Top-End Talent Shines at TCU Invitational

Friday, October 2

Fort Worth, Texas

TCU

TCU Invitational

Top-End Talent Shines at TCU Invitational

10/5/2020 4:16:00 PM | Women's Tennis

TCU went 3-0 at top-flight singles in the TCU Invitational

FORT WORTH – TCU women's tennis hosted the TCU Invitational, the first ITA sanctioned event of the 2020 fall season, this past weekend at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The Horned Frogs laid the groundwork for a strong 2020-21 campaign with a perfect 3-0 record in the top-flight of singles competition, garnering wins from Alisa Soloveva, Marie Norris and Stevie Kennedy.

"I want to thank our administration and sports medical staff for allowing us to set up such a professional event and have some quality opponents come to town," Head Coach Lee Taylor Walker said. "It's great to give the team an opportunity to compete."

"We have some high goals this year," Walker said. "So, we didn't just want to host a tournament, we wanted to host some quality opponents. Being able to compete against some of the top programs in the country was a great bench mark for us. For the most part, it showed that we're right there with the best players in the country. We had some battles and picked up some big wins, even the ones we lost were great battles. I'm really proud of this team's fight and chemistry. I'm looking forward to the strides that we'll make throughout the rest of the fall, into the spring season."

In her first action as a Horned Frog, Soloveva, a graduate transfer and former ITA No. 76 from Winthrop, won both her doubles and singles matches. She was paired with Marie Norris in doubles play and together, they dispatched of a pairing from Texas, 6-1. Just a short while later, Soloveva claimed her first singles victory in purple and white, taking down the highly-touted freshman, Peyton Stearns from Texas in a harrowing three set match: 1-6, 6-2, 1-0(9).

"It felt awesome to be back on the court," Soloveva said. "Everybody competed really hard out here. It was very different from what I was used to but I loved the change. I'm very happy to be playing here."

On the second day, redshirt senior Marie Norris picked up where she left off in the spring, winning big matches at the top of the lineup. Norris took down Safiya Carrington from LSU, coming from behind to win the match, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(7).

"It was a fun weekend," Norris said. "It was great to be back on the purple courts with some new teammates. They brought some new energy to the courts that I really appreciated. It made me feel like we have a lot going for us through the rest of these fall tournaments and into the season."

Stevie Kennedy played in the top spot on the final day of action, on Sunday, collecting a straight-set victory over Angelina Shakhraichuk from Baylor on court one, 6-2, 6-3.

All told, TCU won four singles matches and a doubles match on the weekend after Margaret Polk claimed her first win of 2020 on Friday evening.

This was the first weekend of competitive action for Tate Schroeder, a Clemson graduate transfer and former ITA No. 70. She was in good spirits after the weekend and looking forward to representing TCU in her final season of collegiate tennis.

"It's such a blessing to be playing college tennis again," Schroeder said. "After such an abrupt ending to last season, it feels great to have the opportunity to play again. The girls here are so supportive and kept the energy up all weekend. It was clear to me that we have something special with this group and it's only going to get better from here."

What's Next?
The Horned Frogs will continue their fall season next Saturday (Oct. 10) and Sunday (Oct. 11) with the OU Invitational in Norman, Okla.

For more information on TCU women's tennis, visit gofrogs.com and follow the team on social media: @TCUWomensTennis on twitter and Facebook, @tcuwomenstennis on Instagram.