TCU
MWC Championships - San Diego State
BACK TO BACK! Frogs Defend MWC Tourney Crown
5/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 1, 2010
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Sophomore Kayla Duncan showcased her talents with the pressure on her, leading the No. 64 TCU women's tennis team its second-straight MWC Championship tournament title with a thrilling 4-3 win over San Diego State Saturday at the Frank and Vicki Fertitta Tennis Complex. The Horned Frogs had to endure their second four and a half hour match of the weekend to claim its sixth overall MWC Championship.
TCU improved to 10-16 overall on the spring and picked up the third MWC tournament title since joining the league in 2005-06. The Frogs earned regular-season crowns in 2006, '07 and '08 and have now claimed tournament accolades in 2006, '09 and '10.The last time a school has ever swept both the men's and women's MWC tournament honors came in 2006 by the Frogs.
"Our kids are all heart and you never underestimate the heart of a champion," TCU head coach Jefferson Hammond said. "I'm so proud of this team. It's just amazing the guts, stamina, perseverance and discipline that they possess. This is just the pinnacle of what you work for all season. I'm am just so happy to be a part of TCU, because it is a special place, which just makes everything so special."
The evening began with the Aztecs claiming the doubles point with wins at the Nos. 2 and 3 courts. SDSU's team of Julia Trunk and Julia Wais proved to be too much for TCU's tandem of Idunn Hertzberg and Nina Munch-Soegaard, cruising to an 8-2 win from the middle slot, while the Aztecs clinched the early 1-0 advantage with the duo of Alicia Aguilar and Olivia Colman displacing the Frogs' squad of Maria Babanova and Gaby Mastromarino from the third flight, 8-4.
TCU pulled the match to a 1-1 tie to begin singles action, as Hertzberg made quick work of Roxanne Ellison from the No. 4 position, 6-2, 6-2. The victory was the Oslo, Norway product's sixth of the season against a MWC opponent.
SDSU broke the 1-1 tie with Sierra Ellison taking the final five games in the second set to dismiss TCU sophomore Shalini Sahoo from the fifth flight, 6-0, 7-5.
The lead wouldn't last long for the Aztecs, thanks to Mastromarino's three-set comeback at the No. 6 court over Emma Cioffi. After dropping the opening frame in ugly fashion, the sophomore from Tequesta, Fla., picked her game up to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, knotting the team score at 2-2. Mastromarino has been a solid rock for the Frogs down the stretch of the season, nailing down her eighth-straight victory Saturday.
Riding the momentum, No. 56 Munch-Soegaard decided to join the party with a straight-set 6-3, 7-6 (5) win of her own at the top court against No. 61 Trunk. After jumping out to a 5-2 lead in the second-set tiebreaker, it seemed as if Munch-Soegaard was going to have to battle through a third frame, before she claimed the match with the final two points. With the win, the 2010 all-MWC selection pushed her career ledger to 95-44 to move one win shy of matching former Frog Teresa Dobson for the fifth-most victories in school history.
With the Frogs now up 3-2, Tuohimaa had a chance to put the Aztecs away from the No. 2 position, but she was met by a tough opponent in MWC Freshman of the Year, Alicia Aguilar. Tuohimaa dropped the opening set, only to bounce back in the second frame with ease and battled to a 5-5 score in the third stanza. However, Aguilar got the best of TCU's junior, pushing the team score to 3-3 with a three-set victory, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
With not only the tournament crown hanging in the balance, the crowd began to huddle around the No. 3 court to see whether No. 113 Duncan or Wais would send their respective team into the 2010 NCAA Championships. By the time that the match between Tuohimaa and Aguilar was finished, the match between Duncan and Wais had moved into the third set with the Aztec serving with a 2-1 advantage.
Duncan would soon lose the next game, falling behind, 3-1. However, the Winston-Salem, N.C., native bounced back to hold serve and break Wais on the following game to tie the match at 3-3. Undaunted, Wais would bow her neck to break Duncan's serve in the following game to take a 4-3 lead, only to have the TCU sophomore answer with a break of her own and followed by holding serve to take a 5-4 lead in the third set.
Not to be outdone, Wais gave it all she had and found a way to hold her serve to move the match to 5-5 and take a 6-5 advantage in the next game. Duncan pushed the match into a third-set tiebreaker by holding off Wais' serving attempt to end the match for good.
In the tiebreaker, Wais jumped on the board with the first two points and then watched Duncan double-fault to give the SDSU player a 3-1 lead. As Duncan kept fighting to cut into Wais' lead, she soon found herself down, 5-3, two points away from having the season end on her court. At that point, the 2010 All-MWC singles selection hit a hot streak and found a way to bring home the next four points and win the match for the Frogs.
TCU will now have to wait and see where it will play the opening round of the 2010 NCAA Championships, May 14-16. The selection show is set to air on ESPNEWS, Tuesday, May 4.
No. 64 TCU 4, No. 67 San Diego State 3
May 1, 2010
MWC Championships Finals -- Las Vegas, Nevada
Frank and Vicki Fertitta Tennis Complex
Singles
1. No. 56 Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU) def. No. 61 Julia Trunk (SDSU) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
2. No. 96 Alicia Aguilar (SDSU) def. Katarina Tuohimaa (TCU) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
3. *No. 113 Kayla Duncan (TCU) def. Julia Wais (SDSU) 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (5)
4. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU) def. Roxanne Ellison (SDSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Sierra Ellison (SDSU) def. Shalini Sahoo (TCU) 6-0, 7-5
6. Gaby Mastromarino (TCU) def. Emma Cioffi (SDSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
1. No. 47 Kayla Duncan/Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU) def. Roxanne Ellison/Sierra Ellison (SDSU), 8-2
2. Julia Trunk/Julia Wais (SDSU) def. Idunn Hertzberg/Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU), 8-0
3. Alicia Aguilar/Olivia Colman (SDSU) vs. Maria Babanova/Gaby Mastromarino (TCU), 8-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3*); Singles (4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3*)
*—clinched team victory
Players Mentioned
