Rice University
Baylor
Baylor Downs Rice in Opener
1/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 20, 2007
HOUSTON -- The 64th-ranked Rice women faced one of their toughest challenges of the year to open the 2007 dual-match season in a 7-0 loss to sixth-ranked Baylor on Saturday at the Jewish Community Center indoor courts in Houston.
The Owls opened strong in doubles as junior Tiffany Lee and freshman Julie Chao teamed for a victory at No. 1, defeating the Bears' Iva Mihaylova and Klara Zrustova 8-3. Sophomore Dominique Karas and freshman Rebecca Lin took an early lead at No. 2 doubles, but couldn't hold on as Baylor's Lenka Broosova and Jessica Zok rallied for the 8-6 decision.
The Bears carried their doubles momentum into singles and swept all six matches.
"I'm really pleased with how the team trained and prepared for the match," observed head coach Roger White. "They competed extremely hard against one of the top teams in the country. We were competitive in every match, and with that determination and work ethic, we will look to be one of the elite teams at the end of the season."
With the opening of the 2007 season, White also noted the contributions of his new coaching staff of assistant coach Kristina Kraszewski and volunteer assistant coach Mashona Washington towards the development of the young Owls.
"I'm extremely excited about the coaching staff we have in place for this year with Kristina's collegiate success and Mashona's tour experience," said White. "I think we have one of the most seasoned and experienced coaching staffs in the nation. Their incites are wonderful, I'm looking forward to the season progressing."
The Owls return to action next week with a trio of matches at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. On Saturday, Rice hosts Sam Houston State at 9 am, followed by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 2 pm. The next day the Owls will face Texas State at 2 pm.
Results
No. 6 Baylor 7, No. 64 Rice 0
Doubles
1) Lee/Chao (RU) def. Mihaylova/Zrustova (BU), 8-3
2) Broosova/Zok (BU) def. Karas/Lin (RU), 8-6
3) Zemenova/Bielikova (BU) def. Braid/Dao (RU), 8-2
Singles
1) No. 21 Zuzana Zemenova (BU) def. Christine Dao (RU), 6-2, 6-0
2) No. 38 Jessica Zok (BU) def. Tiffany Lee (RU), 6-3, 6-1
3) Klara Zrustova (BU) def. Julie Chao (RU), 6-1, 6-3
4) No. 37 Lenka Broosova (BU) def. Rebecca Lin (RU), 6-0, 6-0
5) Iva Mihaylova (BU) def. Dominique Karas (RU), 6-4, 6-2
6) Jana Bielikova (BU) def. Emily Braid (RU), 6-2, 6-2
Players Mentioned
