Rice University
Katherine Ip vs Brooke Austin
Ip Stuns 4th Seed to Advance in NCAA Singles
5/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
By Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu) -
TULSA, OK--Rice junior Katherine Ip made her NCAA singles debut one to remember as she upset fourth seeded Brooke Austin of Florida in the opening round of action on Wednesday at the Case Tennis Center.
Ip downed the Gator's 2015 All-American and 2016 ITA National Player to Watch, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, to advance to Thursday's second round where she will face Georgia Tech's Paige Hourigan at 11 a.m.
She joins Wendy Wood and Natalie Beazant as the only Rice women's tennis players to win in their NCAA singles debuts and improved Rice's all-time mark in the NCAA singles event to 11-7.
"It's still sinking in," Ip said. "I still don't believe I won the match. She's #4 in the country. She's a really great player. I played really well today, and I'm just really glad I got the win today."
Ip started quickly, taking the first set and then racing to a 5-2 advantage in the second before Austin ran off five straight games to even the match. Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt praised Ip for shaking off the second set disappointment and emerging with the win.
"You know a player of Brooke's caliber is not going to hand it to you so it was important for Kat to believe she could still do it even with Brooke picking up her play," Schmidt said. "Kat bounced back, dug deep, and earned the win with quality play."
"I had the match point when I was up 5-4," Ip said. "Obviously, I lost the second set, and my coaches came over and told me to forget the past, just start over. I just stayed focused. That's how I pulled through."
The two players traded repeated service breaks in the final set before Ip held to take a 4-3 lead. An Austin double fault increased the lead to 5-3, but the Gators' sophomore responded with a break of her own to cut the lead to 5-4. However, Ip slammed the door on any hopes of another comeback, breaking Austin again to pick up the win.
"She played smart, was extremely resilient, and tough as nails out there," Schmidt added. "I know she is looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow for both singles and doubles."
The win sets up a busy day for Ip on Thursday as she will be back on the Case Center courts at 3:30 to join with freshman Emily Smith in their opening round doubles match against UCLA's two-time, All-Americans Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips who are ranked eighth in the nation.
