April 22, 2005

Fort Worth, Texas - The No. 17 TCU women's tennis team cruised to a 5-0 victory over East Carolina (10-14) on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Championships. The Frogs, who are now 19-3 this season, will face No. 74 Houston on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center for the right to advance to Sunday's final.

"We played really well today," said Head Coach Dave Borelli. "We came out with a high energy level and everyone was ready to play. All we can do is come out tomorrow and give our best effort and things will take care of themselves."

The Frogs opened the match by sweeping the doubles point for the sixth time this season. Kewa Nichols and Helena Besovic started things off by crushing Luiza Borges and Miuriea Gol, 8-0. The victory was the first for the duo this spring in four matches. No. 32 Ana Cetnik and Story Tweedie-Yates won their 13th straight match to give the Frogs the first point. The duo topped Gillie Bailey and Kirstin Buchanon, 8-3, to improve to 19-1 this season. Seniors Paige Brown and Karla Mancinas finished off the sweep with their 8-3 victory over Raluca Baicu and Alex Smith.

In singles, TCU made short work of the Pirates as they won love and love at the top two spots in the line-up. No. 16 Tweedie-Yates won her 17th consecutive match when she defeated Gol at the one line to improve to 31-4. At two, No. 55 Besovic cruised to her 31st win as she topped Buchanan, 6-0, 6-0.

Gloriann Lopez clinched the match with her 6-1, 6-0 victory over Hannah Priest at the six position. The junior now has a 15-14 overall record this spring. Cetnik picked up the final win of the afternoon at the four line when she topped Baicu, 6-0, 6-3.

The Frogs, the No. 2 seed, will face the No. 4 seed, Houston, on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the semifinal of the championship. In their previous meeting on April 2, TCU topped the Cougars, 5-2, in Fort Worth. In the top half of the bracket, top-seeded Tulane and third-seeded South Florida will square off on Saturday at noon.

#17 TCU (19-3) 5, EAST CAROLINA (10-14) 0

Singles:
No. 1 No. 16 Story Tweedie-Yates (TCU) def. Miriea Gol (ECU) 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 No. 55 Helena Besovic (TCU) def. Kirstin Buchanan (ECU) 6-0, 6-0
No. 3 Kewa Nichols (TCU) vs. Gillie Bailey (ECU) 7-5, 2-1
No. 4 Ana Cetnik (TCU) def. Raluca Baicu (ECU) 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 Andrea Morgado (TCU) vs. Luiza Borges (ECU) 6-3, 3-2
No. 6 Gloriann Lopez (TCU) def. Hannah Priest (ECU) 6-1, 6-0

Order of singles finish - 1, 2, *6, 4

Doubles:
No. 1 No. 32 Cetnik/Tweedie-Yates (TCU) def. Bailey/Buchanan (ECU) 8-3
No. 2 Besovic/Nichols (TCU) def. Borges/Gol (ECU) 8-0
No. 3 Paige Brown/Karla Mancinas (TCU) def. Biacu/Alex Smith (ECU) 8-3

Order of doubles finish - 2, *1, 3

* Clinching point