TCU
NCAA Individual Championships
Duncan, Tuohimaa Fall in Three Sets at NCAAs
5/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 28, 2010
ATHENS, Ga.—TCU's Kayla Duncan and Katariina Tuohimaa put up a tough fight against the nation's third-ranked doubles team Friday before suffering a three-set defeat in the Round of 16 at the NCAA Women's Division I Individual Championships at Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
The Frog duo started fast against Notre Dame's Kristy Frilling and Kali Krisik by claiming the opening set, but the Irish players responded in strong fashion in the final two stanzas on their way to a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory. Frilling and Krisik improved to 34-2 overall this season with their 27th consecutive victory. The loss marked only the second in nine matches this season for TCU's pairing against a set of ranked opponents. The Frogs finished their campaign with a 20-10 overall record, including a 15-7 spring mark.
"We played a really nice first set, and then Notre Dame made some adjustments," head coach Jefferson Hammond said. "Ultimately, we had too many unforced errors, and you can't do that against a top-5 team and expect to win."
Duncan and Tuohimaa, ranked 46th nationally, made successful career debuts at the NCAA Individual Championships on Thursday with a win over Northwestern's 24th-ranked team of Elena Chernyakova and Lauren Lui in straight sets. The victory gave TCU a doubles team in the NCAA Round of 16 for the sixth consecutive season.
"I'm proud of the girls," Hammond said. "They put themselves in a position to do well today. It's difficult to sustain the level that they were playing at, but not impossible. Hopefully we'll know how to go about doing that next time."
The NCAA doubles appearance marked the end of a successful conclusion to the 2010 spring season for the TCU women that saw the team respond from a difficult start after playing one of the nation's toughest schedules. The Frogs turned around their season by winning the Mountain West Conference tournament title to advance to the NCAA Team Championships for the seventh straight season. Three players were selected for the NCAA individual competition for the second straight year in Duncan, Tuohimaa and senior Nina Munch-Soegaard, who earned an at-large bid to the national singles bracket.
