Rice University
Tulsa
Tulsa Storms Back to Drop Rice, 4-3
3/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 28, 2009
The Rice women's tennis team saw an inspired effort fall just short as the two-time defending Conference USA Champions rallied from a 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 decision over the Owls on Saturday afternoon at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
Rice started quickly against the 50th-ranked Golden Hurricane, who had upset No. 27 Texas on Wednesday in Austin.
The Owls grabbed the doubles point and then added straight set wins by Rebekka Hänle and Ana Guzman at the No. 2 and No. 3 singles to take a 3-0 lead in the match. Julie Chao took the first set in the No. 1 singles match by a 6-1 count, and led in the tiebreaker in the second set before falling 7-5. She dropped the third and deciding set, 6-0, and Tulsa followed with wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots to knot the score at 3-3.
Freshman Jessica Jackson broke through with a win in a second-set tie breaker to force the match to be decided with a third set at the No. 4 position, but Tulsa prevailed 6-2 to take the match.
"I was pleased that we took them down to the wire. We came out with a lot of confidence going into the match. It was a great learning experience to put ourselves in a position to win, but we have to close it out. Our team fought so hard, as they have all season. Hopefully we will get another shot at them in the conference meet here in April."
Tulsa improved it's record to 18-4, while Rice fell to 10-10 on the season. The Owls will be back on their home court next weekend for a match next Sunday against North Texas.
Tennis Match Results
Tulsa vs Rice
3/28/2009 at Houston, Texas
(Jake Hess Tennis Stadium)
#50 Tulsa 4, Rice 3
Singles competition
1. Alexandra Kichoutkin (TLS) def. Julie Chao (RICE) 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
2. Rebekka Hänle (RICE) def. Jie Zeng (TLS) 6-0, 6-2
3. Ana Guzman (RICE) def. Thalia Diaz-Barriga (TLS) 6-4, 6-3
4. Anastasia Erofeeva (TLS) def. Jessica Jackson (RICE) 7-5, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2
5. Rebecca Row (TLS) def. Rebecca Lin (RICE) 7-5, 6-4
6. Ewa Szatkowska (TLS) def. Varsha Shiva-Shankar (RICE) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Julie Chao/Ana Guzman (RICE) def. Jie Zeng/Anastasia Erofeeva (TLS) 8-6
2. Rebecca Lin/Jessica Jackson (RICE) def. Rebecca Row/Alexandra Kichoutkin (TLS) 8-6
3. Thalia Diaz-Barriga/Ewa Szatkowska (TLS) def. Alex Rasch/Rebekka Hänle (RICE) 8-7 (7-5)
Players Mentioned
