TCU
BYU
Frogs Fall Short Against BYU, 4-3
4/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 17, 2010
ALBUQUERQUE - The TCU women's tennis team dropped its third-straight 4-3 decision Saturday, falling to Mountain West Conference foe BYU at the Linda Estes Tennis Center. Sophomore Shalini Sahoo made her Horned Frog debut against the Cougars, playing singles and doubles after recovering from a knee injury.
"This was a very tight match, it could have gone either way," TCU head coach Jefferson Hammond said. "Today was Shalini's first collegiate match and first competitive match in 15 months and she handled the pressure extremely well. She is a great fighter and she is really going to help us. BYU has Price back in the lineup and they are going to be a contender in the tournament without a doubt. Today was our first loss in 16 tries in Albuquerque - a pretty good run with 15 straight in five years.""
BYU opened the doubles action with a quick 8-3 win from the middle court over the TCU team of Maria Babanova and Nina Munch-Soegaard. The Frogs came back to earn a victory from the top court with the No. 50 duo of Kayla Duncan and Katariina Tuohimaa upending the Cougars' 30th-ranked tandem of McCall Jones and Megan Price, 8-5.
On the final doubles court, TCU's team of Idunn Hertzberg and Shalini Sahoo found themselves down 6-4 to BYU's pairing of Elizaveta Ezhova and Chie Hayasaka before pushing the match into a tiebreaker. In a match that lasted over an hour and a half, BYU pulled through to take the doubles point, winning in the tiebreaker 9-8 (4).
TCU wouldn't let the Cougars hold on to the lead for long once singles play got going, as Hertzberg snared her third MWC win of the season with a decisive 6-1, 6-1 victory against Elle Carney from the fourth flight.
"I'm really happy to see Idunn play a really nice match," Hammond said.
With the team score knotted at 1-1, BYU took advantage of a 6-2, 6-0 win from Ezhova from the No. 6 position, while No. 35 McCall Jones took care of No. 52 Munch-Soegaard from the top court, 6-0, 7-6 (5). The Cougars' Megan Price clinched the team win, taking down Sahoo in a tightly contested match from the No. 5 slot, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Tuohimaa followed through with a three-set win over Kristina Doerr from the second flight, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 10-8. The Helsinki, Finland product made only her second appearance from the No. 2 position and kept her unbeaten MWC record in tact, moving to 6-0 against the league. Sophomore Kayla Duncan rounded out the evening with an impressive three-set victory over Hayasaka from the No. 3 court, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
TCU (6-15, 3-3 MWC) will have to make some quick adjustments before concluding the regular season with a Sunday doubleheader against No. 42 Utah and New Mexico on April 18.
BYU (9-12, 5-3) def. TCU (6-15, 3-3 MWC), 4-3
SINGLES
1. No. 35 McCall Jones (BYU) def. No. 52 Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU), 6-0, 7-6 (5)
2. Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU) def. Kristina Doerr (BYU), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 10-8
3. No. 92 Kayla Duncan (TCU) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU) def. Elle Carney (BYU), 6-1, 6-1
5. Megan Price (BYU) def. Shalini Sahoo (TCU), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
6. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) def. Maria Babanova (TCU), 6-2, 6-0
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 1, 5*, 2, 3
DOUBLES
1. No. 50 Duncan/Tuohimaa (TCU) def. No. 30 Jones/Price (BYU), 8-5
2. Doerr/Carney (BYU) def. Babanova/Munch-Soegaard (TCU), 8-3
3. Ezhova/Hayasaka (BYU) def. Hertzberg/Sahoo (TCU), 9-8 (4)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*
Players Mentioned
