TCU
No. 8 Michigan
Frogs' Comeback Falls Short at No. 8 Michigan
2/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 24, 2010
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The No. 32 Horned Frog women's tennis team fell to No. 8 Michigan Wednesday, 4-3, in the indoor facility at the Varsity Tennis Center. TCU dropped to 1-5 for the year, while the Wolverines advanced to 7-3 overall.
"We started out a little slow in the doubles and we played pretty well in the second half of it, but not good enough to get the job done," TCU head coach Jefferson Hammond said. "We played really well at the top three singles positions and I was proud to see Nina pick up a top-20 win."
Michigan launched out to big leads on all three doubles courts, only to see TCU climb back to within one game on the last two courts. UM's Mimi Nguyen and Michelle Sulahian picked up the first doubles win, taking down TCU's team of Maria Babanova and Katariina Tuohimaa from the middle court, 8-4.
The Wolverines clinched the doubles point minutes later with an 8-5 decision on court three. TCU's squad of Idunn Hertzberg and Gaby Mastromarino found themselves down 5-0, before battling back to push the match to a 5-4. Michigan's tandem of Tania Mahtani and Denise Muresan proved to be too strong in the end, winning the match, 8-5.
After falling from the No. 5 court to begin singles action, TCU saw it's first point come from sophomore Kayla Duncan and her straight-set win over Rika Tatsuno from the second position. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native moved the Frogs to within one point from UM with her third win of the season.
TCU tried to ride the momentum from Duncan's win, but Hertzberg could not hold tie the score, dropping her match with Nguyen, 7-5, 6-3, to move the Wolverines one win away from clinching the victory.
Tuohimaa followed with her team-leading fourth win of the season, upending Mahtani from the middle court in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. Tuohimaa, a product of Helsinki, Finland, has picked up a pair of singles wins this week since earning her No. 56 ITA singles ranking.
With the overall score sitting at 3-2, Michigan clinched its seventh win of the season with Sulahian's three-set, comeback win over Babanova from the No. 6 position, 5-7, 6-4, 6-0.
In the final match of the evening, senior Nina Munch-Soegaard picked up a top-20 win from the top position, defeating No. 16 Muresan in a third-set tiebreaker, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6). The Amarillo, Texas product saved a match point when she was down 5-3 in the final set, driving her way to her initial win of the year. The victory is the first for the senior captain since upending No. 6 Fani Chifchieva on Feb. 8, 2009. The 2009 ITA All-American had surgery over the summer and didn't compete during the fall tournament season.
"It's been a long haul for Nina coming back," Hammond said. "She had to stop playing about a year ago and she is getting stronger and stronger as she goes. I'm really excited for her."
TCU will remain on the road, heading for Alabama and Auburn this weekend, Feb. 27-28. The Frogs will return to the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center to host Texas A&M and Illinois on March 6-7, respectively.
No. 8 Michigan def. No. 32 TCU, 4-3
SINGLES
1. Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU) d. No. 16 Denise Muresan (UM), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6)
2. No. 78 Kayla Duncan (TCU) d. Rika Tatsuno (UM), 6-1, 6-4
3. No. 56 Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU) d. Tania Mahtani (UM), 6-3, 7-5
4. Mimi Nguyen (UM) d. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU), 7-5, 6-3
5. Whitney Taney (UM) d. Gaby Mastromarino (TCU), 6-1, 6-1
6. Michelle Sulahian (UM) d. Maria Babanova (TCU), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
Order of Finish: 5, 2, 4, 3, 6*, 1
DOUBLES
1. Taney/Tatsuno (UM) d. No. 22 Munch-Soegaard/Duncan (TCU) , 8-5
2. Nguyen/Sulahian (UM) d. Tuohimaa/Babanova (TCU), 8-4
3. Mahtani/Muresan (UM) d. Hertzberg/Mastromarino (TCU), 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 2*, 1
Players Mentioned
