Rice University
UCF
Early Start Spurs Owls to Quick Win
4/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 20, 2012
The Rice women's tennis team opened play in the 2012 Conference USA Championship earlier than originally scheduled and carried the quick start to a quick win, downing UCF 4-0 on Friday afternoon at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center in Memphis, Tennessee. The Owls will take on Tulane at noon on Saturday for a berth in the conference final.
With rain the in forecast , the match schedule was moved up when possible, putting the Owls on the court 45 minutes earlier than the original 2 p.m. start time. Even with the early start, the match was briefly halted by rain, the Owls maintained the pace throughout the match.
"Today was a good start to the tournament," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "We did a really nice job of coming out aggressively on all 3 doubles courts. And, we stuck with it the whole way, even after the rain delay, which was great to see. In singles, we played the big points well. We are going to need to do that again tomorrow against either Tulane or Houston."
The grabbed the doubles point thanks to wins by their top two teams. Katie Gater and Ana Guzman breezed to an 8-1 win at No. 2 and Natalie Beazant and Dominique Harmath, currently ranked 33rd, quickly followed by evened their record to 3-3 against ranked opponents with an 8-3 win over UCF's 85th ranked pair of Genevieve Lorbergs and Courtney Griffith.
Beazant, who is ranked 40th in singles, survived an early 4-1 deficit in her opening singles match to win her 13th consecutive match and run her season record to 21-1 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Genevieve Lorbergs. Harmath followed with a straight-set win over Alexis Rodriguez in which she did not lose a game.
Kimberly Anicete delivered the clinching point with a 6-4. 6-3 win over Josephine Haraldson.
The win improved the Owls record to 15-7, a career best in wins for Schmidt, who is wrapping up her fourth season as head coach.
The Owls, who have reached at least the semifinals of the C-USA title chase in each of their seven years in the conference, will battle the Green Wave, who they defeated in New Orleans 5-2 in the regular season, atnoon on Saturday, looking to return to the finals for the first time since they won the conference crown in their first season.
Tennis Match Results
UCF vs Rice
Apr 20, 2012 at Memphis, Tenn.
(Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center)
#40 Rice 4, UCF 0
Singles competition
1. #40 Natalie Beazant (RICE) def. Genevieve Lorbergs (UCF) 6-4, 6-2
2. Dominique Harmath (RICE) def. Alexis Rodriguez (UCF) 6-0, 6-0
3. Katie Gater (RICE) vs. Jenna Doerfler (UCF) 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
4. Ana Guzman (RICE) vs. Taylor Dubins (UCF) 5-7, 0-1, unfinished
5. Kimberly Anicete (RICE) def. Josephine Haraldson (UCF) 6-4, 6-3
6. Stephanie Nguyen (RICE) vs. Courtney Griffith (UCF) 4-6, 4-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #33 Natalie Beazant/Dominique Harmath (RICE) def. #85 Genevieve Lorbergs/Courtney Griffith (UCF) 8-3
2. Katie Gater/Ana Guzman (RICE) def. Alexis Rodriguez/Jenna Doerfler (UCF) 8-1
3. Kimberly Anicete/Stephanie Nguyen (RICE) vs. Taylor Dubins/Andrea Yacaman (UCF) 4-1, unfinished
Match Notes:
UCF 10-11
Rice 15-7 National ranking #40
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (1,2,5)
Players Mentioned
