While most students are hitting the slopes and the beach, the men’s and women’s tennis teams are hitting the courts this spring break.
The men’s tennis team jumped to No. 39 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s rankings after a victory over Tulsa, and will compete against the University of Oklahoma in their next challenge tonight.
No. 20 Oklahoma has an 8-1 season record. The Sooners are entering the match with six consecutive victories under their belt and three singles players ranked in the ITA Top-75.
Last year, the Sooners upset TCU in their own stadium, but this year they must face the Horned Frogs on their turf at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
The No. 72 TCU women’s tennis team will travel to Coral Gables, Fla. to challenge No. 16 Miami on Monday. The Frogs will compete against a team inside the ITA Top-20 for the third time this season.
The Frogs are coming off a tough 4-3 loss at No. 43 Illinois on Sunday. Sophomore Kayla Duncan continued her career-best performance, taking down No. 94 Rachael White in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. Despite the loss to the Fighting Illini, the Frogs continued their top-notch doubles performance winning 2 out of 3 matches.
“We’ve been playing tough top-25 teams these past weeks and although it’s tough, I feel it’s good training and preparation going into the NCAA Team Championships,” Duncan said. “This season has been my best one so far, and I think we have a chance versus Miami this weekend. They’re an awesome team but it’s a tennis game and anything can happen.”
No. 16 Miami comes into the weekend after dominating victories in its past two matches against No. 10 Clemson and Boston College. The Hurricanes are enjoying a 2-0 streak at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center and boast three highly ranked singles players in No. 4 Laura Vallverdu, No. 40 Bianca Eichkorn and No. 55 Anna Bartenstein. Vallverdu and Gabriela Mejia also team up to form the No. 5 doubles tandem in the country.
The Frogs are looking to avenge a 6-1 home loss to the Hurricanes last spring that gave Miami a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series.
TCU will return home to host Virginia Commonwealth on March 18.