TCU
#11 Oklahoma State
TCU Drops Heartbreaker to OSU
3/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
FORT WORTH, Texas - The No. 20 TCU women's tennis dropped a heartbreaking loss to No. 11 Oklahoma State, 4-2, and fell in its first home match of the season on Friday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Leading 2-1 in the match, the Horned Frogs (11-7, 3-2) could not hold onto the lead as the Cowgirls (15-3, 2-1) grabbed three straight singles to steal the win from TCU.
"It's a tough match to put into words because of the different outcomes of each court," head coach Lee Taylor Walker said. "On one hand, I'm proud of the overall fight from the team. We had a good energy going early in singles and were in position to really dominate, so that was a positive.
"On the other hand, I'm upset about the mental breakdown Sofiko (Kadzhaya) and Seda (Arantekin) had. Losing tennis matches because of tennis shots is one thing and that is what happened to Palina (Dubavets) today. But Seda and Sofiko lost their confidence and composure and it directly impacted their outcome, so that's upsetting. But they will take personal responsibility for their behavior and change, and our team will be better in the future because of it."
It was a tough battle in doubles action, as Oklahoma State quickly went ahead on all three courts. The No. 9 duo of Viktoriya Lushkova and Kelsey Laurente were able to snap No 38 Seda Aranekin and Stefanie Tan's eight-match winning streak with a 6-2 victory.
The Cowgirls wrapped up the match a few minutes later with No. 72 Katarina Adamovic and Valdica Babic breaking Palina Dubavets and Alexis Pereira on court two and then holding serve to take a 6-4 win and give Oklahoma State the doubles point.
TCU didn't stay down for long, as Pereira and No. 44 Simona Parajova each notched straight-set victories to put the Frogs up 2-1. Pereira got the first point for TCU by downing Maria Alvarez, 6-1, 6-2 on court six.
Parajova got her seventh straight win and 20th of the season by taking out her fifth ranked opponent in No. 110 Laurente, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 singles. Parajova has only dropped two matches on court two and is 12-2 overall in dual matches.
The Frogs would look to stay in control on the final four courts by taking the first set on three of them, but Oklahoma State would not go away and battled back. After dominating No. 85 Adamovic, 6-1, on court three and taking a 3-1 lead in the second set, Sofiko Kadzhaya fell flat and only won one of the next 12 games and dropped her final two sets 6-3, 6-1 to give OSU their second point.
The Cowgirls regained the lead, 3-2, after Vladica Babic downed Dubavets on court four 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. OSU clinched the match on court five, as Carla Tur Mari rebounded from a first-set loss to Arantekin to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 for the match victory for the Cowgirls.
No. 108 Tan was up 40-0 and on the brink of breaking No. 15 Lushkova in the final set to win her match, but the match on court five finished before the serve and Tan was denied one of the biggest upsets of her career.
"I am probably most heart broken for Stefanie," Walker said. "That was a really important match for her and to not be able to finish when having four match points is just something that's even hard to put words, especially when it happened to her twice last weekend. I am so proud of her competitive example in how she fights and it just breaks my heart that she didn't get to finish.
"This was just a really tough match to evaluate, but in summary, we believe that when character flaws are exposed, it can lead to incredible growth if people take personal responsibility for them. We had some flaws exposed today and we will take personal responsibility for them. We will get better and we will be prepared to win a conference championships in three weeks."
TCU will continue action at home and will welcome No. 31 Oklahoma on Sunday, March 29 for a 1 p.m., showdown on the Bernard J. `Tut' Bartzen Varsity Courts.
Tennis Match Results
Oklahoma State vs TCU
Mar 27, 2015 at Fort Worth, Texas
(Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)
#11 Oklahoma State 4, #20 TCU 2
Singles competition
1. #108 Stefanie Tan (TCU) vs. #15 Viktoriya Lushkova (OSU) 6-4, 0-6, 5-3, unfinished
2. #44 Simona Parajova (TCU) def. #110 Kelsey Laurente (OSU) 6-3, 6-3
3. #85 Katarina Adamovic (OSU) def. Sofiko Kadzhaya (TCU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
4. Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Palina Dubavets (TCU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
5. Carla Tur Mari (OSU) def. Seda Arantekin (TCU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
6. Alexis Pereira (TCU) def. Maria Alvarez (OSU) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #9 Viktoriya Lushkova/Kelsey Laurente (OSU) def. #38 Stefanie Tan/Seda Arantekin (TCU) 6-2
2. #72 Katarina Adamovic/Vladica Babic (OSU) def. Palina Dubavets/Alexis Pereira (TCU) 6-4
3. Sofiko Kadzhaya/Simona Parajova (TCU) vs. Carla Tur Mari/Maria Alvarez (OSU) 4-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Oklahoma State 15-3, 2-1; National ranking #11
TCU 11-7, 3-2; National ranking #20
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,2,3,4,5)
A-231
Players Mentioned
