Horned Frog netters face familiar foe Tulsa
By Quinten Boyd
Skiff Staff

The TCU women’s tennis team will play the role as the host, and more importantly, the top seed in the Conference USA Women’s Tennis Championships, starting April 18.

David Dunai/SKIFF STAFF Junior Rosa Perez returns the ball in Wednesday’s match against SMU. The Frogs will play Tulsa at noon on Saturday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

However, the Frogs must take on an old conference foe before focusing on their new conference.

The Horned Frog netters (16-4, 2-0 C-USA) close out their regular season Saturday against No. 58 Tulsa (14-7). Match time is set for noon at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

Last year, the Frogs defeated the Golden Hurricane 4-1 in the Western Athletic Conference semifinals. The Frogs went on to win the conference championship.

Head coach Roland Ingram said that his team will be ready to take on the Golden Hurricane.

“At this point, we can’t afford to underestimate anyone,” Ingram said. “We have to stay focused and play hard.”

Although Tulsa has 14 wins on the season, 11 of those victories have come at their home court.

The Golden Hurricane has only a 3-6 record on the road. Their only ranked player, junior Alicia Pillay (No. 97 in the nation), currently holds a 27-10 record in singles play, including an upset victory over No. 12-ranked Sarah Borwell of Houston. Fellow junior Aleksandra Durska currently holds a 28-10 record in singles play.

In their last match, the Golden Hurricane pulled out a close victory over Tulane, 4-3. The match was decided by Pillay’s three-set victory at one singles.

The Frogs are in the middle of a six-match winning streak since falling to South Alabama on March 12.

In their last match Wednesday, the Frogs rolled over Metroplex-rival Southern Methodist, 6-1. However, the Lady Frog netters have only a 5-4 record at home.

Their dominance in doubles continues, though, as the Lady Frogs have won the doubles point 14 times this season, only losing once.

Ingram said that it was important for his team to be well-rested before Saturday’s match.

“We want to maintain our status of play,” Ingram said. “We’ve been playing good tennis at singles and doubles, but we don’t want to practice too much. If we play well, and we stay focused, we’ll win.”

Quinten Boyd
q.m.boyd@student.tcu.edu

credits

TCU Daily Skiff © 2002