Women's tennis falls short in road competition
After leaving the Pelican State with victories over Louisiana State University and Tulane University to bring their winning streak to five matches, the women's tennis team ran into a tough spot in the nation's heartland, falling to unranked Wichita State University, 4-3, and No. 40 University of Tulsa 5-2. Rice (8-5) played Wichita State (6-6) last Friday in Wichita, Kan. Due to poor weather conditions, the teams were forced to move indoors.
The match began slowly for the Owls, as they dropped the doubles point. Junior Rebekka H?nle and senior Rebecca Lin won their match at the third doubles position. However, at the numbers one and two positions, Rice could not win the close matches that could have gone either way. Sophomore Ana Guzman and senior Julie Chao lost their match 9-7 while junior Jessica Jackson and sophomore Alex Rasch lost their match 8-6.
The team was not able to bounce back from the doubles missteps. Of the first four singles matches played, Rice lost the first set in all but one. Chao had kept her opponent at bay, taking the first set easily 6-2, but H?nle, Jackson and Guzman were unable to do the same. During the second set, each won more points than in the first set, but they were unable to clinch the victory. Chao again held her opponent at bay in the second set and earned the first point for Rice with a 6-4 win in the second set.
Senior Rebecca Lin and freshman Daniella Trigo played next, and both came out strong, winning both of their matches. Lin had a powerful first set but wavered in the second, trading scores with her opponent 6-3, 3-6. In the third set, Lin won the 10-point tie break 11-9. In Trigo's match, she won the first set 6-1 and swept the second 6-0. Unfortunately, their wins could not overcome the team's earlier singles losses.
In addition to the team's slow start, the Owls were also playing on the road, which Head Coach Elizabeth Schmidt admitted was a factor in their loss.
"Playing on the road is tough, and we weren't prepared 100 percent for playing on the road," Schmidt said.
Additionally, Lin felt that the team believed their high ranking gave them a considerable advantage over Wichita State.
"We aren't used to being ranked this high. . We were kind of just hoping they would hand it to us instead of just going out and playing," Lin said.
Rice next played Tulsa (12-4) in its second C-USA match of the season. Tulsa made it to the finals of conference championships last year, proving themselves a force in C-USA.
Schmidt said the Owls did not play up to Tulsa's level in the match.
"Tulsa just played better than us, to be honest," Schmidt said.
Tulsa took control of the match early on, sweeping the doubles point and winning all three matches. In doubles, Tulsa played two ranked teams, while Rice's once-ranked doubles squad recently fell out of the rankings.
After winning the doubles point, Tulsa also controlled the game on the singles courts. At the number-one position, H?nle, who also recently lost her ranking, played No. 100 Alexandra Kichoutkin. The competitors traded sets: H?nle won the first set 6-1 and Kichoutkin grabbed the second set 6-1. However, it was Kichoutkin who prevailed in the end, winning the third 6-3.
At the two and three positions, both Chao and Jackson lost in straight sets to tough opponents, with the team's two points coming from Guzman and Trigo. Guzman bounced back after her defeat to Wichita the day before to win her match in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, while Trigo, who played a close match with another freshman from Tulsa, Michelle Farley, outlasted her opponent 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
The match had the potential to swing in Rice's favor but hinged on a few critical points that Tulsa captured, according to Schmidt.
"We were right in there," Schmidt said. "Just a matter of a few points here and there and at the end of the day Tulsa just played those points a little better than us."
Although the Owls did not beat Tulsa this time around, the C-USA Championships will be held at Tulsa in less than a month, and this match gave the team a chance to get a feel for the courts, which will hopefully prepare them for the important matches in their future.
Next week, Rice will play Western Michigan (7-7), a team to whom the Owls fell 4-3 last year. No doubt, returning members of the team will be looking for some retribution. For now, the team will practice playing some matches to get prepared to face them.
"We're extra motivated to win after such a bad weekend," Lin said.
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