TCU Women’ Tennis Remains Undefeated In Big 12
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STILLWATER, Okla. – The No. 32 TCU women’s tennis team continued their undefeated run in Big 12 play with a 5-2 victory over No. 33 Oklahoma State Friday at the Debois Tennis Complex.
The win takes the Horned Frogs to 17-2 overall and 6-0 in Big 12 play. The loss dropped the Cowgirls 12-6 overall and 4-3 in conference play. Dating back to last season, TCU has won 13 consecutive conference matches.
“We just want to focus on our matches one at a time,” TCU head coach Dave Borelli said. “We have the chance to do something very special for this program, and TCU. We have to continue to go out and play well in each match, because these are good teams we can lose to. If we believe in ourselves and work hard, the results will continue to come.”
After dropping the doubles point to OSU, the Horned Frogs got off to a fast start in singles play. At No. 3 singles, Simona Parajova shutout C.C. Sardinha of Oklahoma State in the first set 6-0 before cruising to a 6-3 second set victory to get TCU on the board in the team standings. Parajova has now won 10 of her last 11 singles matches and is 6-0 in Big 12 singles action.
“We are struggling in the doubles,” Borelli noted. “We need to play with more emotion in
doubles to help our confidence. The team continues to play so well in singles. We played with a vengeance in singles.”
Next onto the board for the Horned Frogs was Millie Nichols at No. 6 singles. Returning to play after sitting out the home matches against Kansas and Kansas State last weekend, Nichols the first set over the Cowgirls’ Karyn Guttormsen 6-3. She fell into an early deficit in the second set but rallied to close out the second set 7-5.
Monika Sirilova continued her undefeated play in Big 12 singles with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kanyapat Narattana at No. 5 singles to move the Horned Frogs ahead 3-1 on the team board. The win was Sirilova’s 10th in a row in singles.
The Cowgirls were able to get a point back at No. 1 singles as No. 72 Malika Rose knocked off Stefanie Tan to make it 3-2. However, the Horned Frogs locked up the match at No. 4 singles as Federica Denti took down Maria Alvarez 7-5, 6-2.
Olivia Smith, ranked No. 107 in the country, put a nice touch on the meet with a gritty 6-4, 7-5 win over Meghan Blevins to get to the final 5-2 team score.
In doubles, the pairing of Denti and Kelsey Sundaram at No. 2 doubles got the Horned Frogs their lone win with an 8-6 decision over OSU’s Blevins and Guttormsen. The Cowgirls picked up 8-4 wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles to clinch the doubles point.
“Federica and Kelsey played real well,” Borelli concluded. “We just have to keep focusing on what we need to do in doubles to improve.”
TCU will look to continue its undefeated Big 12 season Sunday at No. 36 Oklahoma at noon in the Headington Tennis Center in Norman. Live scoring will be available at soonersports.com.
