Rice University
Tulsa
Ip Sends Owls to Fourth Consecutive Round of 32
5/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
After splitting the first 20 games of her singles match, Rice sophomore Katherine Ip summoned one final surge to win the final two games to take a three-set decision and send the 28th ranked Rice women's tennis team into its fourth consecutive Round of 32 with a 4-2 win over Tulsa at the Hurd Tennis Center on Saturday.
The Owls (17-8) will face #9 Baylor (26-6) at 2 p.m. on Sunday looking for the second berth in the NCAA Sweet 16.
"I was a great college tennis match," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "We knew it would be a battle coming in. They fought really hard, we fought really hard and it came down to a few points. I'm really proud of our team for stepping up when it came time to win."
The two old foes were meeting in the postseason for the sixth consecutive year, but for the first time at the NCAA Championship. The Owls were able to sweep the season against the Golden Hurricane for the first time in school history thanks to a gritty effort to take the doubles point, followed by wins in singles by Solomiya Zinko and Natalie Beazant which placed Ip into her recently familiar role as the team's closer.
The pursuit of the opening point of the match in doubles was briefly interrupted by a light rain shower, but the 11-minute delay seemed to change the court of two of the three matches. While Beazant and Liat Zimmermann maintained their pace and went on to win on court one after the delay, Rice saw its 5-1 lead on court two evaporate while the team of Zinko of Savannah Durkin on court three used the break to stage a rally from a 6-3 deficit.
Both matches went to tiebreakers, with Zinko and Durkin used to close out the point with a 7-3 win.
When singles play opened, Zinko quickly extended the margin to 2-0 with a straight set win on court six. Beazant and Ip both raced to first set wins, but while Beazant was closing in on her 113th career singles win, Tulsa tied the match with wins on courts three and five.
Ip's first set 6-0 win was matched by Tulsa's Rongrong Leenbanchon in the second set, forcing a third set that saw the two battle to a draw through the first eight games. But the sophomore from Hong Kong summoned up a service break in the ninth game and then closed the door on Tulsa's hopes by holding serve to win 6-0, 0-6, 6-4.
"In the second set, she (Leenbancho) was playing really well and I was missing quite a bit," Ip said. "So in the third set, I decided to just run around on every ball and put it in the court and see what happens next."
The clinch point was Ip's second of her career at the NCAA level and just as it did in 2014, it sets up a showdown with the host Bears, who are ranked ninth but seeded eighth in the tournament, on their home court.
It will be the sixth meeting in dual competition in the last two years between the schools and Schmidt said the Owls know what to expect.
"A lot of it is going to be able to come out and stay disciplined and mentally tough and be able to play one more ball," Schmidt said. "They are going to make you play one more ball and you've got to be able to do it."
First serves are set for 2 p.m.
Tennis Match Results
Rice vs Tulsa
5/9/2015 at Waco, Texas
(Hurd Tennis Center)
#28 Rice 4, #48 Tulsa 2
Singles competition
1. #32 Natalie Beazant (RICE) def. Ksenia Laskutova (TU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Katherine Ip (RICE) def. Rongrong Leenbanchon (TU) 6-0, 0-6, 6-4
3. Marcelina Cichon (TU) def. Liat Zimmermann (RICE) 6-2, 6-1
4. Yelena Nemchen (TU) vs. Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 7-5, 3-3, unfinished
5. Saana Saarteinen (TU) def. Savannah Durkin (RICE) 6-1, 6-2
6. Solomiya Zinko (RICE) def. Renata Kuricova (TU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Natalie Beazant/Liat Zimmermann (RICE) def. #80 Ksenia Laskutova/Renata Kuricova (TU) 8-5
2. Rongrong Leenbanchon/Marcelina Cichon (TU) vs. Lindsey Hodge/Alison Ho (RICE) 7-7, unfinished
3. Savannah Durkin/Solomiya Zinko (RICE) def. Mahitha Dadireddy/Saana Saarteinen (TU) 8-7 (7-3)
Match Notes:
Rice 17-8; National ranking #28
Tulsa 16-11; National ranking #48
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,5,3,1,2)
NCAA Championship First Round
There was an 11-minute rain delay during doubles play.
Players Mentioned
