Rice University
Abilene Christian
Owls Sweep ACU, UTSA in Season Finale
4/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 14, 2006
HOUSTON -- Senior Blair DiSesa took over fifth on the Rice career win list as she led the Owls to a pair of 7-0 victories against Abilene Christian and Texas-San Antonio on Friday at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium in the teams regular-season finale.
DiSesa scored a 6-1, 6-4 win against ACU's Irene Squillaci in the first dual match of the day. The Owl then blasted the Roadrunners' Nathalie Wallin 6-0, 6-1 in the final dual. The victories proved to be the clinchers in both team wins and improved DiSesa's collegiate singles record to 89-60.
Senior Medeja Egic was also triumphant in her final appearance at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. She teamed with DiSesa for a pair of doubles wins, including an 8-0 blasting of UTSA's Tanya Hasking and Barbara Mooney. Egic was equally impressive in singles, beating Meagan Brown of ACU 6-1, 6-2 and the Roadrunners' Hasking 6-1, 6-0.
The day began for Rice with a sweep of the doubles point against Abilene Christian. The Owls then swept the top four singles positions against the Wildcats, who are ranked ninth nationally in NCAA division II. At five and six, freshmen Alanna Rodgers and Emily Braid both split their first two sets before winning super tiebreaks for the third to secure the team sweep.
The Owls were even more dominant against the Roadrunners. After sweeping doubles again, Rice swept all six singles matches. DiSesa, Egic and sophomore Christine Dao lost just a singles game each in their wins. Senior Amy Cao and sophomore Tiffany Lee had the closest decisions of the match. Lee downed Monika Drabkova 6-3, 6-2 and Cao won her final match at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium 6-4, 6-2.
Next week, Rice heads to the Dallas area to vie for the 2006 Conference USA championship at the Garland Tennis Center. The bracket will be announced by the league office on Monday, and the tournament runs April 20-23
Results
Rice 7, Abilene Christian 0
Doubles
1. DiSesa/Egic (RU) def. Lindloff/Paulin (ACU), 8-4
2. Rodgers/Kimberley Patenaude (RU) def. Brown/Squillaci (ACU), 8-7 (7-2)
3. Lee/Dao (R) def. Drummond/Elizabeth Korinek (ACU), 8-1
Singles
* 1. #60 Blair DiSesa (RU) def. Irene Squillaci (ACU), 6-1, 6-4
2. Christine Dao (RU) def. Meagan Brown (ACU), 6-1, 6-2
3. Tiffany Lee (RU) def. Holly Lindloff (ACU), 6-2, 6-2
4. Medeja Egic (RU) def. Lana Pavlin (ACU), 6-1, 6-2
5. Alanna Rodgers (RU) def. Sarah Drummond (ACU), 6-4, 6-7 (7), 1-0 (6)
6. Emily Braid (RU) def. Sara Baker (ACU), 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (4)
Order of Finish: D3, D1, D2, S2, S4, S1*, S3, S6, S5
Rice 7, Texas-San Antonio 0
Doubles
1. DiSesa/Egic (RU) def. Hasking/Barbara Mooney (UTSA), 8-0
2. Rodgers/Kimberley Patenaude (RU) def. Scida/Soto (UTSA), 8-6
3. Lee/Dao (R) def. Drabkova/Silvester (UTSA), 8-1
Singles
* 1. #60 Blair DiSesa (RU) def. Nathalie Wallin (UTSA), 6-0, 6-1
2. Christine Dao (RU) def. Karen Scida (UTSA), 6-1, 6-0
3. Tiffany Lee (RU) def. Monika Drabkova (UTSA), 6-3, 6-2
4. Medeja Egic (RU) def. Tanya Hasking (UTSA), 6-1, 6-0
5. Alanna Rodgers (RU) def. Ana Paula Soto (UTSA), 6-4, 6-1
6. Amy Cao (RU) def. Eva Silvester (UTSA), 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish: D1, D3, D2, S4, S2, S1*, S3, S6, S5
Players Mentioned
