Women's Tennis: Owls Drop UTEP, UTSA
4/14/2005
HOUSTON ? The Rice women?s tennis team got back to its winning ways with a 7-0 defeat of conference foe Texas-El Paso, and a 4-0 win over Texas-San Antonio, Thursday at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
Rice (14-7) opened the day with a clean sweep of conference rival Texas-El Paso. Rice took the doubles point with two easy wins. Blair DiSesa and Tracie Chong defeated Kendall Exelby and Katherine Palider 8-0. It was the duo?s first match as a doubles team. At the number two doubles position, Medeja Egic and Kimberley Patenaude defeated T?a Spirta and Danielle King 8-3 to give Rice the 1-0 edge heading into singles.
DiSesa, ranked 82nd in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, had no problem recording the sweep. The junior defeated Exelby 6-0, 6-0. Chong continued her stellar play with a 6-3, 6-0 win at the number two slot, and Dominique Karas won 6-1, 6-0 at number three.
Against the Roadrunners, the Owls again won with ease. DiSesa and Chong defeated Nadezda Rossikhina and Tanya Hasking 8-3 at the number one doubles position, and Egic and Patenaude again won at number two doubles.
DiSesa didn?t drop a set in singles all day, defeating Rossikhina 6-0, 6-0. She is now 15-6 on the season as the Owls top player. Chong and Karas won their singles matches to seal the victory for Rice.
?I am really proud of the girls,? said head coach Roger White. ?They went out there and took care of business like professionals. I think this prepares us well for our final match of the season on Saturday against Texas A&M.?
The Owls and Aggies will square off Saturday at 1 pm at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
?Our stadium record is 250 people,? added White. ?We?d like to beat that record on Saturday and close out the season with a win.?
No. 47 Rice 7, Texas-El Paso 0
Doubles
1. DiSesa/Chong (Rice) def. Exelby/Palider (UTEP), 8-0
2. Egic/Patenaude (Rice) def. King/Spirta (UTEP). 8-3
3. Dao/Karas (Rice) win by default
Singles
1. #82 Blair DiSesa (Rice) def. Kendall Exelby (UTEP) 6-0, 6-0
2. Tracie Chong (Rice) def. Tea Spirta (UTEP) 6-3, 6-0
3. Dominique Karas (Rice) def. Katherine Palider (UTEP) 6-1, 6-0
4. Christine Dao (Rice) def. Teri Wilkerson (UTEP) 6-3, 6-0
5. Medeja Egic (Rice) def. Danielle King (UTEP) 6-4, 6-2
6. Amy Cao (Rice) wins by default
No. 47 Rice 4, Texas-San Antonio 0
Doubles
1. DiSesa/Chong (Rice) def. Rossikhina/Hasking (UTSA) 8-3
2. Egic/Patenaude (Rice) def. Martinez/Soto (UTSA) 8-4
3. Dao/Karas (Rice) win by default
Singles
1. #82 Blair DiSesa (Rice) def. Nadezda Rossikhina (UTSA) 6-0, 6-0
2. Tracie Chong (Rice) def. Massiel Martinez (UTSA) 6-1, 6-3
3. Dominique Karas (Rice) def. Tanya Hasking (UTSA) 6-2, 6-0
4. Christine Dao (Rice) def. Ana Paula Soto (UTSA) 6-4, 4-1 (susp.)
5. Medeja Egic (Rice) def. Rachael Hansen (UTSA) 7-6(5) (susp.)
6. Amy Cao (Rice) wins by default
- RICE OWLS -
