Frogs Hit the Courts Against Lamar on Wednesday
3/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 8, 2011
FORT WORTH -- TCU's women's tennis team is in action for the third time in five days Wednesday when it hosts in-state foe Lamar for a 2 p.m., matchup at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Wednesday's match is the fourth of six-straight home matches for the Horned Frogs, who are 0-3 on the current home stand. The Cardinals are the first unranked team on TCU's schedule since squaring off with UTPA in the season opener. Overall, the Frogs are 1-5 this season.
TCU's No. 1 doubles tandem of Federica Denti and Katariina Tuohimaa has led the way for TCU this spring, amassing a 4-2 record. Last Saturday, they took care of Ana-Maria Constantinescu and Alice Radu of Oklahoma, who were ranked No. 62 coming into the match.
In singles, freshman Olivia Smith holds a 4-2 record this spring. After being thrust into the No. 2 singles spot last Monday, Smith picked up a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win. TCU's No. 1 player, Tuohimaa, won her first match of the spring against a ranked opponent last Saturday when she downed the 79th-ranked Constantinescu of OU, 6-2, 7-6 (3).
Lamar enters Wednesday's match boasting an 8-0 record overall. The Cardinals have left the state of Texas just twice this season. In its last match, Lamar grabbed a 7-0 win over Stephen F. Austin.
Lamar's trio of seniors, Mariaryeni Gutierrez, Kaltrina Harbuzi and Diana Mendez, are each 8-0 in singles action this spring. Gutierrez and Harbuzi also join to make up the nation's No. 57 doubles duo and are 6-0 at No. 1 doubles this spring.
During the fall, TCU's Tuohimaa and Denti took down Gutierrez and Harbuzi, 8-2, in the semifinal round of the HEB Baylor Invitational. It was the second tournament in which the TCU tandem had become doubles partners.
The Frogs are 5-0 in the all-time series with Lamar, with the most recent matchup being a 7-2 win in Fort Worth on Feb. 18, 2000. The Frogs and Cardinals hooked it up for three-straight years from 1981-1983. Lamar's three points in the 1983 matchup are the most the Cardinals have scored against TCU.
