Beazant Tabbed C-USA Athlete of the Week
2/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Rice senior Natalie Beazant has been named Conference USA's Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week for the matches through February 22.
The senior from Leigh, England who is currently ranked 32nd in singles earned the honor on the strength of her 6-4, 6-3 win over LSU's 29th ranked Joana Vale Costa during the Owls' 6-1 win over the Tigers in Baton Rouge on Sunday. The victory by the Owls snapped a seven-match losing streak to ranked opponents as well as a six-match losing streak on the road. Rice has played seven matches this year, all against ranked opponents.
The win was Beazant's first in this dual season over a top 30 ranked singles opponent and her seventh in 13 career dual matches in similar situations. She has a career mark of 25-15 against all ranked opponents in singles. It was the 101st of her career (101-30), moving her to within seven singles wins of tying Susan Ruud for third on the Rice career list.
Beazant is the Owls first weekly winner of the women's tennis honor from C-USA in 2015 and the first since Dominique Harmath in April of 2014. It is the fifth time Beazant has earned the honor in her career.
The Rice women's tennis team will be back in action on Saturday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center when they host Texas State. First serves are set for noon.
Players Mentioned
