Sunday, April 2
Fort Worth, TX
11:30 a.m.
TCU
2
vs
4
Baylor
TCU Loses a Heartbreaker in Home Finale
4/2/2023 9:32:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Frogs Honor Aristegui
FORT WORTH: The TCU women's tennis team lost a heartbreaker to the No. 40 Baylor Bears on Sunday afternoon at the purple courts.
Before the match began, the Horned Frogs honored their team captain Mercedes Aristegui during her final home game at TCU concluding her decorated career.
Following the ceremony, TCU got right into doubles play and seemed to have the hot hand. Destinee Martins and Tiphanie Lemaitre downed Brooke Thompson and Alina Shcherbinina in 6-1 fashion. On court No. 2 Jade Otway andz Aristegui brought the Frogs to a doubles point win over Isabella Harvison and Anita Sahdiieva of Baylor 6-2.
The Frogs took an early lead, but Baylor would not go away. Five singles matches went the distance into three sets and four of those sets went into tiebreakers. Both teams were evenly matched and neither side was willing to budge. The Horned Frogs capitalized on the lone match that ended in straight sets. On court No. 5, Destinee Martins narrowly won her first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5). The junior kept the pedal down in the second set, taking a 6-2 win and a 2-0 lead for the Frogs.
The Bears began their comeback. On court one, Shcherbinina brought down Lemaitre in three tightly contested sets, (7-6, (7-5), 4-6, 6-2). Baylor tied the match at two points each with another singles win on court No. 3 as 94 ranked Harvison took down Otway, (4-6, 6-2, 6-4).
With the score even at two, the match was delayed due to the inclement weather. After a 30-minute weather delay the remainder of the match was completed at the indoor center.
As singles play continued, Helena Narmont showed resilience battling back from a 1-5 deficit in a third set tiebreaker, but couldn't quite finish the job as she fell (6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4)).
Down 3-2, freshman Yu-Chin Tsai and Aristegui battled to keep the hopes of a Frogs win alive. Ultimately, TCU came up just short as Tsai yet again lost in three sets, (6-7 (8-6), 7-6, 6-2).
After the match, head coach Lee Taylor Walker shared his thoughts on his on the match and how he plans on looking ahead.
"First of all, I'm so grateful for Mercedes and everything she has done for our program on and off the court. She's such a a great human being, and I've been lucky to coach her the last 5 years. The match was a heartbreaker and I'm sad for the players and Mercedes, because they deserved the win. However, Coach Scrivano did a great job rallying his team to stay resilient and never give up, and they deserve credit for that. All we can do now is stay in the fight and keep the faith. We know what we have to do down the stretch and we are going to do it together with confidence for each other and for TCU. Our mindset is already on getting this road win Friday at Tech."
Up Next: TCU will head to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Lady Raiders on Friday, April 7 at 3 p.m.
Before the match began, the Horned Frogs honored their team captain Mercedes Aristegui during her final home game at TCU concluding her decorated career.
A true Horned Frog 🙌#GoFrogs 🐸 | #BuildBelief pic.twitter.com/xnZ51VCBh2
— TCU Women's Tennis (@TCUWomensTennis) April 2, 2023
Following the ceremony, TCU got right into doubles play and seemed to have the hot hand. Destinee Martins and Tiphanie Lemaitre downed Brooke Thompson and Alina Shcherbinina in 6-1 fashion. On court No. 2 Jade Otway andz Aristegui brought the Frogs to a doubles point win over Isabella Harvison and Anita Sahdiieva of Baylor 6-2.
The Frogs took an early lead, but Baylor would not go away. Five singles matches went the distance into three sets and four of those sets went into tiebreakers. Both teams were evenly matched and neither side was willing to budge. The Horned Frogs capitalized on the lone match that ended in straight sets. On court No. 5, Destinee Martins narrowly won her first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-5). The junior kept the pedal down in the second set, taking a 6-2 win and a 2-0 lead for the Frogs.
The Bears began their comeback. On court one, Shcherbinina brought down Lemaitre in three tightly contested sets, (7-6, (7-5), 4-6, 6-2). Baylor tied the match at two points each with another singles win on court No. 3 as 94 ranked Harvison took down Otway, (4-6, 6-2, 6-4).
With the score even at two, the match was delayed due to the inclement weather. After a 30-minute weather delay the remainder of the match was completed at the indoor center.
As singles play continued, Helena Narmont showed resilience battling back from a 1-5 deficit in a third set tiebreaker, but couldn't quite finish the job as she fell (6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4)).
Down 3-2, freshman Yu-Chin Tsai and Aristegui battled to keep the hopes of a Frogs win alive. Ultimately, TCU came up just short as Tsai yet again lost in three sets, (6-7 (8-6), 7-6, 6-2).
After the match, head coach Lee Taylor Walker shared his thoughts on his on the match and how he plans on looking ahead.
"First of all, I'm so grateful for Mercedes and everything she has done for our program on and off the court. She's such a a great human being, and I've been lucky to coach her the last 5 years. The match was a heartbreaker and I'm sad for the players and Mercedes, because they deserved the win. However, Coach Scrivano did a great job rallying his team to stay resilient and never give up, and they deserve credit for that. All we can do now is stay in the fight and keep the faith. We know what we have to do down the stretch and we are going to do it together with confidence for each other and for TCU. Our mindset is already on getting this road win Friday at Tech."
Up Next: TCU will head to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Lady Raiders on Friday, April 7 at 3 p.m.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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