Rice University
Louisiana-Lafayette
Owls Blank Cajuns
1/21/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 21, 2012
The Rice women's tennis team weathered a delay of nearly three hours and then closed out a successful weekend of tennis by blanking Louisiana-Lafayette, 7-0 at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on Saturday. The Owls opened their season with a 7-0 shutout of Lamar on Friday.
The Owls and Ragin' Cajuns were scheduled to take to the Hess courts at 11 a.m., but a persistent morning mist left the playing surface unplayable until nearly 2 p.m. But once on the court, the Owls showed little effect from the delay.
"The team really handled the situation well," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "There was a time when we were looking at alternative sites to move the match, so they were not sure of when or where they would be playing. But they had great focus once the match began.
"We ran down a lot of balls today and that was pleasing because our fitness has been a point of emphasis all year," Schmidt added.
Thanks to wins by their #1 and #2 teams, the Owls took the early lead after grabbing the doubles point and continued their momentum in singles, taking five of six matches in straight sets. Sophomore Kimberly Anicete put the cap on the 7-0 shutout by rallying from an opening set loss to defeat ULL's Sandra Ahlqvist in a third-set, tie-breaker.
"Kim was a warrior out there today," Schmidt said. "She had a rough doubles match and they dropped the first set. But she really turned it around and that was a great way to end the day."
The Owls will south next weekend to face Texas A&M Corpus Christi next Saturday. They return to Jake Hess on February 4 when they will host McNeese State.
Tennis Match Results
Louisiana vs Rice
1/21/2012 at Houston, TX
(Jake Hess Tennis Stadium)
#71 Rice 7, Louisiana 0
Singles competition
1. Dominique Harmath (RICE) def. Briggitt Marcovich (UL) 6-0, 6-1
2. Natalie Beazant (RICE) def. Sophie van den Aarssen (UL) 6-3, 6-3
3. Ana Guzman (RICE) def. Erin Wilbert (UL) 6-2, 6-4
4. Katie Gater (RICE) def. Milou Israel (UL) 6-1, 6-4
5. Kimberly Anicete (RICE) def. Sandra Ahlqvist (UL) 4-6, 6-1, 10-7
6. Stephanie Nguyen (RICE) def. Tara Vasovic (UL) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Dominique Harmath/Natalie Beazant (RICE) def. Briggitt Marcovich / Sophie van den Aarssen (UL) 8-1
2. Ana Guzman/Katie Gater (RICE) def. Milou Israel/ Erin Wilbert (UL) 8-3
3. Sandra Ahlqvist/ Hannah Appleyard(UL) def. Daniela Trigo/Kimberly Anicete (RICE) 8-4
Players Mentioned
