Women earn two wins

By Chris Pettijohn     3/11/10 6:00pm

Southern Louisiana proved to be the perfect locale for the women's tennis team to start spring break. In matches against Louisiana State University and Tulane University, Rice earned a pair of wins. The 31st-ranked Owls (8-3) have proved unstoppable in the past few weeks. Riding on momentum from the beginning of February, begun by wins over the University of Arizona (8-2) and Texas Tech University (12-1), the Owls have won five straight, including their third straight win over a ranked opponent.

On Saturday, Rice faced off against LSU (2-6). The last time the two teams played each other was in 2007, when the Tigers swept the Owls 7-0. In 2010, it was Rice who was victorious, besting LSU 4-3.

Rice began the match with a sweep of the doubles point. LSU implemented an unorthodox strategy in the match by positioning both doubles players on the baseline. Even though Rice was not expecting this different look, the team did not let it affect its play.

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"It didn't faze them that someone gave them a different look, which shows the maturity of our team," Head Coach Elizabeth Schmidt said.

In singles competition, the Owls quickly won the No. 5 match, where senior Rebecca Lin defeated Hannah Robinson; the No. 4 match, sophomore Ana Guzman defeating Keri Frankenberger and the No. 6 contest, a win by freshman Daniella Trigo over Ebie Wilson, all in straight sets.

Trigo's win clinched the match for Rice and was her first win as an Owl. Fighting away nerves, Trigo handled her second set calmly, winning 6-2.

Even though Rice had already clinched the win, there were still three matches to play. At the top position played by junior No. 63 Rebekka H?nle, No. 2 position played by senior Julie Chao and the No. 3 match played by junior No. 100 Jessica Jackson, the matches were all headed to a third set.

H?nle, after winning the first set, fell in the latter two sets and dropped the match. Chao and Jackson, on the other hand, both lost their first sets but fought back and won the second sets. However, they both lost their third sets in tie breaks.

Following the big win over LSU, the Owls took on Tulane (5-3) the following day in their first conference match of the season, ultimately winning 6-1.

Rice began doubles play slowly but won all three doubles matches to take the doubles point.

Continuing their winning ways, the Owls won their three singles matches to clinch the win. Lin was the first singles player to finish her match in straight sets over Emma Helisten. Jackson followed, defeating Elizabeth Hamlin. Trigo notched another win in her belt, defeating Caroline Gerber in straight sets and clinching the victory for Rice with a second-set 6-0 win.

H?nle and Guzman both went to third-set tie breaks after losing their second sets, but they still took both of their matches.

To celebrate its victory, Rice remained in New Orleans to help a community still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, helping a family to restore their home by knocking down walls and taking out the trash.

Next week the team plays both Wichita State University and Tulsa University. Rice has never played Wichita State (20-5) before. However, against Tulsa (11-5) there is a storied past. Last season the Owls lost a close match to Tulsa, despite having been up 3-0 early in the match.

Needless to say, the team looks to get back at them.

"We want revenge," H?nle said.

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