Frogs To Host No. 44 Rice and No. 19 Tulane
4/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 7, 2005
THIS WEEK'S ACTION
The No. 17 TCU women's tennis team will play two home matches this week at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The Frogs will host No. 44 Rice (12-5) on Friday at 2 p.m. and No. 19 Tulane (15-5) on Saturday at noon. Both matches will be held on the Bernard J. "Tut" Bartzen Varsity Courts.
LIVE MATCH SCORING
Live match scoring for home matches via the Internet is back for a second season this spring. It is featured on the official Web site of TCU athletics, www.GoFrogs.com. Updates from the match are given periodically as the players progress and the order of finish, along with match notes, are also available on the page.
LAST WEEK'S ACTION
The Frogs extended its winning streak to four matches with victories over Conference USA and in-state rival Houston and No. 29 South Alabama to improve to 16-2 this season.
On Saturday, TCU picked up its first victory over a C-USA opponent this season when it beat the Cougars, 5-2. The team swept the doubles point to jump out to a 1-0 advantage and then picked up victories at the top four spots in the line-up.
A day later, the Frogs pounded the Jaguars, 6-1. TCU claimed the doubles point when Paige Brown and Karla Mancinas kept their record perfect by beating Dijana Stanic and Dominika Nemcovicova, 9-7. In singles, then-No. 25 Story Tweedie-Yates picked up her 12th win over a ranked opponent this season by beating then-No. 78 Ana Rupic, 6-3, 6-1. The Frogs also got victories at two through four and six in the line-up.
FROGS JUMP TO 17TH IN ITA RANKINGS
TCU jumped three spots to 17th in the latest ITA team rankings that were released on April 5. The previous two weeks the team had held steady at 20th. Individually, Story Tweedie-Yates jumped six spots to 19th in singles and Helena Besovic moved up four spots to 52nd. In doubles, Ana Cetnik and Tweedie-Yates fell from 36th to 44th in the country despite having a 15-1 overall record.
MORE HONORS FOR TWEEDIE-YATES
Story Tweedie-Yates was honored as the C-USA Player of the Week for the third time this spring on April 5. The senior also earned the accolade on Feb. 22 and Mar. 15. In addition, she was named the December Player of the Month in the fall.
SERIES HISTORY
The Frogs have won seven straight matches against Rice to take a 20-11 advantage in the all-time series. Last season, TCU pounded the Owls, 6-1, in Houston. The last time that Rice was victorious over the Frogs came during the 1999 season when it won, 5-4.
The Green Waves have won the last four meetings to cut TCU's lead to 9-5 in the all-time series. Tulane has defeated the Frogs two times in each of the last two years, which includes victories in the previous two C-USA Championship finals. TCU last won in the series in 2002 when it claimed the 4-0 victory. Coach Borelli is 0-4 all-time against Tulane.
DOUBLES DOMINATION
This season in doubles, TCU has claimed the point in 16-of-17 matches. (The doubles against Pepperdine was rained out). When the Frogs come away with the initial point in the match, the team wins at the .937 clip as it is 15-1 this season. The only loss while winning the point came in the tight, 4-3, loss to then-No. 5 Southern California.
A GRAND OLE "STORY"
Story Tweedie-Yates is now 12-4 this season when facing players that are listed among the ITA singles rankings. This week, the senior could face two additional ranked opponents when she faces players from Rice and Tulane.
ROLLIN'
Senior Story Tweedie-Yates brings an 11-match winning streak in singles into this weekend's competition. The streak is the longest this season for a TCU player.
In doubles, Ana Cetnik and Tweedie-Yates have a nine-match streak. The pair has won 15-of-16 matches together this spring.
Seniors Paige Brown and Karla Mancinas have the second longest streak in doubles as they have won all seven of their matches as a duo this spring.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Frogs, who are 9-1 at home this season, have three additional matches at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center to close out the regular season. In addition, the team will host the C-USA Championships on April 21-24.
PAINTING TEXAS PURPLE
TCU is now 6-1 against teams from the Lone Star State this season after it defeated Houston last Saturday. The Frogs will host their last state rival of the regular season on Friday when Rice comes to Fort Worth for a 2 p.m. match.
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.
BORELLI BREAKDOWN
Head Coach Dave Borelli has a 346-65 (.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 43-20 (.683) mark, which includes a 28-6 record at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center, an 13-12 mark on the road and a 3-2 record on neutral courts.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
Rice comes to Fort Worth with a national ranking of 44th after it has won six of its last seven matches to run its record to 12-5 overall. The only hiccup came on March 19 against Tulane when they fell 4-3.
The Owls have one singles player, Blair DiSesa, ranked in the ITA rankings. DiSesa, who is ranked 82nd, has a 21-12 record this season and she has been named the WAC Player of the Week on three separate occassions.
SCOUTING THE GREEN WAVE
Tulane enters the match with a 15-5 overall record and a No. 19 national ranking. The Green Wave started the season 2-4, but they are 13-1 since Feb. 5. Tulane's last victory came on April 3 over Sacramento State, 4-3, while its last loss came on March 6 against William and Mary, 5-2.
The Green Wave have three singles players in the ITA singles rankings. Jenny Kuehn is 46th with a 16-8 overall record on the year. Nancy Kockott is ranked 97th with a 7-7 mark in duals, and Julie Smekodub is 118th with a 11-3 dual record.
In doubles, Tulane has two pairs ranked among the top-60. Smekodub and Kuehn are the 34th ranked duo as they have posted a 11-2 record in duals this spring. Sisters, Maria and Daria Ivanov are 46th with an 11-10 overall mark.
Players Mentioned
