Women's Tennis Announces 2014-15 Slate
9/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU women's tennis coach Lee Taylor Walker announced the 2014-15 schedule on Wednesday, with the Horned Frogs set to take on at least 14 opponents who finished the 2013-14 season ranked nationally.
TCU, who finished the season ranked No. 53 in the country, will face at least 11 opponents who participated in the NCAA Championships last year, including a match on the road against 2014 national champion UCLA. The Frogs will compete against opponents from six different conferences and will host 11 matches at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in the spring of 2015.
"Our coaching staff and team have a combined eight new faces compared to a year ago," Walker said. "Regardless, our expectations are high and we expect to do great things. If Simona (Parajova) and Stefanie (Tan) can provide quality leadership and our younger players stay positive and coachable from beginning to end, then this schedule will prepare us to make a major run in post-season play."
The Frogs' schedule includes eight fall tournaments, beginning with the Midland Invitational on Sept. 12-14 in Midland, Texas. TCU's fall schedule also includes the Red Rock Pro Women's 50K Open in Las Vegas (Sept. 20-24), Riviera ITA All-American Championships in Los Angeles, Calif. (Sept. 27-Oct. 5), John Newcombe Women's Pro Challenge in New Braunfels (Oct. 25-29), the University of Houston Invite (Oct. 31-Nov. 2) and the South Seas Island Resort Women's 50K Pro Classic in Captive Island, Fla. (Nov. 1-5).
TCU will get a chance to play twice at the Hurd Tennis Center on the campus of Baylor in Waco, the site of both the 2015 Big 12 Championships and 2015 NCAA Championships, when they head to the Baylor Invitational (Oct. 3-5) and USTA/ITA Texas Regional Championships (Oct. 16-20).
TCU starts spring action on Jan. 18 for a match against Missouri, before participating in the ITA National Kick-Off Weekend in College Station, Texas, where the Frogs will take on Houston in the first round. Texas A&M and North Texas will also be on hand, with the winner of the four-team tournament advancing to the ITA National Indoor Championship at Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va., on Feb. 6-9.
The month of January ends with a road trip to Alabama on Jan. 31, before opening the month of February with a doubleheader at home against Louisiana Tech and UT Arlington on Feb. 10. The Frogs will then take a trip out west to California to take on two top-25 opponents - Pepperdine (Feb. 13) and UCLA (Feb. 14). TCU closes out the month with two home matches against 2014 NCAA Championship teams South Florida (Feb. 20) and Tulsa (Feb. 28), with a quick road trip up to Denton for a match against North Texas (Feb. 25) scheduled in between.
The start of March has the team hitting the road for five matches, beginning with Metroplex rival SMU on March 5. The Big 12 schedule will begin on the road with a trip to Kansas (Mar. 13) and Kansas State (Mar. 15), before returning home to the state of Texas to take on the Longhorns in Austin (Mar. 20) and Baylor on March 22 in Waco.
The regular season will conclude with six straight home matches to close out March and open the month of April. UAB will be the final nonconference opponent for TCU with the match scheduled for March 23 on the Bernard J. `Tut' Bartzen Varsity Courts, before resuming Big 12 action with Oklahoma State (Mar. 27) and Oklahoma (Mar. 29).
Iowa State and West Virginia will travel to TCU for the first time since the Frogs joined the Big 12 for matches on April 10 and April 12, respectively. The final home regular season match on April 18 against Texas Tech will serve as senior night for two-time Big 12 Champion Simona Parajova and All-American Stefanie Tan.
The Frogs will start postseason play by heading to Waco for the 2015 Big 12 Championships on April 23-26. The first and second rounds of NCAA Championship action begins on May 8-10 on campus sites. Baylor will host the NCAA Team Championships and NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships on May 14-25 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco.
TCU defeated five ranked opponents in 2013-14 and finished 12-12 overall and 5-4 in conference action. The Frogs are under the direction of first-year head coach Walker and return four letterwinners and welcome four newcomers to the squad.
Players Mentioned
