Four Owls Honored by C-USA
4/27/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu) -
Rice seniors Lindsey Hodge and Wendy Zhang have been selected to the All-Conference USA first team in both singles and doubles freshmen Anna Bowtell and Michaela Haet were named to the C-USA All-Freshman team as part of the conference's annual awards for women's tennis which were released on Friday.
This marks the third consecutive year Hodge has been named to the first team in singles and third time in her career she has been honored in doubles. Zhang was a repeat honoree on both teams. In addition to earning freshman honors with Bowtell, Haet was also earned second team honors in singles.
Hodge closed the season winning seven of her last nine decisions in singles, including three wins over ranked opponents to end the year at 10-8, while Zhang won five of her last seven to close the season at 8-8. They combined for a 12-6 record in doubles and are currently ranked 51st in the latest Oracle/ITA rankings. The duo captured the ITA Texas Regional doubles titles during the fall season, earning a berth in the ITA Fall National Championships.
Haet also closed her season strongly, winning six of her last eight to improve her record to 11-7 while leading the team by clinching four of the Owls 15 wins during the dual season. She tied for the team lead by posting a 2-0 mark at the C-USA Championship last weekend.
Bowtell finished second on the team with 13 wins in singles (13-3), including a 3-1 record against conference opponents. She was second on the Owls with three clinch points during the year, including the decisive point in a 4-3 win over Texas A&M thanks to a three-set win.
The Owls, who are currently ranked 41st in the national computer rankings, are continuing to practice in advance of the NCAA Women's Tennis Selection Show on May 1, when the Owls will learn if they have earned an at-large berth to extend their streak of NCAA appearances to seven years.
Players Mentioned
