Women’s tennis starts strong, succumbs to No. 21 Bears
Loss of doubles point vital for TCU in loss to Baylor
By Quinten Boyd
Staff Reporter

Tuesday’s women’s tennis match between TCU and Baylor was marked by intense play and momentum shifts. However, the final shift of momentum did not swing toward the Frogs.

Maria Adamczyk/PHOTO EDITOR Sophomore Saber Pierce tried to help the women’s tennis team overcome the loss of the doubles point against Baylor. Pierce defeated Baylor’s Frida Borjesson in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, at the No. 4 single spot.

The Bears, No. 21-ranked in the nation, won a tight match, 4-3, over the No. 23-ranked Frogs. The Bears concluded the match with three consecutive singles wins.
With the loss, the Horned Frogs fall to 3-2 on the young season. Baylor improves to 4-2 on the season.

The Frogs could not capture the doubles point for the second time in two matches, only notching one win. Katrin Gaber and Karla Mancinas defeated Daria Potapova and Paola Stephen 9-8 for the Frogs only victory in doubles.

“Doubles matches are really hurting us,” Head Coach Roland Ingram said. “It would be okay if we were playing well and falling short, but we aren’t doing that.”

The Frogs looked as if they were going to take the match behind three straight singles wins. Junior Rosa Perez defeated Potapova, 6-3, 7-5, and sophomore Saber Pierce defeated Frida Borjesson, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

To conclude the run, sophomore Paty Aburto, ranked No. 98 in the nation, defeated No. 29-ranked Katja Kovac, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, to put the Frogs up 3-1. However, the Bears pulled off three straight wins to win the match.

Mancinas fell to Barbora Blahutiakova, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, and Leoni Weirich fell short in her comeback attempt against Patricia Graf, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5. Finally, in the day’s deciding match, 60th-ranked Katrin Gaber was defeated by No. 43-ranked Vida Mulec, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

“This was a tough match,” Ingram said. “Leoni had set point against Graf and could have won the match, but she was just short.”

Ingram said that despite the loss of the doubles point, his team met tough competition that was a little more intense.

“Baylor’s a good team,” Ingram said. “They hit one more ball than we could run down and made few mistakes. We’ve got to be able to pull out the doubles point, though.”

The Frogs head to Lubbock on Friday to take part in the Texas Tech Tournament, which lasts the entire weekend. TCU opens with Texas Tech on Friday and face No. 59 New Mexico on Saturday. TCU ends the trip against No. 32 Florida International on Sunday.

Quinten Boyd
Q.M.Boyd@student.tcu.edu

credits

TCU Daily Skiff © 2002