Durkin and Beazant Provide Finishing Touches to 4-0 Homestand

March 22, 2015

Savannah Durkin and Natalie Beazant ground out three-set wins to provide the margin of victory as the 55th ranked Rice women's tennis team downed No. 34 William and Mary 5-2 on Sunday to close out a perfect four-match homestand at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.

The win was the fifth straight for the Owls (9-7) and their eighth in their last nine matches. It was also their third win in the last four meetings against ranked opponents. The Tribe dropped to 10-4 on the year and their third consecutive dual against the Owls.

"It was another total team victory," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "We competed hard on every court and when you do that, you put yourself in a really good position. It was nice to get the doubles point after William and Mary fought back at three. We did a really good job of keeping our composure when things got a little bit tight. That happens in sport, but we did a really good job of rebounding, then coming out firing and sticking to the game plan."

The battle for the doubles point came down to court three where Lindsey Hodge and Alison Ho fended off a late charge from The Tribe's Maria Groener and Olivia Thaler to win the final two games and take a 7-5 decision.

When action moved to singles, the Owls quickly extended the lead thanks to straight set wins by Katherine Ip and Solmiya Zinko. But William and Mary grabbed first sets on three of the remaining four singles courts and cut the margin to 3-2 with wins on courts three and four.

Durkin captured her first set 6-2, and was in position to provide the clinching point before dropping a tiebreaker to Groener by a 7-1 score to force a third set. But the freshman from Miramar, Florida showed little residual effect from the tiebreak loss, racing to a 6-0 win in the final set to provide the clinching point.

"Savannah showed great mental toughness to be able to erase that result and get back to work and play a really solid third set, " Schmidt said. "Liat (Zimmermann) battling back in her second set at four really helped build the energy on all the courts. When you dig deep and keep your match going it really helps the people next to you and we did that across the board."

The final point of the match featured a matchup of players ranked in the top 50 in singles who battled for three sets.

Beazant, who came into action ranked 23rd nationally, shook off a tiebreak loss of her own in the first set to come back and take a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 44 Leeza Nemchinov, handing The Tribe junior her first loss in dual action this year. The win was Beazant's eighth consecutive singles win and improved her record to 11-1 this season and 106-30 in her career.

The Owls will travel to Waco on Wednesday for the second of their two regular season meetings with the Baylor Bears, who entered weekend action ranked sixth in the country. The two met earlier at the GRBTC and Schmidt said the Bears 4-0 win was an important moment for her team.

"I thought that the last match we played against Baylor was a bit of a turning point in our season. Even though we didn't win the match, we seem to find our footing that day and we built on some of the things we learned that day. It's always a tough place to play. We've lost a few matches to them over the past several years but I know we're excited about the opportunity to get out on the court with them again," she added.

This is the second consecutive year the two former SWC rivals have had a home and home arrangement during the season and while some might find it odd to have two matches scheduled against the same formidable opponent, Schmidt said she finds it to be a positive challenge.

"It's top team that is close by and I thought it was a great idea when Joey (Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano) asked me if I wanted to do it. We both have good quality teams and it allows us to made some adjustments and see how your team reacts to them."

First serves in Waco are scheduled for 5 p.m.

Tennis Match Results
William & Mary vs Rice
3/22/2015 at Houston, Texas
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)

#55 Rice 5, #32 William & Mary 2

Singles competition
1. #23 Natalie Beazant (RICE) def. #44 Leeza Nemchinov (WM) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4
2. Katherine Ip (RICE) def. Jeltje Loomans (WM) 6-4, 6-2
3. Olivia Thaler (WM) def. Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 6-1, 6-1
4. Mélanie Roy (WM) def. Liat Zimmermann (RICE) 6-4, 7-5
5. Savannah Durkin (RICE) def. Maria Groener (WM) 6-2, 6-7 (1-7), 6-0
6. Solomiya Zinko (RICE) def. Cecily Wuenscher (WM) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. #25 Jeltje Loomans/Leeza Nemchinov (WM) def. #67 Natalie Beazant/Liat Zimmermann (RICE) 6-4
2.. Lindsey Hodge/Alison Ho (RICE) def. Maria Groener/Olivia Thaler (WM) 6-2
3. Savannah Durkin/Solomiya Zinko (RICE) def. Julia Casselbury/Mélanie Roy (WM)7-5

Match Notes:
William & Mary 10-4; National ranking #32
Rice 9-7; National ranking #55
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,2,6,4,5,1)
T-3:17 A-50

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