TCU
Texas-Pan American
TCU Blanks UTPA in Season Opener
1/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 22, 2011
FORT WORTH - The No. 51-ranked TCU women's tennis team started its season on the right foot Saturday with a 7-0 win over UTPA at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
The Horned Frogs were straight-set winners in all of the singles matches and rolled to three quick victories in the doubles portion of the match.
"We're happy to start the season with a win," TCU coach Dave Borelli said. "This is such a great group to work with and I'm glad they were able to pick up this win. We've been working on our doubles play and I was happy with how we played today."
TCU won games early and often in the doubles competition, picking up two 8-1 wins at the Nos. 3 and 1 positions.
Junior Gaby Mastromarino and newcomer Olivia Smith struck first for the Frogs, scoring an 8-1 win at No. 3 over UTPA's Dana Nazarova and Zalina Nazarova.
Minutes later, TCU's No. 1 doubles team of Federica Denti and Katariina Tuohimaa clinched the doubles point for TCU with an 8-1 win of their own. Maria Babanova and Idunn Hertzberg added an 8-3 win after the doubles point was clinched for the Frogs.
Hertzberg and Denti both went right back to work, scoring 6-0, 6-0 wins to put TCU up 3-0. Hertzberg downed UTPA's Wanda Bequelin at No. 5 singles, while Denti picked up her win at No. 2 singles over Reetta Raty.
Mastromarino clinched the win for TCU at No. 6 singles. She was a 6-0, 6-1 winner on the far court of the Bartzen Varsity Courts over Dana Nazarova of UTPA.
Just after the Frogs had scored the four points to win the match, TCU's Shalini Sahoo got the best of Suncica Strkic for a 6-1, 6-1 triumph at No. 4 singles. No. 3 singles player Smith won her first match as a Frog, downing Zalina Nazarova by a score of 6-4, 6-1.
At No. 1 singles, Tuohimaa was a 6-4, 6-0 winner over Malin Andersen after falling behind early in the first set.
With the win, TCU improves to 1-0 on the season and 26-9 all-time in season openers, including a 4-1 mark under Borelli.
TCU returns to action Jan. 28 when it travels to the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Berkeley, Calif. The Frogs will take on St. Mary's in opening-round play.
No. 51 TCU 7, UTPA 0
Singles
No. 1 — Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU) def. Malin Andersen, 6-4, 6-0
No. 2 — Federica Denti (TCU) def. Reetta Raty, 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 — Olivia Smith (TCU) def. Zalina Nazarova, 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 — Shalini Sahoo (TCU) def. Suncica Strkic, 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 — Idunn Hertzberg (TCU) def. Wanda Bequelin, 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 — Gaby Mastromarino (TCU) def. Dana Nazarova, 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
No. 1 — Denti/Tuohimaa (TCU) def. Andersen/Raty, 8-1
No. 2 — Maria Babanova/Hertzberg (TCU) def. Bequelin/Strkic, 8-3
No. 3 — Mastromarino/Smith (TCU) def. D. Nazarova/Z. Nazarova, 8-1
Order of Finish:
Doubles - 3, 1*, 2
Singles — 2, 5, 6*, 4, 3, 1
Players Mentioned
