TCU Women’s Tennis Tops UTA 6-1
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FORT WORTH – The TCU women’s tennis team returned to the win column Wednesday night with a 6-1 win over UT-Arlington under the lights of the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
The win improved the No. 49 Horned Frogs to 5-3 on the year, including a 4-2 mark on their home courts. The visiting Mavs fell to 4-4. TCU won for the 15th time in 15 tries against UTA all-time.
“It was a good effort today,” TCU coach Dave Borelli said. “I thought we were able to find a way to come back in some matches. We need to be able to do that to become good players. It was good to see Simona come back in her match after being down a set. I think she learned a big lesson that she’s never out of it. Stefanie battled back from down in the second set. Both of our freshmen showed a lot today. That’s a big step for them and their development.”
TCU won the doubles to open the match with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles. Gaby Mastromarino and Simona Parajova struck first for the Frogs at No. 3, scoring an 8-2 triumph over Christine Foote and Liucija Smaizyte. The TCU tandem improved to 4-0 this spring.
After UTA got even with a win at No. 1 doubles, juniors Federica Denti and Kelsey Sundaram finished off the doubles point with an 8-2 win over Giada D’Ortona and Natalia Mayuk to give TCU a 1-0 lead.
Sophomore Gabi Barbosa, in just the third match of her TCU career, put the Frogs ahead 2-0 after her
opponent retired prior to the second set at No. 6 singles. Barbosa had won the first set 6-0.
Shortly at the conclusion of Barbosa’s match, Olivia Smith pushed the TCU advantage to 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 dismantling of Verena Scott at No. 2 singles. The Bath, England, native snapped a four-match skid with the win.
Denti won her second-straight match when she took down D’ortona, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 4 singles. In scoring the fourth team point and clinching the match for the Frogs, the Bellano, Italy, native improved to 5-1 record this spring, TCU’s best mark in singles.
Stefanie Tan ran the TCU lead to 5-0 on the scoreboard with her 6-2, 7-5 victory over Martinez-Romero at the top court. In the second set, the Frog freshman trailed 5-2 before rattling off five-straight games to win the match.
Parajova scored TCU’s final point of the night with a comeback win at No. 3 singles. She dropped the first set 6-4, but battled off match points to force a tiebreak in the second set. Eventually, the Zvolen, Slovakia, native tallied a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (12) victory over Mayuk.
TCU returns to action Saturday with its third-straight match at the Friedman Tennis Center. Princeton pays a visit to Fort Worth for a 12 p.m., match.
