Friday, February 21
Houston, TX
1 PM
Rice University
vs
Texas State
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Owls Open Long Homestand with Texas State and LSU
2/20/2020 4:09:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Six-match homestand
In Brief: The Rice women's tennis team (4-4) opens a stretch of six consecutive home matches by hosting Texas State on Friday at 1 p.m. and joining with the Rice men's team to take on LSU at 11 a. m. on Sunday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
Live Scoring and Video: Texas State: Live video and match scoring LSU: Combined match Live video and match scoring
Doubling Up: Combined dual matches have been an annual feature at GRBTC since it opened in 2015. The combined matches showcase the flexibility of the GRBTC to fully support two collegiate dual matches at the same time, including live video and real-time scoring available on all 12 courts. The first event was held in 2015 when the men hosted San Diego and the women battled Memphis. The following year saw a pair of concurrent matches--including a memorable dual with the combined squads from LSU. The Rice women swept their combined dual home matches in 2019 against Sam Houston and Kansas State to improve their mark to 5-1 when playing at the same time as the Rice men.
Texas State: Friday's match is the first of two in Houston for the Bobcats (4-2), who saw their four-match winning streak snapped by Northwestern State last Saturday. They will close out their road trip by facing Houston at 11 a.m. on Saturday. This will be the 26th meeting between the schools, with Rice having won the previous 25. This is the fifth meeting at GRBTC, including a 4-0 win in the last meeting between the schools in 2018.
LSU: The Tigers (5-2 prior to facing Houston on Friday) are ranked 40th in the latest Oracle/ITA rankings. Their lone losses to this point have been to #3 Texas and #23 Old Dominion. This is the 18th meeting between the schools and the third consecutive. LSU leads the series 9-8 after winning the last three meetings, including a 7-0 decision last year in Baton Rouge. This this is the third time the dual match has been held simultaneously with a men's match between the same schools. The first combined dual was at George R. Brown Tennis Center in 2016 and the second was last year at the LSU Tennis Complex. Rice's last win in the series was a 6-1 decision in Baton Rouge in 2015 and the Owls last win at home came in 2013 in a match moved indoors to the Galleria Tennis and Athletic Club. The Owls lead the all-time series in Houston 4-3.
Ranked Players: Singles: Taylor Bridges (33); Safiya Carrington (75)
Elizabeth Schmidt: "It's exciting to get back to action on our home courts and start off a pretty long stretch of home matches. We love the atmosphere our fans create at home. The combined duals have always created a special environment and I am hopeful for another one on Sunday. When both (men's and women's) are playing at the same time and playing the same school, there is great energy on every court."
Owls Notables:
The Schedule Ahead: The Owls remaining schedule features five teams currently in the Oracle/ITA national rankings: (#40 LSU, 2/23; #18 Baylor, 3/1; #42 Kansas, 3/7; #34 Washington State, 3/15 and @#5 Princeton (Williamsburg, VA).
Next Up: The homestand continues for the Owls next weekend when they host UTSA at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 28 and then joins again with the Rice men's team for a combined dual at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 1. The women host Baylor and the men host SMU.
Follow the Action: For the most up-to-date information on Rice Tennis, follow the Owls on Twitter @RiceTennis or Instagram @ricewtennis or like Rice Women's Tennis o
Live Scoring and Video: Texas State: Live video and match scoring LSU: Combined match Live video and match scoring
Doubling Up: Combined dual matches have been an annual feature at GRBTC since it opened in 2015. The combined matches showcase the flexibility of the GRBTC to fully support two collegiate dual matches at the same time, including live video and real-time scoring available on all 12 courts. The first event was held in 2015 when the men hosted San Diego and the women battled Memphis. The following year saw a pair of concurrent matches--including a memorable dual with the combined squads from LSU. The Rice women swept their combined dual home matches in 2019 against Sam Houston and Kansas State to improve their mark to 5-1 when playing at the same time as the Rice men.
Texas State: Friday's match is the first of two in Houston for the Bobcats (4-2), who saw their four-match winning streak snapped by Northwestern State last Saturday. They will close out their road trip by facing Houston at 11 a.m. on Saturday. This will be the 26th meeting between the schools, with Rice having won the previous 25. This is the fifth meeting at GRBTC, including a 4-0 win in the last meeting between the schools in 2018.
LSU: The Tigers (5-2 prior to facing Houston on Friday) are ranked 40th in the latest Oracle/ITA rankings. Their lone losses to this point have been to #3 Texas and #23 Old Dominion. This is the 18th meeting between the schools and the third consecutive. LSU leads the series 9-8 after winning the last three meetings, including a 7-0 decision last year in Baton Rouge. This this is the third time the dual match has been held simultaneously with a men's match between the same schools. The first combined dual was at George R. Brown Tennis Center in 2016 and the second was last year at the LSU Tennis Complex. Rice's last win in the series was a 6-1 decision in Baton Rouge in 2015 and the Owls last win at home came in 2013 in a match moved indoors to the Galleria Tennis and Athletic Club. The Owls lead the all-time series in Houston 4-3.
Ranked Players: Singles: Taylor Bridges (33); Safiya Carrington (75)
Elizabeth Schmidt: "It's exciting to get back to action on our home courts and start off a pretty long stretch of home matches. We love the atmosphere our fans create at home. The combined duals have always created a special environment and I am hopeful for another one on Sunday. When both (men's and women's) are playing at the same time and playing the same school, there is great energy on every court."
Owls Notables:
- Priya Niezgoda and Anastasia Smirnova are currently ranked 40th in doubles. Niezgoda and Smirnova are 4-2 in doubles dual action this year.
- Junior Anna Bowtell leads the team with a 5-1 record in singles to lead the team while Niezgoda leads in singles wins (6-2).
- Rice is 5-3 so far this year in the doubles point (3-1 when winning the point).
- The Owls are 6-3 so far in singles tiebreakers and 2-2 in supersets
- Clinch points: Anna Bowtell, Priya Niezgoda, Anastasia Smirnova and Victoria Smirnova (1 each)
The Schedule Ahead: The Owls remaining schedule features five teams currently in the Oracle/ITA national rankings: (#40 LSU, 2/23; #18 Baylor, 3/1; #42 Kansas, 3/7; #34 Washington State, 3/15 and @#5 Princeton (Williamsburg, VA).
Next Up: The homestand continues for the Owls next weekend when they host UTSA at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 28 and then joins again with the Rice men's team for a combined dual at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 1. The women host Baylor and the men host SMU.
Follow the Action: For the most up-to-date information on Rice Tennis, follow the Owls on Twitter @RiceTennis or Instagram @ricewtennis or like Rice Women's Tennis o
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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