Freshman Maria Babanova won both doubles and singles contests on Saturday to help lead TCU past Oklahoma

Frogs cruise past Oklahoma, 6-1

No. 19 TCU improves to 10-4 overall

March 22, 2008

FORT WORTH, Texas - The No. 19 TCU women's tennis team won their third consecutive contest on Saturday to wrap up the non-conference schedule with a 6-1 defeat of Oklahoma at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. The Horned Frogs improved to 10-4 overall with the win, while the Sooners dropped to 7-6 this season.

"We had a very strong day," said TCU head coach Jefferson Hammond. "The doubles matches were close and we were able to come up big in singles play. This was a good win for us."

The 12th-ranked TCU duo of Macall Harkins and Anna Sydorska led off doubles play with an 8-4 victory over Oklahoma's Ana-Maria Constantinescu and Chelsea Orr at the top position.

The Frog duo of Maria Babanova and Idunn Hertzberg followed at the No. 3 position with an 8-6 victory over Tara Eckel and Maria Kalashnikova to clinch the doubles point and improve to 4-1 this season.

The Frogs dominated singles play, winning five of the six matches in straight sets, led by freshman Idunn Hertzberg, who posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eckel at the No. 5 position. The win was Hertzberg's fourth consecutive and 10th overall this season.

Harkins followed at the No. 2 spot with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Elena Antakova to put the Frogs up 3-0, while senior Kewa Nichols sealed the match with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Christi Baxley.

Nina Munch-Soegaard downed Orr at the top position by a score of 7-6(1), 6-2 for her third consecutive victory, while Babanova cruised past Brittany Baldy at the No. 6 flight by a score of 6-2, 6-2.

Freshman Katariina Tuohimaa saw her streak of nine consecutive singles wins come to an end Saturday in a tough 2-6, 7-5, 10-6 loss to Kalashnikova at the No. 3 position.

The Frogs will host three Mountain West Conference opponents next weekend, beginning with Colorado State on Friday at 6 p.m.

No. 19 TCU (10-4) def. Oklahoma (7-6), 6-1

SINGLES
1. No. 67 Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU) def. Chelsea Orr (OU) 7-6(1), 6-2
2. Macall Harkins (TCU) def. Elena Antakova (OU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Maria Kalashnikova (OU) def. Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU) 2-6, 7-5, 10-6
4. Kewa Nichols (TCU) def. Christi Baxley (OU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU) def. Tara Eckel (OU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Maria Babanova (TCU) def. Brittany Baldy (OU) 6-2, 6-2

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

DOUBLES
1. No. 12 Harkins/Sydorska (TCU) def. Constantinescu/Orr (OU) 8-4
2. Antakova/Baxley (OU) def. Munch-Soegaard/Tuohimaa (TCU) 8-7(1)
3. Babanova/Hertzberg (TCU) def. Eckel/Kalashnikova (OU) 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 3*, 2

*Clinching point