Rice University
Texas Tech
Owls Can't Snap Tech Streak
3/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
By Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu)
The Rice women's tennis team extended four matches to three sets, but saw their hopes for an upset fall short as seventh-ranked Texas Tech took a 4-0 decision at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Sunday.
The Lady Raiders (13-1) extended their winning streak to nine this season and to four against the Owls, who dropped to 7-5 on the season.
"If you look at the score line, you can tell our team left everything they had on the court," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "Despite the results this weekend, I think our team grew and if we continue to have the right mindset on the practice court and keep getting after it the way we are capable of in our remaining matches then we will see the results we want."
After dropping the doubles point, the Owls dropped four of six first sets of singles. While Tech moved on to win straight set matches on courts three and four, Katherine Ip and Solomiya Zinko rebounded in their second sets to keep the Owls hopes alive.
Zinko was serving at 30-3 and leading 6-5 in her third set and Savannah Durkin had won her last two games on court five when the Lady Raiders clinched it with a three-set win on court one. Ip, who had rallied from a 5-2 deficit in her second set to fight off the clincher, was trailing 3-2 in the third.
The Owls will close out their six-match homestand next Saturday when they host No. 70 Princeton at 11 a.m. Schmidt said she looks forward to returning to practice and building on the lessons from the past weekend.
"This is a process and this weekend was part of the process. We're going to continue to move forward in the right direction as long as we maintain a ‘can-do' mindset."
Tennis Match Results
Texas Tech vs Rice
3/13/2016 at Houston, TX
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
#7 Texas Tech 4, #55 Rice 0
Singles competition
1. #100 Gabriela Talaba (TT) def. #99 Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. #41 Katherine Ip (RICE) vs. Sarah Dvorak (TT) 2-6, 7-5, 2-3, unfinished
3. Alex Valenstein (TT) def. Emily Smith (RICE) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
4. Felicity Maltby (TT) def. Alison Ho (RICE) 6-2, 6-3
5. Savannah Durkin (RICE) vs. Sabrina Federici (TT) 6-4, 1-6, 3-4, unfinished
6. Solomiya Zinko (RICE) vs. Katelyn Jackson (TT) 3-6, 6-4, 6-5, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Gabriela Talaba/Alex Valenstein (TT) def. Lindsey Hodge/Emily Smith (RICE) 6-3
2. Solomiya Zinko/Katherine Ip (RICE) vs. Sarah Dvorak/Sabrina Federici (TT) 3-4, unfinished
3. Lynn Kiro/Felicity Maltby (TT) def. Savannah Durkin/Alison Ho (RICE) 6-3
Match Notes:
Texas Tech 13-1; National ranking #7
Rice 7-5; National ranking #55
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,3,1)
T-3:05
Players Mentioned
