Season of history

Lady Frogs rack up wins, titles and some first-ever accomplishments.

By Rick Waters '95

Dave Borelli looks forward to the day when the women’s tennis team is hosting NCAA Regionals on a yearly basis.

If that ever happens, he says he will look back at 2006 as the year it started it all.

The 16th-ranked Lady Frogs continued to make history into mid-May.

First, the team captured the Mountain West Conference regular season title. Next, they swept through the conference tournament. Then, they learned they had become the first TCU team to host the NCAA Regionals.
Now, after opening round victories against Rice and Texas, the Lady Frogs (23-7) have advanced to the round of 16, the farthest the program has ever gotten. (And the victory against the Longhorns was the team’s first since April 1991.)

“I’m excited and proud of what this team has accomplished,” Borelli said. “We've had that kind of year all year. I think we just have really great competitors in the group, and they have a lot of fun. This is a reward for our efforts for the year.”

Entering the year ranked 14th, highest-ever to start a season, the season limped to a 7-5 start. The losses dropped the squad to as low as 26th in the rankings.

“We lost some matches early on that we should have won,” said senior Helena Besovic, who sports a 19-game winning streak and a 21-3 record.

But a home victory against Harvard began a turnaround. The Lady Frogs won 14 of their next 15 matches, including the last 12 in a row.

The streak included sweeps of the MWC regular season and tournament, the first titles for Borelli in four seasons in Fort Worth.

And the win against Texas earned the squad its 23 victory, the most ever for the program in one season.

“It was my dream to get to the Sweet 16,” Borelli said..”But there’s a lot more for us to achieve in this program.”

Individually, three Lady Frogs will compete in the NCAA singles and doubles championships.

Besovic, ranked 26th in the polls, grabbed an at-large bid in singles play. She also will team up with junior Ana Cetnik in doubles. The duo is ranked 14th in the country.

Sophomore Nicole Leimbach tallied a 16-6 record as the Frogs’ No. 1 singles player. She won the MWC singles title and is ranked in the Top 15.