A Nguyen-Win Situation for Rice
5/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
By Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu)
The Rice women's tennis team takes on Tulsa in the opening round of the 2015 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship on Saturday in Waco and for two of the Owls' three seniors, it marks one more opportunity to continue to build upon a legacy of success that began as freshmen after a long bus ride to Oxford, Mississippi in May of 2012.
For Natalie Beazant, it's an opportunity to add additional statistics to a glittering array of numbers that have entrenched her as one of the most decorated tennis players in school history. For Stephanie Nguyen, it's an opportunity to hold off the transition to medical student while coaching Beazant and sophomore Katherine Ip.
For both, it marks the final chance to repeat their memorable success as freshmen, when the Owls staged a pair of stunning wins over Illinois and Ole Miss to earn the school's first berth in the Sweet 16.
"I'll never forget the time on the bus going to Oxford," Nguyen recalled. "It was such a long trip, we had to stop and take a break. But it was such a special feeling to be on the trip. We were so pumped and ready to go. We beat Illinois and then beat an SEC team (Ole Miss) with their home crowd cheering against us. That was just the best feeling to experience," she recalled.
As a freshman, Nguyen teamed with Kimberly Anicete at No. 3 doubles all season and the duo found themselves in the eye of storm several times in crucial matches.
Early in the year, they had seen a doubles point at Texas A&M lost on their racquets. Later, they seized a similar opportunity to win the doubles point against Oklahoma and spark a win that boosted the Owls into the top 30, a crucial boost for a team that would need an at-large bid to reach the NCAA Championship.
And in the match against host Ole Miss, Nguyen saved a match point and then combined with Anicete to win their match 9-7 and give the Owls the first of their four points to earn a trip to Athens, Georgia for the Sweet 16.
"That win set the stage for the next three years," Nguyen said. "We know that we are good enough to be there (back in the Sweet 16) and compete against the best. We have high expectations of ourselves because of that year."
While Nguyen's playing time lessened over the next three years, her commitment to the team and to the pursuit of her degree never waned.
"She's been very inspirational for the other players." Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "She's got a great eye for the game when she's coaching on the court and has a great energy about her. She keeps them calm and she keeps them loose while she's telling them the right things to do. We have absolute trust in her when she's talking to her teammates out there. What makes good teams great is having everyone contribute in a special way and Steph has found so many special ways to contribute during her career. I'm just excited that she has the opportunity to continue to get out on that court with her teammates."
When match time arrives on Saturday, Nguyen says her intensity level might even be higher than it was when she was in the lineup.
"I think I might get more pumped coaching because I get so excited for all of the girls--especially on one and two which I am primarily responsible for. It's on me to help Nat and Katherine get across the line. I'm really excited to get out there with them on Saturday and then hopefully again on Sunday."
With her two assignments on connecting courts, Nguyen has the ability to turn back and forth between courts to offer each player advice. But when doing so, she has two distinct personalities that require different approaches.
"I have two different hats that I wear," she said, "One is for Nat, who has a lot of fire and energy. She likes to get the crowd and her teammates involved, so my job for Nat is to keep her psyched, keep her loud and keep her energy up because that impacts the rest of the team.
"When I walk over to court two, I put on my Katherine hat. Katherine and I are always smiling on the court, so my goal for her is to keep her relaxed and keep her focused. We have a lot of jokes out there, just some inside jokes. But in the end I know she's a fighter who will battle to the very end."
Nguyen has seen more than a few meetings between Rice and Tulsa in her four years on South Main.
As a freshman, she saw her team fall twice to the Golden Hurricane, the second loss coming in the C-USA Championship. The next two years, Tulsa took the regular season meeting and Rice responded with wins in the C-USA title match. This year, after Tulsa moved to the American Athletic Conference, the two met in the regular season with Rice taking a 4-0 win in Tulsa.
Now the two meet as conference champions for the first time, looking to advance in the NCAA field.
"Tulsa has always been a challenge for us. This year we played a really solid match with them in the regular season and I think we'll take a lot of confidence from that into this match. They have played very well down the stretch and we expect them to step up their game even more because this is the NCAAs. But I think we are ready for them," she added.
The next chapter in Nguyen's life is looming on the near horizon. After her first trip home to Australia since 2013 in the early summer, she will return to Houston in August to take up the next phase of her academic career as a first-year medical student at the University of Texas Medical School, just a stone's throw from the Rice campus. "The goal was to be able to go to medical school in Houston and I am super excited that it has worked out this way," Nguyen said. "I'll become a Longhorn in terms of my medical school affiliation, but I know my heart will always remain right across Main Street. I love this team and I love hanging out with these girls.
"Every moment out there on the court helps me to build character, whether I am playing or coaching. Over the years tennis has helped me to mature and taught me a lot of life lessons which I will definitely take into my medical career," she added. But she's also not quite ready to start that next chapter quite yet.
"I am more than happy to extend my college career a few more weeks. People have told me that medical school is basically selling yourself to the library for the next four years so I am happy to be able to stand on the tennis court for a little while longer," she said.
Players Mentioned
