Rice University
Tulsa
Singles Spark Owls Win
4/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu)
After more than three hours of tennis, the latest installment in the rivalry between Rice and Tulsa in women's tennis came down to a tiebreaking third set on court five where sophomore Savannah Durkin emerged with a 7-5 win to give the Owls a 4-3 win over the No. 29 Golden Hurricanes.
The two schools battled for the Conference USA title in each of Tulsa's last three years in the conference and last year met in the opening round of the NCAA Championships. The Owls had broken through on the road and on neutral sites, but Sunday's win was the first on their home ground since 2006.
Playing at home for the first time in three weeks, the Owls snapped a four-match home losing streak and picked up their third consecutive win over Tulsa on the strength of a strong comeback in singles after TU opened the match by taking the doubles point.
"We've had a great rivalry with Tulsa the last several years and it was nothing less today," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "I'm really proud of the team for their perseverance, how hard they have worked and how we just continue to keep getting better. They just dug so deep today."
That perseverance was epitomized by the Owls winning each of three tiebreakers in singles. After Tulsa extended its lead to 2-0 with a win on court one, Emily Smith responded with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 win on court three.
After Tulsa moved to within one point of the clinch with a win on court two, Alison Ho fought through to a second-set tiebreaker to cut the margin to 3-2 while Durkin and Solomiya Zinko were heading to third sets on courts four and six.
Zinko tied the match with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 over Martha Matoula, turning the attention of the crowd of 260 on Durkin's tiebreaker on four.
She jumped out to an early lead and fought off Marcelina Cichon's attempts to rally to win 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).
"This was a great day for Rice tennis," Schmidt said. "The atmosphere was tremendous with the guys getting a big win (over No. 25 SMU) and our team pulling together."
The Owls will return to the road on Wednesday for a road test against Baylor in Waco before returning home on Sunday for Senior Day when they host Louisiana Tech at 11 a.m.
Tennis Match Results
Tulsa vs Rice
4/10/2016 at Houston, Tx
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
#54 Rice 4, #29 Tulsa 3
Singles competition
1. Saana Saarteinen (TULSA) def. Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 6-2, 6-2
2. #121 Ksenia Laskutova (TULSA) def. #66 Katherine Ip (RICE) 6-3, 6-4
3. Emily Smith (RICE) def. Rongrong Leenabancho (TULSA) 7-6 (6-3), 6-1
4. Savannah Durkin (RICE) def. Marcelina Cichon (TULSA) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Alison Ho (RICE) def. Renata Kuricova (TULSA) 6-3, 7-6 (6-3)
6. Solomiya Zinko (RICE) def. Martha Matoula (TULSA) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Katherine Ip/Emily Smith (RICE) def. Ksenia Laskutova/Renata Kuricova (TULSA) 6-2
2. Rongrong Leenabancho/Martha Matoula (TULSA) def. Lindsey Hodge/Alison Ho (RICE) 6-4
3. Mahitha Dadireddy/Saana Saarteinen (TULSA) def. Savannah Durkin/Solomiya Zinko (RICE) 6-3
Match Notes:
Tulsa 18-4; National ranking #29
Rice 9-8; National ranking #54
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,3,2,5,4)
T-3:38 A-260
Players Mentioned
