Rice University
Yale
Owls Turn Back Bulldogs to Win Fourth Straight
3/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Natalie Beazant extended her winning streak to eight matches while Lindsey Hodge and Solo Zinko fought off hard charges by their opponents to lead the Rice women's tennis team to a 4-0 win over Yale at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston on Friday.
"This was a very hard-fought, 4-0 win and that is a great credit to Yale," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "We got off to a very fast start in singles (winning four of six first sets) but they didn't roll over. They kept fighting and clawing and made us earn this victory. That's exactly what we needed. We needed to have a match where we had to fight through some nerves when things started to turn on us. I'm proud of our team and how they stepped up after Yale really put some pressure on us."
The win was the fourth straight for the Owls, who improved to 8-7 on the year and 3-0 in the current homestand that concludes with a dual against William and Mary on Sunday. Yale fell to 3-7, including an 0-2 mark on their trip to Texas.
The start time of the match was moved up to 10 a.m. in anticipation of rain storms developing in Houston later in the day and the Owls came our firing in doubles. They grabbed the initial point of the match with wins on courts one and three and held a 5-2 lead on court two when the point was secured.
They carried that momentum into singles where in addition to winning four of six first sets, they also saw freshman Savannah Durkin take a 5-1 lead in the first set. But Yale's Sherry Li rallied to take the set 7-5 while Ree Ree Li was taking the first set over Liat Zimmermann on four, signaling a charge by the Bulldogs who would not surrender the deciding points in the match until nearly three hours had passed.
"We gave up some leads on a few courts, but we never did was stop fighting. We rose to the occasion and fought through the adversity. I think both Liat and Savannah coming back and winning their second sets was important. We stress that every player on every court has to do their part to push this team, and they all did when Yale really tightened things up."
While Zimmermann and Durkin fought of charges by Yale to put points on the board, Beazant, Hodge and Zinko were scrapping through tight second sets to provide the clinching points.
Beazant provided the second point, ending her match with an ace to defeat Madeleine Hamilton 6-3, 7-5 to win her eight straight singles match and improve to 11-1 on the season. Hodge ended a strong rally by Courtney Amos in the second set with a break of her own in the ninth game of the second set and then grabbed the third point with a strong final service game. Zinko ended the match with a 7-5 win over Valerie Shklove.
The Owls will wrap up the homestand on Sunday when then welcome 34th ranked William and Mary to the George R. Brown Tennis Center. This marks the third consecutive year the two schools will meet, with Rice having one the last two, but Schmidt knows the Owls will be in for a battle on Sunday.
"They are a solid program with a ton of history and they are having a great year, as evidenced by their ranking. We've had a lot of close matches with them and I know it will be a fight. It should be a fun one for people to watch."
First serves are set for 11 a.m.
Yale vs Rice
3/20/2015 at Houston, Texas
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
#55 Rice 4, Yale 0
Singles competition
1. #23 Natalie Beazant (RICE) def. Madeleine Hamilton (YALE) 6-3, 7-5
2. Katherine Ip (RICE) vs. Hanna Yu (YALE) 6-1, 5-7, 2-3, unfinished
3. Lindsey Hodge (RICE) def. Courtney Amos (YALE) 6-2, 6-4
4. Liat Zimmermann (RICE) vs. Ree Ree Li (YALE) 3-6, 6-4, 2-2, unfinished
5. Savannah Durkin (RICE) vs. Sherry Li (YALE) 5-7, 6-1, 5-1, unfinished
6. Solomiya Zinko (RICE) def. Valerie Shklover (YALE) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #67 Natalie Beazant/Liat Zimmermann (RICE) def. Ree Ree Li/Madeleine Hamilton (YALE) 6-2
2. Alison Ho/Lindsey Hodge (RICE) vs. Hanna Yu/Valerie Shklover (YALE) 5-2, unfinished
3. Savannah Durkin/Solomiya Zinko (RICE) def. Carol Finke/Sherry Li (YALE) 6-2
Match Notes:
Yale 3-7
Rice 8-7; National ranking #55
Order of finish: Doubles (3); Singles (1,3)
T-2:35 A-45
Players Mentioned
