Rice University
New Mexico
Lobos Shut Down Rice Rally
3/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
By Chuck Pool (cpool@.rice.edu)
The Rice women's tennis team could not duplicate their Saturday script of rallying from a loss in doubles as the 40th ranked Owls dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 51 New Mexico at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Sunday.
On Saturday against Brown, the Owls outlasted the Bears after surrendering the doubles point by taking four of five three-set matches. On Sunday, the first point came down to tiebreakers on courts two and three before the Lobos clinched with a 10-8 win on three.
In singles play, Lindsey Hodge and Solomiya Zinko gave Rice a brief 2-1 lead with straight set wins on courts one and six, but New Mexico cutoff any hopes of another set if three-set matches by wining in straight sets on courts four, three and two.
Savannah Durkin added the Owls final point with a three-set win on five for the Owls, who dropped to 7-3 on the season.
"Some of the struggles we've been seeing in some of the matches we've been able to pull out we saw again today," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "Give the credit to New Mexico for stepping up and finishing the job today. They came off a really tough loss yesterday where they had match point and lost. They came out today and played free and with nothing to lose. We played tight and the pounced on it."
The Owls will be back on the GRBTC courts next weekend when they host Penn on Saturday and Texas Tech on Sunday.
Tennis Match Results
New Mexico vs Rice
3/6/2016 at Houston, TX
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
#51 New Mexico 4, #40 Rice 3
Singles competition
1. #81 Lindsey Hodge (RICE) def. OLIVIER, Emily (NM) 6-3, 6-1
2. #120 LeBLANC, Andrea (NM) def. #31 Katherine Ip (RICE) 7-5, 6-3
3. DULSKI, Dominique (NM) def. Emily Smith (RICE) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
4. BURGUIERE, Ludivine (NM) def. Alison Ho (RICE) 6-3, 6-3
5. Savannah Durkin (RICE) def. COPAS, Ruth (NM) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Solomiya Zinko (RICE) def. COONE, Sharon (NM) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. OLIVIER, Emily/DULSKI, Dominique (NM) def. Lindsey Hodge/Alison Ho (RICE) 6-4
2. Katherine Ip/Emily Smith (RICE) def. LeBLANC, Andrea/BHAT, Rachana (NM) 7-6 (7-5)
3. BURGUIERE, Ludivine/COONE, Sharon (NM) def. Savannah Durkin/Solomiya Zinko (RICE) 7-6 (10-8)
Match Notes:
New Mexico 6-5; National ranking #51
Rice 7-3; National ranking #40
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2, 3); Singles (1,6,4,3,2,5)
T-3:14
Players Mentioned
