March 2, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech wrapped up their non-conference schedule on the road this weekend, splitting a pair of matches with two ranked Texas opponents. The Lady Raiders took a 5-2 win on Friday over SMU, but struggled to find a break losing 7-0 to No. 31 TCU.

Head Coach Cari Groce continued to mix up doubles as last year's duo of Janet Durham and Samantha van der Drift returned to the No. 1 position. The two found success defeating Natalia Bubien and Pavi Francis 8-6. The newly formed pair of freshman Kelsy Garland and returnee Brenna Jackson couldn't quite hold off SMU's Kensiia Tokarieva and Nicole Briceno, falling 8-5. Tech walked away with the doubles point after a default by the Mustangs at the No. 3 position.

In singles senior Durham put away SMU's Briceno in straight sets, and was the final player on the courts against TCU before narrowly missing Kewa Nichols 10-7 in the third set super-tiebreaker. Garland also split a pair of matches on the weekend at No. 2, clinching the win for her team against the Mustang's Pavi Francis, 7-6, 6-4. Tech's No. 1 player van der Drift took a three-set win over the Mustang's No. 73 Bubien, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, but came up short against Nina Munch-Soegaard losing 6-4, 6-3. Sophomore Kerryn Potgieter had her win streak broken this weekend suffering back-to-back losses at the hands of SMU's Kristen Reid and TCU's Katariina Tuohimaa.

The Lady Raiders open conference play on the road against Nebraska and Iowa State beginning March 14.

Doubles: 3, 2, 1* 1. Durham/van der Drift (TTU) def. Bubien/Francis (SMU); 8-6
2. Tokarieva/Briceno (SMU) def. Garland/Jackson (TTU); 8-5
3. Potgieter/Templeton (TTU) def. Reid/n/a (SMU); default

Singles: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2*, 1
1. Samantha van der Drift (TTU) def. #73 Natalia Bubien (SMU); 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. Kelsy Garland (TTU) def. Pavi Francis (SMU); 7-6, 6-4
3. Kensiia Tokarieva (SMU) def. Simone Templeton (TTU); 6-3, 6-3
4. Janet Durham (TTU) def. Nicole Briceno (SMU); 6-2, 6-3
5. Kristen Reid (SMU) def. Kerryn Potgieter (TTU); 6-2, 6-1
6. Leah Roberts (TTU) def. n/a (SMU); default

No. 31 TCU - 7
No. 73 Texas Tech - 0
March 1, 2008
Fort Worth, Texas

Singles: 6, 2, 3*, 1, 5, 4
1. Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU) def. Samantha van der Drift (TTU); 6-4, 6-3
2. Anna Sydorska (TCU) def. Kelsy Garland (TTU); 6-1, 6-3
3. Macall Harkins (TCU) def. Simone Templeton (TTU); 6-1, 6-2
4. Kewa Nichols (TCU) def. Janet Durham (TTU); 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-7
5. Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU) def. Kerryn Potgieter (TTU); 6-3, 6-2
6. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU) def. Leah Roberts (TTU); 6-0, 6-2

Doubles: 1, 3*, 2
1. No. 11 Harkins/Sydorska (TCU) def. Garland/van der Drift (TTU); 8-3
2. Munch-Soegaard (TCU) def. Durham/Potgieter (TTU); 8-6
3. Nichols/Hertzberg (TCU) def. Jackson/Templeton (TTU); 8-4