TCU Begins MWC Tourney Title Defense With BYU
4/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 26, 2011
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FORT WORTH -- The No. 4-seeded TCU women's tennis team begins play at the Mountain West Conference Tennis Championships on Thursday against No. 5-seed BYU at the University Tennis Complex in Fort Collins, Colo. First serve is set for 3 p.m., CT.
TCU has won five-straight MWC titles, including each of the last two tournament championships. The conference tournament champion earns an automatic bid to the 64-team NCAA Championships bracket, which will be unveiled next week.
The Horned Frogs (11-10, 5-3 Mountain West Conference) are winners of four in a row after getting their lineup back to full strength. TCU dropped conference matches on April 9 and 10 while playing without the services of sophomore Federica Denti, who was sidelined with an injury.
In the regular season matchup between the two schools, TCU picked up a 6-1 division to open its MWC schedule. The Purple and White won all three doubles matches and BYU scored its lone point in a three-set singles match.
Senior Katariina Tuohimaa and sophomore Olivia Smith both tallied 7-1 marks against MWC competition during the regular season, while Denti chipped in a 5-1 ledger. Current singles winning streaks are as follows: Smith (8), Denti (5), Shalini Sahoo (4), Gaby Mastromarino (3), Tuohimaa (3) and Maria Babanova (2).
In doubles, TCU has settled into its lineup of Babanova/Tuohimaa at No. 1 and Idunn Hertzberg/Mastromarino and Denti/Smith playing interchangeably at Nos. 2 and 3.
In five years as a member of the Mountain West Conferece, TCU has racked up a remarkable 12-2 record at the MWC tournament on its way to winning three conference tournament titles during that span. Additionally, TCU has advanced to at least the championship semifinals in all five years.
A year ago, as the No. 6 seed, TCU won three-straight 4-3 thrillers to win its second-straight tournament championship. The Frogs enter the 2011 tournament as the No. 4 seed after posting a 5-3 mark during the regular season.
Thursday's matchup will be the final time the two schools meet as members of the Mountain West Conference. BYU is set to leave the league at the completion of this season.
In the all-time series, TCU holds an 8-5 advantage. In their only meeting at the MWC Championships, TCU was a 4-0 winner in the 2006 championship match.
Players Mentioned
