Rice University
Baylor
Bears Fight off Owls
4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu)
Katherine Ip ground out a three set win in singles and combined with Emily Smith to rally and grab the doubles point, but host the host Baylor Bears used a strong surge in singles to take a 4-2 decision on at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco on Wednesday night.
Playing on the same courts where Baylor had ended the Owls 2015 season in the second round of the NCAA Championship by an identical 4-2 margin, the teams opened in similar style as Rice grabbed the doubles point.
After the teams split matches on courts two and three, Ip and Smith found themselves one game from giving Baylor a 1-0 lead, but the duo reeled off wins in four consecutive games to give the Owls the lead heading to singles. It was the duo's third straight win while playing at the first line for the Owls in doubles.
Needing three points to clinch the win, the Owls grabbed first singles sets by Ip and Savannah Durkin, but Baylor grabbed the advantage by winning the other four first sets, the last of which was a tiebreaker by Theresa Van Zyl over Alison Ho.
The Bears kept up the pressure, picking up straight set wins on courts one, three and six and forcing both Ip and Durkin to third sets. Ip cut the margin to 3-2 by outlasting Kiah Generette 6-2, 1-6, 6-4, but Van Zyl brought the match to a close by downing Ho 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.
The 41st ranked Owls fell to 9-9 with the loss while No. 45 Baylor improved to 14-13. Rice will close out the 2016 regular season when they host Conference USA foe Louisiana Tech at 11 a.m. on Sunday as part of Senior Day festivities at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
Tennis Match Results
Rice vs Baylor
Apr 13, 2016 at Waco, Texas
(Hurd Tennis Center)
#45 Baylor 4, #41 Rice 2
Singles competition
1. #89 Blair Shankle (BU) def. Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 6-4, 6-4
2. #85 Katherine Ip (RICE) def. Kiah Generette (BU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
3. Rhiann Newborn (BU) def. Emily Smith (RICE) 6-2, 6-1
4. Karina Traxler (BU) vs. Savannah Durkin (RICE) 4-6, 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
5. Theresa Van Zyl (BU) def. Alison Ho (RICE) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5
6. Elizabeth Profit (BU) def. Solomiya Zinko (RICE) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Emily Smith/Katherine Ip (RICE) def. #10 Blair Shankle/Kiah Generette (BU) 7-5
2. Alison Ho/Lindsey Hodge (RICE) def. Rhiann Newborn/Karina Traxler (BU) 6-3
3. Kelley Anderson/Elizabeth Profit (BU) def. Savannah Durkin/Solomiya Zinko (RICE) 6-4
Match Notes:
Rice 9-9; National ranking #41
Baylor 14-13; National ranking #45
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,6,1,2,5)
Players Mentioned
