TCU
Utah
TCU posts 20th victory to advance to finals
4/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 25, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - Top-seeded TCU won its 13th consecutive match and 20th of the season with a 4-0 shutout of No. 4 Utah on Friday to advance to the Mountain West Conference championship match. The Frogs will face No. 2 UNLV on Saturday in the finals."We had a great comeback in the doubles, being down to match point at 7-4, and coming back to win in the tiebreaker," said TCU head coach Jefferson Hammond. "I'm very proud of our freshmen as they showed they are fearless competitors once again. It helped that Kewa Nichols found the handle early and got us that second point to give everyone else a boost. Our senior leadership has been excellent and really has made a difference."
The Frogs jumped out to the 1-0 lead after a tightly contested doubles match. TCU's Nina Munch-Soegaard and Maria Babanova led off with an 8-3 victory over Leigh Walsh and Karine Bourdages at the No. 3 position, while Utah's Emily Kwok and Elizabeth Ferris evened the match with an 8-5 victory over the 16th-ranked TCU tandem of Macall Harkins and Anna Sydorska.
Trailing 7-4, TCU's freshmen duo of Idunn Hertzberg and Katariina Tuohimaa stormed back, winning four consecutive games to force the tiebreaker, which they would win 7-5 to clinch the point. The Frog pair improved to 7-0 overall this season.
The Frogs turned it up a notch in singles play, claiming the first three matches in straight sets to seal the win.
Senior Kewa Nichols began the scoring with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Bourdages at the No. 5 position, while Hertzberg followed to put TCU up 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Andrea Maughan.
Munch-Soegaard, ranked No. 61 nationally, posted her sixth victory over a ranked opponent this season, downing No. 60 Ferris by a score of 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the match for TCU.
TCU will face No. 2 UNLV on Saturday at 2 p.m. CDT. Live stats can be found at www.themwc.com.
No. 1 TCU (20-4) def. No. 4 Utah (15-9), 4-0
SINGLES
1. No. 61 Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU) def. No. 60 Elizabeth Ferris (Utah) 6-4, 6-4
2. Macall Harkins (TCU) vs. Emily Kwok (Utah) 7-5, 4-3, unf.
3. Erin Monson (Utah) vs. No. 106 Anna Sydorska (TCU) 7-5, 4-5, unf.
4. Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU) vs. Leigh Walsh (Utah) 6-3, 3-2, unf.
5. Kewa Nichols (TCU) def. Karine Bourdages (Utah) 6-1, 6-2
6. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU) def. Andrea Maughan (Utah) 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 1*
DOUBLES
1. Kwok/Ferris (Utah) def. No. 16 Harkins/Sydorska (TCU) 8-5
2. Hertzberg/Tuohimaa (TCU) def. Monson/Maughan (Utah) 9-8(5)
3. Munch-Soegaard/Babanova (TCU) def. Walsh/Bourdages (Utah) 8-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*
*Clinching point
Players Mentioned
