Rice University Athletics
Owls Advance at ITA Texas Regional
10/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 18, 2009
WACO - Rice University's Jessica Jackson posted a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3 win over Vanja Corovic of Texas to advance to the Round of 32 at the ITA Texas Regional Saturday.
Jackson's win came against the No. 4 seed at the regional tournament as the Owls had six players win first-round matches to advance in the main draw. She will face Texas State's Andrea Giraldo on Sunday.
Also, winning on Saturday was Varsha Shiva-Shankar who gained a berth into the main draw with a pair of victories in the qualifying draw, including a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win over Texas Tech's Stefanie Peanu. She posted a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 come-from-behind win over North Texas' Amy Joubert to advance in the main draw.
Shiva-Shankar will be one of two Rice players who will face Top 8 seeds in the next round. She takes on No. 2 seed, Marta Lesniak of SMU at 12:30 Sunday. Rice's Ana Guzman defeated Sam Houston State's Giorgia Pozzan 7-6 (10), 6-2 Saturday and will now play the No. 4 seed, Taylor Ormond of Baylor on Sunday.
The tournament features eight players seeded one through eight with eight others being considered No. 9 seeds.
Among the No. 9 seeds is Rice's Rebekka Henle who beat SFA's Alina Shazhko 6-2, 6-2 Saturday and will face SMU's Sophie Quest on Sunday. After a 6-1, 6-0 win against Houston's Bryony Hunter, Julie Chao faces one of the tournament's other No. 9 seeds, Megan Alexander of TCU on Sunday.
Also winning for Rice Saturday was Rebekka Lin, who posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over Texas Tech's Kelsy Garland.
The Owls' lone loss Saturday was Alex Rasch's 7-6 (5), 6-3 setback Texas Caroline Larsson, another No. 9 seed. Rasch moves into the consolation draw where she will face TCU's Maria Babanova Sunday afternoon.
In double play, Chao and Guzman advanced to the Round of 16 with an 8-2 victory over Lamar's Marianyeni Gutierrez and Katrina Harbuzi.
The ITA Texas Regional runs through Tuesday.
Players Mentioned
