Sunday, April 21
Houston, Texas
10:00 AM
Rice University
4
vs
2
Old Dominion University
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Owls Return to Familiar Territory
4/21/2019 3:44:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Capture sixth C-USA title in seven years
The Lead: Traveling a less than conventional path, the Rice women's tennis team shook off the loss of five of six first singles sets to capture their sixth Conference USA title in the last seven years with a 4-2 win over 37th ranked Old Dominion at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Sunday. With the win, the Owls (16-7) earned an eighth consecutive berth in the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship.
Doubles: Rice grabbed the early lead thanks to a quick win at the first line in matchup of ranked duos and a third consecutive win for the Owls at the third line. Michaela Haet and Linda Huang broke on the first service game in their match and never looked back, defeating 87th ranked Holly Hutchinson and Brooke Pilkington, 6-1. Anna Bowtell and Victoria Smirnova delivered their third clinching win in as many matches during the tournament, breaking back in the 11th game to set the stage for Bowtell to serve out for a 7-5 win.
Singles: Seeking its first C-USA title, Old Dominion shook off the loss in doubles to stake an early advantage by winning five of six first sets, two of them in tiebreakers. But the Owls refused to surrender the lead, sending three of the five matches to third sets, including a pair that delivered the final two points. Freshman Victoria Smirnova closed out an unbeaten weekend with a 6-4, 6-2 win at the second line. The win was her sixth straight and her team-leading 16th of the year. She dropped only 14 games over three singles and finished first in both the semifinals and finals to increase Rice leads to 2-0. Playing on next court, her twin sister Anastasia was the first to force a third set as did Haet and Anna Bowtell at the fifth line. ODU tied the match at 2-2, but Anastasia put Rice back up 3-2 with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 win. Haet forced a third set with a 7-3 tiebreaker win in the second set, then duplicated that effort in a second tiebreaker to clinch the match.
Notes: Rice's seven conference titles in women's tennis are the most for any school in C-USA history and their eight consecutive NCAA bids is the longest active streak at Rice. It came exactly six years to the day when the Owls won the first of their six titles in the last seven years by defeating Tulsa 4-1.
Elizabeth Schmidt: "(We) showed a ton of heart, a ton of grit, a ton of perseverance. Those are words we've talking about a lot this year and it's something we've been asking them to grow in and for them to do it on this stage, losing five first sets and coming back and gritting out this match. It's a testament to that group. They've worked so hard and they've grown so much and I am just so proud of them. I'm so happy they could get this win today and see the heart and fight and see how good they really are. When you lose five first sets, you better stay on the court and that's the mentality we've been having. Everyone had that mentality that "I'm going to do everything I can for the team. It was awesome, a total team effort and I'm really proud of them for that."
Michaela Haet: "There was so much emotion, it was like a roller coaster the whole match. I wanted it so badly for the team. It was such a good feeling to get the win."
Up Next: The Owls will turn their immediate focus to final exams over the next week while awaiting the announcement of the bracket for the 2019 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship on April 29.
Doubles: Rice grabbed the early lead thanks to a quick win at the first line in matchup of ranked duos and a third consecutive win for the Owls at the third line. Michaela Haet and Linda Huang broke on the first service game in their match and never looked back, defeating 87th ranked Holly Hutchinson and Brooke Pilkington, 6-1. Anna Bowtell and Victoria Smirnova delivered their third clinching win in as many matches during the tournament, breaking back in the 11th game to set the stage for Bowtell to serve out for a 7-5 win.
Singles: Seeking its first C-USA title, Old Dominion shook off the loss in doubles to stake an early advantage by winning five of six first sets, two of them in tiebreakers. But the Owls refused to surrender the lead, sending three of the five matches to third sets, including a pair that delivered the final two points. Freshman Victoria Smirnova closed out an unbeaten weekend with a 6-4, 6-2 win at the second line. The win was her sixth straight and her team-leading 16th of the year. She dropped only 14 games over three singles and finished first in both the semifinals and finals to increase Rice leads to 2-0. Playing on next court, her twin sister Anastasia was the first to force a third set as did Haet and Anna Bowtell at the fifth line. ODU tied the match at 2-2, but Anastasia put Rice back up 3-2 with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 win. Haet forced a third set with a 7-3 tiebreaker win in the second set, then duplicated that effort in a second tiebreaker to clinch the match.
Notes: Rice's seven conference titles in women's tennis are the most for any school in C-USA history and their eight consecutive NCAA bids is the longest active streak at Rice. It came exactly six years to the day when the Owls won the first of their six titles in the last seven years by defeating Tulsa 4-1.
Elizabeth Schmidt: "(We) showed a ton of heart, a ton of grit, a ton of perseverance. Those are words we've talking about a lot this year and it's something we've been asking them to grow in and for them to do it on this stage, losing five first sets and coming back and gritting out this match. It's a testament to that group. They've worked so hard and they've grown so much and I am just so proud of them. I'm so happy they could get this win today and see the heart and fight and see how good they really are. When you lose five first sets, you better stay on the court and that's the mentality we've been having. Everyone had that mentality that "I'm going to do everything I can for the team. It was awesome, a total team effort and I'm really proud of them for that."
Michaela Haet: "There was so much emotion, it was like a roller coaster the whole match. I wanted it so badly for the team. It was such a good feeling to get the win."
Up Next: The Owls will turn their immediate focus to final exams over the next week while awaiting the announcement of the bracket for the 2019 NCAA Women's Tennis Championship on April 29.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
12
40
Oleksanda Andrieieva/ Yulia Starodubtseva [ODUW]
5UF
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3
#1 Singles Match
123
377
Holly Hutchinson / 0 [ODUW]
666
#2 Singles Match
12
66
Nataliia Vlasova / 0 [ODUW]
42
#3 Singles Match
123
166
Oleksanda Andrieieva / 0 [ODUW]
644
#4 Singles Match
12
35
Yulia Starodubtseva / 0 [ODUW]
67
#5 Singles Match
1234
6630
Brooke Pilkington / 0 [ODUW]
711UF
#6 Singles Match
12
63
Alesya Yakubovich / 0 [ODUW]
76
Order of Finish:
2,4,6,3,1
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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