Sports notebook: Women's tennis splits matches, Football hauls in 19 new Owls

2/3/11 6:00pm

Women's tennis splits matches

With the women's tennis team cruising to early victories, Rice had yet to play a close match until its tussle with Oklahoma State University (1-3) on Jan. 29. The Owls took control of the match early on by taking the doubles matches' point, with senior Rebekka Hanle and junior Ana Guzman winning 8-2, while freshman Dominique Harmath and junior Alex Rasch finished off the Cowgirls by taking a 8-3 victory. The singles matches went well for the Owls initially, with freshman Kimberly Anicete and Hanle picking up two of the first three singles matches to allow Rice to go ahead 3-1. But OSU had no intentions of giving up, storming back as C.C. Sardinha and Malika Rose won their matches in three and two sets, respectively. With all but one of the matches finished, it was senior Jessica Jackson's responsibility to bring home the fourth point to clinch the match. Jackson dropped a hard-fought first set that went to a tiebreaker set, but ran the table the rest of the way, winning the last two sets against Nataliya Shatkovskay by margins of 6-3. The victory against OSU was the first against a Big 12 opponent and allowed Rice to advance to the round of 32 in the ITA National Indoor Championships.

But like the men's team, the women's team finally met its match in a fifth-ranked Big 12 opponent, this time coming in the form of Baylor University (3-0). The scene was an optimistic one at first for Rice, with Guzman and Hanle reprising their role as victors of the first-seeded doubles match as they had done against OSU. When Rice dropped the second match, Jackson and sophomore Daniella Trigo were there to pick up the last match for the team by a score of 8-4 to earn the doubles point for the Owls.

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Unfortunately the tide turned at that point, with Baylor earning three of the first four singles points, and all three of their victories coming by comfortable margins against Jackson, Trigo and Guzman. Once again, Anicete was able to cash in on her match, besting Abby Stainback in a close two-set match that ended when Anicete finally took the second set 7-6. With the Owls facing a second straight match that would be decided by the final duel, it was Rice who blinked first, as Sona Novakova of Baylor took out Harmath in a three-set battle. However, to Harmath's credit, she was able to rally to a second-set victory after being swept 6-0 in the first set.

The team will look to get back on the winning path tomorrow afternoon against conference foe at the University of Houston (2-1).

Football hauls in 19 new Owls

Head Coach David Bailiff announced the newest class of Rice Owls today, revealing the 19players that had accepted scholarship offers this morning.

Despite the Dallas area losing power and some players being unable to access a fax machine, the Owls' football program had commitments from all of those who were expected to sign by the afternoon. Bailiff was eager about the arrival of the future players and expected them to be great additions to Rice.

"We have young men that are great academic fits at Rice - guys that are absolutely driven to graduate and are true student athletes," Bailiff said. "We're on track here I see us being in bowl games and constantly winning in the near future."

The class was Texas-heavy, with 18 of the 19 players from inside the state. Only Christian Covington, who now currently resides in Canada, is from outside of the state.

The prize of the class is quarterback Driphus Jackson, from Cedar Hill High School, in Cedar Hill, Texas who is a threat with both his arm and his legs. Driphus, who played in the U.S. Army All-American All Star Game after winning a reality TV show, is considered a hidden gem by many. Bailiff has high expectations for Jackson.

"He is one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the nation" Bailiff said. "He's a great leader, you saw him in the All-American Bowl - he'll be fantastic for us."

The class ended up being lineman-heavy on both sides of the ball, looking to replace departing seniors such as defensive ends Kramer Lucio and Cheta Ozougwu. The class also includes three wide receivers, a few defensive backs and linebackers, and one recruit, Sugar Land's Julius White, who is simply listed as "athlete" on the roster right now.

Additional updates concerning current players include the movement of sophomore Taylor Cook to tight end and sophomore Vance McDonald to wide receiver. Cook was a backup quarterback for the Owls this season but will be able to utilize his 6'7", 240 lb. frame to create mismatches for linebackers. McDonald, who suffered repeated shoulder injuries due to the physicality of the tight end position, should move into a starting role as a slot receiver. Sophomore tailback/kick returner Shane Turner will move to cornerback to shore up secondary woes, but will continue to return kicks.

The Owls open up their season Sept. 3 at the University of Texas.

-Jonathan Myers and Teddy Grodek

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