Rice University
UT Arlington
Owls Storm Back To Defeat Broncos
3/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu) -
After a line of thunderstorms surged through the Houston area on Wednesday morning, the 47th ranked Rice women's team needed a surge of its own to rebound from an early deficit and down Texas-Arlington 4-1 at the Galleria Tennis & Athletic Club on Wednesday.
After the match was moved indoors, the Mavericks blasted from the starting gates taking the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. But just as quickly, Rice responded in rapid fashion of its own, taking four first sets in singles while losing five combined games.
"I'm really proud of the team for their effort and play in the singles," Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said. "Our backs were against the ropes after that doubles and our team dug in, stepped up, and showed some backbone."
While Lindsey Hodge eventually emerged from a grueling first set with a 7-6 win and Savannah Durkin rebounded from a first set loss to force a third set at the fifth position, Wendy Zhang, Fernanda Astete, Priya Niezgoda and Katherine Ip carried over the momentum from their first sets into the second to close out the match.
Zhang dropped only two games in defeating Agustina Serio, 6-1, 6-1 to tie the match while Astete and Niezgoda each won by scores of 6-1, 6-2 to set the stage for Ip to deliver the clinch with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Astrid Gehre.
The win improved the Owls' season mark to 9-5 heading into a weekend road trip to Virginia for matches against #49 William and Mary on Saturday and VCU on Sunday.
They return home to open a three-match homestand which will wrap up the regular season on April 7 when they host USF.
UT Arlington vs Rice
3/29/2017 at Houston, TX
(Galleria Tennis & Athletic Club)
#47 Rice 4, UT Arlington 1
Singles competition
1. #98 Lindsey Hodge (RICE) vs. Angeles de los Rios (UTA) 7-6 (10-8), unfinished
2. #101 Katherine Ip (RICE) def. Astrid Gehre (UTA) 6-2, 6-4
3. Wendy Zhang (RICE) def. Agustina Serio (UTA) 6-1, 6-1
4. Fernanda Astete (RICE) def. Jessica Birowski (UTA) 6-1, 6-2
5. Savannah Durkin (RICE) vs. Anna Wichert (UTA) 3-6, 7-5, unfinished
6. Priya Niezgoda (RICE) def. Carla Cerdan Vives (UTA) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #70 Lindsey Hodge/Wendy Zhang (RICE) def. Angeles de los Rios/Jessica Birowski (UTA) 6-0
2. Astrid Gehre/Anna Wichert (UTA) def. #79 Alison Ho/Priya Niezgoda (RICE) 6-3
3. Agustina Serio/Valeria Lopez (UTA) def. Savannah Durkin/Katherine Ip (RICE) 6-3
Match Notes:
UT Arlington 8-6
Rice 10-5; National ranking #47
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,4,6,2)
Match moved indoors to GTAC
Players Mentioned
