Rice University
Brown
Owls Respond to Challenge, Rally to Beat Brown
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
By Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu)
Faced with a 1-0 deficit after a lethargic set of doubles, the Rice women's tennis team answered a challenge from head coach Elizabeth Schmidt and rallied for a 5-2 win over Brown at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Saturday.
"Give the credit to Brown for their effort, but I though we came out really flat in doubles," Schmidt said. "I really put it to our team and told them I wanted to see what they were made of. When you look it across the board, it's a few points either way on every court, but the thing is we stepped up when we had to and got those points. "
The Owls' response to Schmidt's challenge was not completed until Savannah Durkin won the third of four three-set matches on the day to provide the clinch point. Five of the six singles matches were extended to three sets, but thanks to wins by Durkin, Alison Ho, Lindsey Hodge and Emily Smith, the Owls improved to 18-12 in three setters this year.
Ho set the tone for the Owls comeback spirit, posting a quick first set win to offset the impact of the doubles point and then shaking off leg cramps in her third set to set the stage for Durkin's clinching point, her third of the year to lead the team.
"Give Alison credit for finding a way to dig deep, maybe deeper probably than she ever has before," Schmidt said. "She played a solid match all the way through and her energy really carried over to the other courts. I was really proud of her mental and physical strength to get through that final game."
Senior Solomiya Zinko was the lone Owl to finish in two sets, posting her 11th consecutive dual win and extending her dual unbeaten streak to 16 matches with a 7-6, 6-3 win on court six. Her 7-1 win in a first set tiebreaker prevented the Owls from dropping four of six first sets and she then tied the match at 1-1 with a swift second set.
"That's our senior out there taking it to her opponent and continuing to be a rock for us," Schmidt stated.
The Owls, who came into the weekend ranked 40th, improved to 7-2 on the year and 5-1 at the GRBTC. They improved to 24-16 all-time against ranked teams under Schmidt, but another formidable challenge awaits on Sunday in 51st ranked New Mexico on Sunday.
"I still don't think we played our best tennis but what we did do today was fight really hard and left it all out on the court. In college tennis if you do that you are going to put yourself in good position a lot of the time no matter what kind of game you have that day," Schmidt said.
First serves for Rice and New Mexico are set for 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Tennis Match Results
Brown vs Rice
3/5/2016 at Houston, TX
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
#40 Rice 5, #73 Brown 2
Singles competition
1. #81 Lindsey Hodge (RICE) def. Dayna Lord (BROWN) 7-5, 3-6, 7-5
2. #101 Alyza Benotto (BROWN) def. #31 Katherine Ip (RICE) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
3. Emily Smith (RICE) def. Hannah Camhi (BROWN) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6)
4. Alison Ho (RICE) def. Maddie Stearns (BROWN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
5. Savannah Durkin (RICE) def. Katie Ta (BROWN) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
6. Solomiya Zinko (RICE) def. Mariska Chamdani (BROWN) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Dayna Lord/Alyza Benotto (BROWN) def. Alison Ho/Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 6-1
2. Hannah Camhi/Katie Ta (BROWN) def. Katherine Ip/Emily Smith (RICE) 6-3
3. Solomiya Zinko/Savannah Durkin (RICE) vs. Maddie Stearns/Ammu Mandalap (BROWN) 4-3, unfinished
Match Notes:
Brown 9-4; National ranking #73
Rice 7-2; National ranking #40
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,3,4,2,5,1)
T-2:55
Players Mentioned
