WTEN Preview: NCAA Championship
5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas - The 2016 NCAA Division I Team Championship for the No. 37 TCU women's tennis team will begin on May 13, as the team is set to face No. 29 Wichita State at 10 a.m., CT, at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on the campus of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla.
The Horned Frogs (15-6) will open the first round against the Shockers (27-3) on Friday with No. 7 and host Miami and Quinnipiac playing in the other first round match at 1 p.m., CT. The winners of both matches will meet in the second round on Saturday, May 14 at 10 a.m., CT., with a chance to earn a spot in the NCAA Championship Team Finals that will be held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
TV Frogs
For the second time this season, the matches that TCU will participate in this weekend will be featured on television with fans able to stream the matches live on ESPN3. J. Webb Horton and Luis Fernando Manrique will be on the call for Friday's match against Wichita State.
TCU Notables
In its second season under the direction of head coach Lee Taylor Walker, TCU finished second in the Big 12 Conference and made the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship for the second straight season. The Frogs reached six wins in league matches for the third time in four years and have upended six ranked foes during the 2016 dual match season.
The Frogs have one individual ranking with Seda Arantekin and Caroline Wegner checking in at No. 34 in the Oracle/ITA doubles poll. The pair has won nine of the last 10 matches and have 21 wins thus far in the season and three victories over ranked foes. The duo were recently named to the All-Big 12 Doubles First Team marking the second straight honor for Arantekin.
In dual match singles action, Aleksandra Zenovka leads the way with an overall mark of 24-11 and wins in 11 of her last 13 matches. The 2016 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Olaya Garrido-Rivas strung together wins in nine straight matches before suffering a loss, but has rebounded with four straight victories to go up to 22-13 on the season and 7-1 in her last eight matches.
Scouting the Shockers
Wichita State is making its 10th overall NCAA Tournament appearance with all of them coming in the last 11 years. The Shockers' current No. 29 ranking is their highest-ever heading into the postseason. Wichita State recently won their eighth straight MVC title after going undefeated in conference action. The three losses the Shockers have suffered this season have been to No. 10 Texas A&M (4-3), No. 10 Oklahoma State (6-1) and No. 42 Arkansas (4-3).
Riding a 17-match winning streak, the Shockers are led by No. 92 Gabriela Porubin who is currently on an 11-match winning streak and sitting at 26-9 overall this season. All six singles players were named All-MVC in singles at their positions with Giulia Guidetti breaking a 32-year-old Wichita State record with a 38-5 overall record so far this season. Guidetti also has the team's longest winning streak at 17 straight matches.
Two the Shocker doubles pairs have surpassed the 20-win mark with Porubin and Julia Schiller sitting at 22-10 overall this season playing at the No. 1 position. Rebecca Pedrazzi and Aleksandra Trifunovic are 29-9 overall this season and have won 15 straight matches.
All-Time Series Record
TCU and Wichita State will be facing off for the 6th time in program history on Friday. The Frogs hold the advantage in the all-time series record with a 5-0 mark. The first meeting between the teams took place in 1984 with TCU winning the showdown, 7-2. Four of the five matches played between the two teams have taken place in Fort Worth. The match on Friday marks the first neutral site meeting between the Frogs and Wichita State. The last time the teams met was on March 9, 2013 in Fort Worth with TCU claiming a 6-0 victory.
Live Updates
Live results of the first and second round matches in Coral Gables, Fla., can be found at HurricaneSports.com. Final results and a recap of the TCU matches can be found on GoFrogs.com following the completion of the competition each day. In-match updates can be found by following TCU women's tennis on twitter (@TCUWomensTennis).
Players Mentioned
