Frogs Head To California For Two Tough Matches
3/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 22, 2005
THIS WEEK'S ACTION
The No. 20 TCU women's tennis team hits the road for its final three road matches beginning this week in California. On Wednesday, the Frogs will face No. 5 Southern California at Marks Tennis Stadium beginning at 1:30 p.m. On Thursday, the team will face No. 31 Pepperdine at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center also at 1:30 p.m.
LAST WEEK'S ACTION
The TCU women's tennis team defeated Iowa and Middle Tennessee State to improve to 12-1 overall this season.
On Friday, the team defeated the Hawkeyes, 5-2. The Frogs claimed the doubles point and picked up wins at the top three spots in the line-up and at No. 5. Then-No. 52 Helena Besovic clinched the match with her 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 91 Hilary Mintz at the two line.
A day later, TCU shutout Middle Tennessee State, 7-0, to record its third shutout this season. Then-No. 52 Ana Cetnik and Story Tweedie-Yates dominated then-No. 39 Jennifer Klaschka and Ann-Kristin Siljestrom, 8-2, to improve to 11-1 this season. In singles, the team won all six of the matches in straight sets.
FROGS MOVE UP A SPOT TO 20TH IN LATEST RANKINGS
TCU moved up one spot to 20th in the latest ITA rankings. This week, the order of the rankings were determined by the computers for the first time this season. Individually, Story Tweedie-Yates came in ranked 25th, while Helena Besovic was 56th. In doubles, Ana Cetnik and Tweedie-Yates moved up and are now ranked 32 in the nation.
FROGS KEEP WINNING; OFF TO BEST START SINCE 1982-83
The Frogs have posted two six-match winning streaks this season to post a 12-1 overall record. The record is the best since the 1982-83 season when the team had a 15-1 record in their first 16 matches.
SERIES HISTORY
TCU dropped the first match in the all-time series with Southern California last season in Los Angeles. The Frogs swept the three matches to win the doubles point, but then the Trojans won all six singles matches to win 6-1. The meeting was Coach Borelli's first against his alma mater.
Against the Waves, TCU trails the all-time series 2-1. In the last meeting during the 2003 season, Pepperdine came away with the 4-3 victory in Malibu. Coach Borelli has a staggering 20-2 record against the Waves in his coaching career.
TCU's only win in the series with Pepperdine came in during 1987 season when it topped the Waves, 6-3, in Fort Worth.
TROJAN TIES
Head Coach Dave Borelli and Assistant Coach Jefferson Hammond will be returning to their old stomping grounds on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Borelli was a four-year letterwinner on the men's tennis team at USC from 1971-74. He then took over the women's tennis program as head coach for 14 seasons, where he led the Trojans to seven national championships.
Meanwhile, Hammond spent the previous two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach with the USC men's tennis team. Last season, he helped guide the Trojans to a co-PAC-10 Championship and to the NCAA team semifinals.
ROAD SUCCESS
The Frogs hit the road for the final three matches of the regular season this week and next. Thus far, the team has been perfect away from Fort Worth as it boasts a perfect 5-0 record.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
The Frogs have already achieved two program firsts this season. On Feb. 13, TCU defeated No. 7 Clemson, 4-3, to top the highest ranked opponent in school history. As a result on Feb. 15, the Frogs were 14th in the ITA team rankings, a new high for the program.
TALL TASKS AHEAD
Story Tweedie-Yates and Helena Besovic will face two of their highest ranked opponents when they compete against USC on Wednesday.
Tweedie-Yates, who is 4-2 against ranked players this spring, will face No. 11 Nicole Leimbach. The highest ranked player the TCU senior has topped this season was then-No.9 Aibika Kalsarieva of Kentucky at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championship.
Besovic will be facing the highest ranked foe of her TCU career when she faces No. 10 Lindsey Nelson. The junior is 9-3 versus ranked opponents overall this season. Then-No. 20 Petra Dizdar was the highest ranked player that Besovic has defeated last fall at the Baylor Invitational.
STREAKIN'
Helena Besovic and Story Tweedie-Yates enter Wednesday's match riding winning streaks. Besovic is on a season-high eight match winning streak as her last loss came on Feb. 17 in a match against Texas A&M. Tweedie-Yates, meanwhile, is one a six-match winning streak, which dates back to Feb. 27.
SWITCH-A-ROO
Last week in doubles, the Frogs switched up the teams in the bottom two spots in the line-up as Helena Besovic and Andrea Morgado teamed up for the first time this season. The pair dropped its first match against Iowa, but rebounded to top Ana-Maria Cibils and Emily Vest of MTSU, 8-4, on Saturday. At the three line, seniors Paige Brown and Karla Mancinas have teamed up only three times this season, but the pair is undefeated.
BORELLI BREAKDOWN
Head Coach Dave Borelli has a 342-64 (.842) record during his 16 year coaching career. He also has the most national titles of any active coach in the NCAA's (both men and women). Former Stanford Coach Dick Gould has the most titles with 17, but he retired at the end of the 2003-04 season.
In two years with the Frogs, Borelli has posted a 40-19 (.678) mark, which includes a 25-6 record at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center, an 11-11 mark on the road and a 3-2 record on neutral courts.
SCOUTING THE WOMEN OF TROY
USC enters the match as the No. 5 team in the country with a 9-1 overall record, which includes four shutouts. This season all of their victories have come over ranked opponents with their only loss coming at the hands of No. 1 Stanford, 5-2.
A pair of freshmen, Nicole Leimbach and Lindsey Nelson, are ranked in the top-11 in the nation in singles. Leimbach, who has a 7-3 spring record playing at the one line, is ranked 11. Nelson, who is undefeated this spring at two, is tenth.
In doubles, Leimbach and Caroline Vermeulen have played nine of the 10 matches at the top spot and the pair has a 3-6 record. Nelson and Ana Anastasiu have paired up at the two position. The tandem is 9-0 this spring and is ranked 34th in the country.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine enters Thursday's match with a 9-3 overall record and a No. 31 national ranking.. The Waves are riding a five-match winning streak as their last loss came to Baylor, 4-3, in Waco on Feb. 19. Pepperdine's other two losses came against USC (7-0) and UCLA (5-2).
Freshman Bianca Dulgheru is the lone Waves' player in the rankings as she is tied for 59th in the country. Dulgheru has an 11-1 record this spring playing primarily at the No. 3 position. Caroline Raba and Sylvia Kosakowski have played all 12 matches at the No. 1 spot this season in doubles compiling a 7-5 record.
