Rice University
Arizona
Wildcats Outlast Owls
3/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu) -
TUCSON-Arizona's Sophia Thomas outlasted Savannah Durkin of Rice in three sets to give the Arizona Wildcats a 4-3 win over the Owls at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on Friday.
Thomas and Durkin split the first two sets, 6-4, 6-4 and they took the court for their final set with the match tied 3-3. The two battled evenly through 10 games before Thomas broke through to take the match with a 7-5 decision in the third. The loss snapped a six-match winning streak for Durkin.
Rice took an early lead with the doubles point, thanks to wins on courts two and three, but Arizona stormed to first set wins in four of six singles matches.
Fernanda Astete and Alison Ho were the two Owls to take their first sets and both maintained their advantage in the second to score the Owls remaining points.
"Credit to Arizona. They played better than us in the singles to get those four points," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "They played free, made more balls and handled the situation better than us today. We need to show some resolve now and get ready for Wednesday."
Rice returns home on Wednesday to host UT-Arlington in a 3 p.m. match.
Tennis Match Results
Rice vs Arizona
3/24/2017 at Tucson, AZ
(LaNelle Robson Tennis Center)
Arizona 4, Rice 3
Singles competition
1. #29 Lauren Marker (ARIZ) def. #98 Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 6-3, 6-4
v 2. #119 Paris Corley (ARIZ) def. #101 Katherine Ip (RICE) 6-4, 6-3
3. Camila Wesbrooks (ARIZ) def. Wendy Zhang (RICE) 6-4, 6-4
4. Fernanda Astete (RICE) def. Marie Van Aelst (ARIZ) 6-4, 6-2
5. Alison Ho (RICE) def. Maggie Cohen (ARIZ) 6-3, 6-3
6. Sophia Thomas (ARIZ) def. Savannah Durkin (RICE) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Lauren Marker/Paris Corley (ARIZ) vs. Wendy Zhang/Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 5-4, unfinished
2. Alison Ho/Priya Niezgoda (RICE) def. Camila Wesbrooks/Marie Van Aelst (ARIZ) 7-5
3. Savannah Durkin/Katherine Ip (RICE) def. Maggie Cohen/Sophia Thomas (ARIZ) 6-2
Match Notes:
Rice 9-5
Arizona 10-6
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (4,2,1,5,3,6)
Players Mentioned
