May 7, 2009

LIVE STATS | NCAA First Round Notes

FORT WORTH, Texas – The 28th-ranked TCU women’s tennis team will take on No. 38 Tulsa to open the 2009 NCAA Team Championship Saturday at the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Ark. The Horned Frogs are set to make their sixth-straight NCAA appearance and 12th overall showing.

TCU (16-10) comes into the weekend after defeating No. 42 UNLV in the Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship on April 25. Senior Macall Harkins, sophomore Katariina Tuohimaa and newcomer Kayla Duncan garnered All-MWC selections from the league, while head coach Jefferson Hammond was tabbed for MWC Coach of the Year honors for the second-straight season. The Purple and White have won nine of their last 10 matches coming into the weekend and been dominant on neutral courts this spring, owning a 7-1 record on common ground.

Tuohimaa currently paces the Purple and White with a 16-8 singles record. The Helsinki, Finland native teamed up with Duncan to tie Harkins and senior Anna Sydorska for the top doubles clip of the spring at 12-8 overall. Listed as the highest-ranked pairing in the MWC, the No. 39 duo of Harkins and Sydorska claimed the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Doubles Championship. Junior Nina Munch-Soegaard, the 16th-ranked singles player in the country, will also represent the Frogs in the NCAA Singles Championship.

The Golden Hurricanes (23-5) head into the first round with the most wins in a single season in school history. Tulsa is led by a trio of 20-match winners in sophomore Alexandra Kichoutkin (25-10), senior Thalia Diaz-Barriga (23-12) and freshman Anastasia Erofeeva (31-5). All three players earned All-Conference USA kudos. Tulsa loss to No. 23 SMU in the C-USA Conference Tournament finals, missing their third-straight league title.

The former Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and C-USA foes have squared-off in almost every season since 1996. TCU currently holds a 13-3 advantage in the all-time series, including wins in three of the last four meetings. The two programs have only faced each other twice on neutral territory. TCU earned a 4-1 decision during the WAC Tournament in 2001, while Tulsa upended the Frogs’ in the first round of the Waco Regional in 2008.

First serve is set for 12 p.m. CT Saturday and fans can follow the live action from GoFrogs.com. Visit NCAAsports.com for complete coverage of the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championships.