Women’s tennis continued its winning ways Friday against the University of North Texas by using its momentum to close out tough sets even when emotions were running high.
TCU grabbed the doubles point with victories from Aleksa Cveticanin, Ellie Douglas, Chloe Hule and Stevie Kennedy, but it split sets in the singles round put the Frogs to the test for the first time this season.
“Our coaching philosophy revolves around managing momentum, we attempt to take some of the raw emotion out of it,” assistant coach Christopher Williams said.
Douglas defeated No. 45 Tamua Kutubidze 7-5 in the first set, but she dropped the second set 6-7(5). Cveticanin cruised past Maria Kononova in a 6-1 victory in the first set, but she fell in the second set 6-7(8).
“When it really came down to it, there were some emotions that worked against us in splitting sets for Ellie and Aleksa,” Williams said. “Contrary to that, they did a really good job coming down to it and closing those sets.”
Cveticanin sealed the Horned Frogs’ match win in her 6-4 win in the third set over Kononova. Kennedy split sets with No. 102 Minying Liang on court five, but she then found a way to rally for a win in the third set with a 6-4 win.
“Stevie did a really good job playing with a lot of resilience,” Williams said. “I’m really proud of her.”
Williams also congratulated freshman Kate Paulus for continuing to find a way to use her momentum to both her and her team’s advantage.
Paulus secured the first singles point in a 6-1,6-3 win over Nidhi Surapaneni, continuing her streak of dominant singles performances this season. Both Paulus and fellow freshman Mercedes Aristegui have won five-straight singles sets to start the season.
“I think staying focused and zoning in on my match and trying to be a good teammate by feeding off of everyone’s energy really helps,” Paulus said.
Addy Guevara was forced to retire on court six, giving the Mean Green its sole point of the match.
“It was really tough for Addy. She was playing with a lead quite well and she had to retire,” Williams said.
