 "Photo: Christine Soriaga")
After trailing 3-2 with two matches remaining, No. 26 Texas Christian took back-to-back third set matches to upset the No. 24 Texas A&M women's tennis team on Thursday. With the loss, the Aggies have dropped four of the last five matches heading into Big 12 play.
A&M started the match by surrendering the doubles point for the third time in 2009, but the first time to do so at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
"I feel like the key to the match today was the doubles," said A&M Head Coach Bobby Kleinecke. "I didn't feel like we competed well in the doubles. Normally we have been. TCU didn't give us anything today and that was the difference in the match."
Junior Elze Potgieter and freshman Sheri Olivier struck first, winning their doubles match 8-2. Not 10 minutes after the duo recorded their victory at No. 3 doubles, the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams lost their matches giving the Horned Frogs a 1-0 lead.
Freshman Lauren Santacroce tied the match at 1-1, ending a streak of five consecutive losses. Santacroce won the deciding match against Denver on Jan. 24 to give the Aggies a 4-3 victory, but had not won a singles match since.
"I definitely have a lot more confidence now, with this win," Santacroce said. "Going into conference, I have a different mindset now. Those five losses hurt, but this definitely helped me pick up my game again."
The Horned Frogs regained the lead 2-1 as freshman Janelle Cuthbertson lost her fourth consecutive match. Cuthbertson, a Perth, Australia native, joined the Aggie roster at the beginning of the semester and was cleared to play by the NCAA in February. Cuthbertson is winless since joining the Aggies.
Sophomore Christi Liles tied the game count at 2-2, holding off TCU's Gaby Mastromarino in three sets at the No.4 singles position. Liles has moved around the Aggie lineup this spring, playing No. 3-5 singles. While at No.4 singles, Liles has yet to lose, maintaining a perfect 3-0 record.
The Aggies took the lead for the first time in the match, 3-2, after Potgieter captured her second win of the day in a come-from-behind, three-set victory. Potgieter, who started the 2009 season 1-5, has won back-to-back matches heading into Big 12 play.
The Horned Frogs tied the match 3-3, winning their first three-set match of the day at No. 2 singles. Sophomore Morgan Frank captured the first set 6-4, but was unable to close the match dropping consecutive sets 6-4, 6-1. Frank cracked the ITA Top 100 singles players list at No. 98 on Tuesday with a record of 5-4 in 2009.
In her first singles match of the spring season, freshman Ashley Turpin won the deciding match against South Florida on Feb. 27. The Aggies looked to Turpin again for the deciding match against TCU.
After losing her first set 7-6, she fought back to win the second set 7-6. But she failed to win the final set, losing 7-6 to give TCU the win.
A&M will open Big 12 play Saturday when they take on archrival Texas in Austin. Texas enters the match with a two-game win streak and an overall record of 4-4 in 2009.
The Aggies and Longhorns share a common opponent from pre-Big 12 play, South Florida, and both teams defeated the Bulls 5-2. The previous time the Aggies and Longhorns met was in 2008 ,when the Longhorns defeated the Aggies 4-3, knocking A&M out of the Big 12 Championships.
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