March 8, 2005

THIS WEEK'S ACTION
The No. 20 TCU women's tennis team heads into Big Ten country for three matches this week, two in Indiana and one in Ohio. On Wednesday, the Frogs will face the No. 47 Purdue at 1 p.m. at the Lafayette Sports Center in West Lafayette, Ind. The following day the team will head to Bloomington for a match against No. 27 Indiana. It is set to begin at 3 p.m. at the IU Tennis Center.

TCU will wrap up its Big Ten road swing on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, when it faces Ohio State at 10 a.m. at the Jesse Owens West Recreation Center.

LAST ACTION
The Frogs split their two matches in the week of Feb 21-27. On the 22nd, then-No. 24 Baylor handed TCU its first loss of the season, 5-2, in Fort Worth. The Frogs dropped the doubles point for the first time this season in the defeat. The lone two points came with wins by Helena Besovic over Zuzana Cerna, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, at the two position and Gloriann Lopez at No. 5 when Iva Mihaylova retired the match due to injury.

On Feb. 27, TCU rebounded with a 5-2 win at then-No. 55 Tulsa. The Frogs won the match despite playing without Ana Cetnik and Andrea Morgado. In doubles, Kewa Nichols and Lopez clinched the match with their 8-6 win over Lisette Pereira and Timberly Greenly.

In singles, No. 10 Story Tweedie-Yates and No. 46 Helena Besovic cruised to easy wins. Tweedie-Yates topped No. 54 Daniela Muscolino, 6-1, 6-3, while Besovic beat Carla Zabaleta, 6-4, 6-0. Nichols and Karla Mancinas tallied the remaining Frog points with wins at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.

FROGS IN THE RANKINGS
In the latest ITA team rankings that were released this morning, the Frogs are ranked 20th after coming in at 17th on Mar. 1. In singles, TCU has two players in the rankings with Story Tweedie-Yates coming in at 17th and Helena Besovic at 52nd. In doubles, Ana Cetnik and Tweedie-Yates are tied for 52nd.

SERIES HISTORY
TCU holds a 2-1 advantage in the series with the Boilermakers. In 2004, the Frogs topped Purdue, 4-1, in Fort Worth.

Last season, TCU defeated Indiana, 5-2, to record the first win for the Frogs in the all-time series. The Hoosiers hold a 10-1 advantage in 11 all-time meetings.

Against the Buckeyes, TCU holds a 1-0 advantage after it shutout Ohio State, 7-0, last year at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.

BURRRR...... IT'S COLD
With the team heading North into the cold temperatures in Indiana and Ohio, the Frogs will likely face all three opponents on indoor courts. This spring, TCU has played only one match inside, a 7-0 shutout of North Texas in Fort Worth on Feb. 9.

NEW LINE-UP, NO PROBLEM
Against Tulsa, TCU was playing without two of its regulars in Ana Cetnik and Andrea Morgado. In their absence, seniors Paige Brown and Karla Mancinas played singles for the first time this spring. Mancinas picked up her first win of the season over Timberly Greenly, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 5. Brown fell in her match against Kindsay Grimes, 6-2, 6-1. The pair also teamed up for the first time in their careers in doubles and they cruised to an easy 8-0 win over Grimes and Agostina Santoro to help the team win the doubles point.

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
The Frogs have already achieved two program firsts this season. On Feb. 13, TCU defeated No. 7 Clemson, 4-3, to top the highest ranked opponent in school history. As a result on Feb. 15, the Frogs were 14th in the ITA team rankings, a new high for the program.

PAINTING TEXAS PURPLE
TCU is 5-1 against teams from the state of Texas this season. The Frogs opened the year with wins over Texas State (7-0), North Texas (7-0) and UT-Arlington (6-1). Last week, TCU defeated A&M (5-2) and SMU (6-1). On Feb. 22, Baylor haulted TCU's run against the state of Texas with a 5-2 victory over the Frogs in Fort Worth.

The Frogs will round out their schedule against Texas foes when Houston comes to Fort Worth on April 2 and Rice on April 8.

TWENTY AND COUNTING
Junior Helena Besovic tallied her team-leading 20th and 21st victories two weeks ago against Baylor and Tulsa. On the year, the 52nd ranked player has a 21-6 overall record and a 6-2 spring mark.

C-USA HONORS
This spring two members of the team have been honored by Conference USA and the awards came in back-to-back weeks. Freshman Andrea Morgado was honored on Feb. 15. A week later on Feb. 22, senior Story Tweedie-Yates took home the honors.

BORELLI BREAKDOWN
Head Coach Dave Borelli has a 336-64 (.840) record during his 16 year coaching career. He also has the most national titles of any active coach in the NCAA's (both men and women). Former Stanford Coach Dick Gould has the most titles with 17, but he retired at the end of the 2003-04 season.

In two years with the Frogs, Borelli has posted a 35-19 (.648) mark, which includes a 23-6 record at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center, a 8-11 mark on the road and a 3-2 record on neutral courts.

SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue is ranked No. 47 in the latest ITA rankings as they have a 2-5 overall record this season. Three of the five losses have come by a single point and the two wins were over DePaul (7-0) and then-No. 19 Texas A&M (4-3).

In singles, Lara Burgarello is the only player on the team with a winning spring mark as she is 4-2. Hala Sufi is their No. 1 player and she has a 3-4 mark thus far.

SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS
Indiana enters Thursday's contest with the Horned Frogs with a 6-5 overall record and a No. 27 ranking nationally. Most recently, the Hoosiers defeated Marquette (7-0) and West Virginia (6-1). TCU and Indiana have a common foe on their schedules with Texas A&M. The Hoosiers fell to the Aggies, 4-3, while TCU topped A&M, 5-2.

Dora Vastag is the only player on Indiana's squad in the rankings as she came in at 99th. Vastag, who has a 6-5 spring record at the No. 1 position, was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Mar. 8. The Hoosier's Nos. 2 and 3 players, Sarah Batty and Laura McGaffigan, both have 8-3 marks this spring.

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State enters the contest with a 5-8 overall record this season. Most recently, the Buckeyes dropped two of three matches in Columbia, Mo. They fell to Missouri (6-1) and Louisville (4-3) before beating St. Louis, 5-1.

The Buckeyes will need to step up their play in the final portion of the season in order to keep their streak of six straight NCAA appearances intact.