomore Saber Pierce and senior Leoni Weirich defeated Leah Killen and Majorie Terburgh, 8-3. However, the Frogs could not pull out any other doubles victories, falling 8-5 and 8-4 in the other two matches. “We won a lot of points, but not games,” Ingram said. “We were up 40-0 several times and just couldn’t finish them off. You have to hand it to A&M, though. They played really well.” The Frogs picked up three points in singles play. Weirich defeated Killen 6-4, 6-2, while Paty Aburto, ranked No. 98 in the nation, defeated Terburgh, 6-3, 6-2. In a competitive match, Pierce came back from a first set loss in her match against Roberta Spencer to win in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. “I just kept saying to myself, ‘I’m not going to lose this match,’” Pierce said. Pierce’s comeback victory in the match came as no surprise to Ingram, who praised her growth and maturity. “When Saber is looking for a way to win, she’ll find one,” Ingram said. “She got frustrated early on in the match, but she didn't give up and pulled the match out.” In a battle of two nationally-ranked players, the Aggies’ Jessica Roland, ranked No. 73, defeated No. 60 Katrin Gaber, 7-6, 6-2. The Frogs nearly got past this loss to gain four points in singles play, when junior Rosa Perez jumped out to a first set victory over Ashley Hedberg. Perez was up in the second set 2-1, but Hedberg proceeded to win 11 straight matches to notch the victory for the Aggies, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. “Ashley Hedberg is a very good player,” Ingram said. “Rosa tried everything that she could, but she (Hedberg) was hitting winners all over the place.” Ingram believed that Perez played as well as she could, but was beaten by a better player. “There’s a difference between losing and getting beat,” Ingram said. “When you lose, you make mistakes. But when you get beat, you play as well as you can, but can not pull out the victory. That’s what happened today.” With eight days before their next match against Baylor, Ingram admits that there are a few things that his team needs to work on before taking on the Bears. The Frogs were set to take on the Texas-Arlington this Thursday, but the match has been rescheduled for April 8. The Frogs return to action against No. 21 Baylor, in a 2 p.m. match Tuesday, Feb. 12 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. Quinten
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