Rice University
TCU
Owls End Season in NCAA Opener
5/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
By: Tim Andrzejewski (tim.andrzejewski@rice.edu)
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Palo Alto, Calif. -- Rice dropped its NCAA opener for the first time in six years, falling 4-0 to 27th-ranked TCU at the Taube Tennis Center on the campus of Stanford University.
Rice finished the year with an 18-6 record.
The day began with a tightly contested doubles point. With court one tied at two, TCU won the next three points to take a 5-2 lead. Lindsey Hodge and Wendy Zhang battled back to pull within 5-4, but the Olaya Garrido-Rivas and Donika Bashota closed it out to win 6-4. With the match tied at four on court two Alison Ho and Priyan Niezgoda led 40-15. However, TCU came back to take the set and then clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win.
"You have to give credit to TCU for their play today," said Rice head coach Elizabeth Schmidt. "We got in a hole early and, despite a valiant fight, it just wasn't enough from us today to turn the match around."
Singles play began with TCU taking five of the six first sets. On court one, 61st-ranked Seda Arantekin took the first set 6-1 over Lindsey Hodge. Hodge led 5-4 with a chance to force third set, but Arantekin won the final three points to take the match.
Katherine Ip jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set on court two. However, Sofiko Kadzhaya won the final five points of the set and then won the second set, 6-3, to take the match. On court six, Alison Ho and Caroline Wegner battled back and forth. Ho forced a third set tiebreaker before falling 7-6 (8). Wegner clinched the match with a 6-1 second set victory.
After the match, Schmidt praised her seniors while looking forward to next year.
"For our seniors, we are grateful for all they have done for our program. And for our returners and staff, we'll look to learn from this loss and come back even stronger next season."
Tennis Match Results
Rice vs. TCU
May 13, 2017 at Palo Alto, Calif.
Taube Tennis Center
#27 TCU 4, #36 Rice 0
DOUBLES
1) No. 19 Bashota/Garrido-Rivas (TCU) d. No. 87 Hodge/Zhang (RICE) 6-4
2) Pereira/Kadzhaya (TCU) d. Ho/Niezgoda (RICE) 6-4
3) Durkin/Ip (RICE) led Arantekin/Wegner (TCU) 5-4, unfinished
SINGLES
1) No. 61 Seda Arantekin (TCU) d. No. 84 Lindsey Hodge (RICE) 6-1, 7-5
2) Sofiko Kadzhaya (TCU) d. No. 120 Katherine Ip (RICE) 6-4, 6-3
3) Aleksandra Zenovka (TCU) vs. Wendy Zhang (RICE) 3-6, 7-5, unfinished
4) Donika Bashota (TCU) vs. Fernanda Astete (RICE) 6-4, 3-6, 2-2, unfinished
5) Savannah Durkin (RICE) led. Olaya Garrido-Rivas (TCU) 0-6, 6-4, 5-3, unfinished
6) Caroline Wegner (TCU) vs. Alison Ho (RICE) 7-6 (6), 6-1
Match Notes:
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 2). Singles (1,2,6).
Players Mentioned
