Rice University
Louisiana Tech
Ho and Ip Lead Owls to Senior Day Sweep
4/15/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu) -
The Rice women's tennis team celebrated the careers of their two departing seniors, Alison Ho and Katherine Ip, in a most fitting way, setting aside the emotions of the pre-match Senior Day ceremony and racing to a 7-0 win over Louisiana Tech at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Saturday.
The 35th ranked Owls won their sixth consecutive dual to end the regular season at 15-5 and also closed out a perfect home season (11-0) as they look to build momentum heading into next week's Conference USA Championship where they will look to win an unprecedented fifth consecutive team title.
Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt said she was not surprised to see her two seniors handle the emotions of the day and respond with solid efforts on the court.
"For our seniors, that's a little different, having to turnaround (after the ceremony) with no warmup and start playing again," Schmidt said. "But that's trademark Alison and Kat. They were ready to go and took care of business."
Ip and Savannah Durkin set the early tone in doubles, racing to a 6-0 win and then engaging in an emotional celebratory hug after the winning point. Ip said their performance belied the emotions both were feeling.
"Savannah and I had tears in our eyes at the beginning of the doubles," Ip said. "We handled it really well and got the job done."
Ho and freshman Priya Niezgoda clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 win on court three. "It was great they way we started off in doubles because you can kind of get off to a slow start after standing there," Ho stated.
The pace of the match did not lessen during singles as the Owls swept to straight set wins on all six courts.
Ip provided the third point of the match with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Nadja Manjon and then watched as Ho added the sixth point to the Owls' total with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Haley Ballinger.
While the dual marked the last time Ho and Ip will compete for Rice at the GRBTC, Schmidt was quick to remind the Owls that their season is far from over.
"That was the message to the team after the match," Schmidt noted. "We congratulated them on finishing their competitive career at George R. Brown, but they're going to be back out here for practice on Monday on these same courts and we have a lot of tennis left in us. I know everybody, but especially those two want to be playing a lot more tennis in the month of May," she added.
Louisiana Tech vs Rice
4/15/2017 at Houston, TX
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
#35 Rice 7, Louisiana Tech 0
Singles competition
1. #111 Lindsey Hodge (RICE) def. Jazmin Britos (TECH) 6-0, 6-2
2. Katherine Ip (RICE) def. Nadja Manjon (TECH) 6-0, 6-1
3. Wendy Zhang (RICE) def. Marta Sramkova (TECH) 6-0, 6-3
4. Savannah Durkin (RICE) def. Sonia Chen (TECH) 6-1, 6-4
5. Alison Ho (RICE) def. Haley Ballinger (TECH) 6-2, 6-3
6. Priya Niezgoda (RICE) def. Jill van den Dungen (TECH) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Lindsey Hodge/Wendy Zhang (RICE) vs. Jazmin Britos/Sonia Chen (TECH) 3-4, unfinished
2. Alison Ho/Priya Niezgoda (RICE) def. Nadja Manjon/Marta Sramkova (TECH) 6-2
3. Katherine Ip/Savannah Durkin (RICE) def. Haley Ballinger/Jill van den Dungen (TECH) 6-0
Match Notes:
Louisiana Tech 13-12
Rice 15-5; National ranking #35
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (3,2,1,6,5,4)
Senior Day
T-2:09 A-136
Players Mentioned
