TCU
NCAA Championships
No. 16 Frogs fall to No. 1 Cardinal
5/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 19, 2006
STANFORD, Calif. - The 16th-ranked TCU women's tennis team's 12-match win streak and season came to a close on Thursday night at Taube Stadium after suffering a 4-0 setback to top-ranked Stanford in the Sweet 16. The Frogs finished the 2006 campaign with a record of 23-7 to go along with a Mountain West Conference regular-season and tournament championship.
TCU saw much success during the year as it became the first women's team to host the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the first to advance to the Sweet 16 and grabbed two conference titles.
"I thought it was a great season and great effort," stated TCU head coach Dave Borelli. "We beat several Top 20 teams and we are ranked higher this year. I was really pleased that we were there. Again, we just need to keep getting better, which is our goal, and win some rounds beyond the Sweet 16."
With the win, Stanford extended its win streak to 83 matches and 103 straight at Taube Stadium.
The Cardinal gained a 1-0 advantage in the match after taking victories at courts No. 1 and No. 3. In an extremely competitive contest on No. 1, the top-ranked doubles team of Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey outlasted the 14th-ranked duo of senior Helena Besovic and junior Ana Cetnik, 8-6.
Ledla Hodzic and Jessica Nguyen posted an 8-4 win over the sophomore tandem of Nicole Leimbach and Kewa Nichols to clinch the doubles point.
Sophomore Andrea Morgado and freshman Anna Sydorska held a 6-5 advantage over the 22nd-ranked team of Celia Durkin and Amber Liu before the match was abandoned due to the Cardinal clinching the point.
"We had a great chance to win the doubles," Borelli continued. "We were right there with them all the way. It certainly would have helped with the momentum. I think when we lost that, Stanford got a little looser and played well. If we would have won the doubles point, it would have put a little pressure on them. They were real tough."
28th-ranked Besovic saw her 19-match win streak come to an end at the hands of No. 5 Barnes at court No. 2 (6-1, 6-2). With the win, the Cardinal moved to a 2-0 lead in the contest. Besovic, the 2006 ITA Southwest Region Senior of the Year, finished the 2005-06 campaign with a record of 30-8. The Sarajevo, Bosnia, product will compete in the NCAA singles competition and the doubles tournament alongside Cetnik.
Stanford's Theresa Logar, currently ranked No. 10 in the ITA singles poll, moved the Cardinal within one point of the victory with a 6-2, 6-1 win over 115th-ranked Sydorska. In her first season with the Horned Frogs, Sydorska posted a record of 24-8. She was named the Mountain West Conference and ITA Southwest Region Freshman of the Year for her efforts during the 2005-06 campaign.
52nd-ranked Whitney Deason closed the door on the match with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Nichols at No. 5.
No. 1 Stanford def. No. 16 TCU, 4-0
Singles
1. No. 8 Amber Liu (SU) vs. No. 15 Nicole Leimbach (TCU) 6-3, 5-2 DNF
2. No. 5 Alice Barnes (SU) def. No. 28 Helena Besovic (TCU) 6-1, 6-2
3. No. 10 Theresa Logar (SU) def. No. 115 Anna Sydorska (TCU) 6-2, 6-1
4. No. 11 Anne Yelsey (SU) vs. Ana Cetnik (TCU) 6-0, 5-5 DNF
5. No. 52 Whitney Deason (SU) def. Kewa Nichols (TCU) 6-1, 6-2 DNF
6. No. 34 Celia Durkin (SU) vs. Gloriann Lopez (TCU) 6-2, 3-3 DNF
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 5
Doubles
1. No. 1 Barnes/Yelsey (SU) def. No. 14 Besovic/Cetnik (TCU) 8-6
2. Morgado/Sydorska (TCU) vs. Durkin/Liu (SU) 6-5 DNF
3. Hodzic/Nguyen (SU) def. Leimbach/Nichols (TCU) 8-4
Order of Finish: 3, 1
Players Mentioned
