The TCU women's team fell 4-2 to Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championships Friday at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
“I was disappointed,” head coach Dave Borelli said in a press release. “We have lost some of our confidence with all these close losses. Credit to Oklahoma State, they played well and were looking to get back for our win at their place earlier this season. In the Big 12 every match is tough, and we looked mentally fatigued today.”
The Horned Frogs were down 1-0 after a loss at No. 4 Singles. The No. 3 Big 12 singles champion, TCU’s Simona Parajova, was able to even the score with a 6-2, 7-5 win over OSU’s CC Sardinha.
No. 1 singles by No. 52 Stefanie Tan was able to get a 2-1 lead. Tan dropped the first set to No. 63 Malika Rose of the Cowgirls. Tan came back the next two sets to take the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Oklahoma State recovered with three straight wins to finish the match, including a win over TCU's Millie Nicholds at No. 6 singles. Nichols was able to win the second set after dropping the first set to OSU’s Karyn Guttormsen but was taken out in the third to give the Cowgirls the win 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Olivia Smith won her first set at No. 2 singles over Meghan Blevins. Smith dropped the second set but got an early lead in the third set before Blevins was able to come back and get a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.
After missing out on the last two matches due to injury, Federica Denti made her return at No. 5 singles against OSU’s Maria Alvarez. Denti won the first-set tiebreak, but Alvarez defeated Denti 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-3 to win the match for the Cowgirls.
“We have to move on to NCAAs,” Borelli concluded in the press release. “A win today probably would have guaranteed us a No. 2 seed. Hopefully we can still get a No. 2 seed somewhere, otherwise we will take a No. 3 seed and be ready to go. Hopefully the seniors can finish strong, and our returning student athletes embrace the competition ahead.”
The Horned Frogs will see where they stand in the NCAA Championships Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The selection show will be streamed on NCAA.com.
