HORNED FROG TENNIS EDGE VCU, 4-3

RICHMOND, VIRGINA (March 8, 2008) The No. 22 TCU women’s tennis team defeated No. 28 VCU by a score of 4-3 on Saturday in Richmond, Va. The win pushes the Horned Frogs to 7-3 this season, while dropping VCU to 13-2 overall.

“To come away with two quality wins makes for a great road trip,” said TCU head coach Jefferson Hammond. “The girls prepared well and battled on every point, and their warrior-like mentality paid off on the road this week.”

The Frogs swept doubles action to take the early 1-0 lead in the match. TCU’s 14th-ranked duo of Macall Harkins and Anna Sydorska led off with an 8-6 victory over Tatsiana Uvarova and Viktoria Konstantinova in a match where TCU once trailed 6-4. Harkins and Sydorska are now 8-1 this season at the top doubles position.

TCU’s Maria Babanova and Idunn Hertzberg followed at the No. 3 position with an 8-6 victory over Olena Leonchuk and Kateryna Yergina to clinch the doubles point. Nina Munch-Soegaard and Katariina Tuohimaa would complete the TCU sweep with an 8-7(3) win over Laura Burns and Vera Petrashevitch.

The Frogs stormed out in singles play, winning the first three contests to clinch the match. Harkins led off with an impressive 6-2, 6-0 rout of No. 121 Yergina at the No. 3 flight.

Tuohimaa, a freshman from Helsinki, Finland, won her sixth consecutive match of the season with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Leonchuk at the No. 4 position. Tuohimaa leads the Frogs this season with an 8-2 record.

Sydorska, ranked No. 67 in singles play, saved four sets points in the first frame to eventually defeat Konstantinova by a score of 7-6(3), 6-4 to clinch the match for TCU.

After TCU claimed the win, VCU battled back to take the final three matches, including three-set wins over No. 87 Munch-Soegaard and Hertzberg.

The Frogs will remain on the road for a Tuesday contest against No. 41 Auburn at 2 p.m.

SINGLES
1. No. 50 Tatsiana Uvarova (VCU) def. No. 87 Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU) 6-7(0), 6-2, 6-1
2. No. 67 Anna Sydorska (TCU) def. Viktoria Konstantinova (VCU) 7-6(3), 6-4
3. Macall Harkins (TCU) def. No. 121 Kateryna Yergina (VCU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU) def. Olena Leonchuk (VCU) 6-2, 7-5
5. Laura Burns (VCU) def. Kewa Nichols (TCU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Vera Petrashevitch (VCU) def. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU) 2-6, 7-5, 11-9

Order of Finish: 3, 4, 2*, 1, 5, 6

DOUBLES
1. No. 14 Harkins/Sydorska (TCU) def. Uvarova/Konstantinova (VCU) 8-6
2. Munch-Soegaard/Tuohimaa (TCU) def. Burns/Petrashevitch (VCU) 8-7(3)
3. Babanova/Hertzberg (TCU) def. Leonchuk/Yergina (VCU) 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 3*, 2

*Clinching point