Friday, February 21
Houston, TX
1 PM
Rice University
6
vs
1
Texas State
Owls Open Homestand on Winning Note
2/21/2020 4:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Host No. 40 LSU as part of combined dual on Sunday
Houston: Priya Niezgoda and Anna Bowtell continued their hot streaks in singles while freshman Maria Budin delivered her first career clinch point to lead Rice to a 6-1 win over Texas State at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Friday. The match was the first of six consecutive home duals for the Owls.
Doubles: Bowtell and Victoria Smirnova raced to a 6-0 win to set the early tone in doubles and Michaela Haet and Linda Huang followed shortly after with a 6-1 win to give the Owls the first point of the day.
Singles: Niezgoda won her sixth consecutive singles match to improve to 7-2 on the season and Bowtell (6-1) won her fifth straight to lead a singles effort for the Owls that saw them win five of six first sets. Huang extended the lead to 2-0 with a straight set win at the fifth line and after Bowtell made the score 3-0, Budin delivered her first career clinch point with a straight set win at the sixth line.
Elizabeth Schmidt: "I liked that our team took care of business today. Everyone brought attitude and energy. If something wasn't working, they tried to find solution and if something was working, they stuck with it. That's important to do, match in and match out. We're continuing to work hard and get better. When we get knocked down, we get back up and when we're doing something well, we put our foot on the accelerator. That's what Priya and Anna have been doing a nice job of in singles. It's been great to see Priya's evolution as a senior. She's really been stepping up on and off the court. As a freshman, Maria is already having a big impact on the team, not only with her play but with her attitude and positive energy. She brings it every day.
"It was nice to be back home and start this nice long homestand with a win. We're hoping that Sunday will be a really great environment and get a lot of fans out to watch both us and the men's program against LSU."
Up Next: The Rice men and women will join together on Sunday for the first of two simultaneous dual matches as both squads will face LSU at a 11 a.m. The 40th ranked Tigers defeated Houston on Friday and are the first of four nationally ranked opponents in the next five matches for the Owls. This this is the third time the schools have held a combined dual match. The first was in 2016 at George R. Brown Tennis Center and the second was last year at the LSU Tennis Complex. The two Rice tennis teams will also host a second combined dual match on March 1 when the women host Baylor and the men host SMU
Tennis Match Results
Texas State vs Rice
2/21/2020 at Houston, Texas
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
Rice 6, Texas State 1
Singles competition
1. Israel-Lewis, R. (TXST) def. Michaela Haet 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-5)
2. Victoria Smirnova def. Kvapilova, Hana (TXST) 6-4, 6-2
3. Priya Niezgoda def. Cassara, Josefina (TXST) 6-0, 6-2
4. Anna Bowtell def. Fuchs, Andrea (TXST) 6-2, 6-2
5. Linda Huang def. Gonzalez, Renata (TXST) 6-2, 6-0
6. Maria Budin def. Israel-Lewis, C. (TXST) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Israel-Lewis, R./Kvapilova, Hana (TXST) def. #40 Priya Niezgoda/Anastasia Smirnova 7-6 (8-6)
2. Michaela Haet/Linda Huang def. Israel-Lewis, C./Cassara, Josefina (TXST) 6-1
3. Anna Bowtell/Victoria Smirnova def. Fuchs, Andrea/Murcia-Rodriguez, S. (TXST) 6-0
Match Notes:
Texas State 4-3
Rice 5-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,4,6,3,2,1)
T-2:26 A-45
Doubles: Bowtell and Victoria Smirnova raced to a 6-0 win to set the early tone in doubles and Michaela Haet and Linda Huang followed shortly after with a 6-1 win to give the Owls the first point of the day.
Singles: Niezgoda won her sixth consecutive singles match to improve to 7-2 on the season and Bowtell (6-1) won her fifth straight to lead a singles effort for the Owls that saw them win five of six first sets. Huang extended the lead to 2-0 with a straight set win at the fifth line and after Bowtell made the score 3-0, Budin delivered her first career clinch point with a straight set win at the sixth line.
Elizabeth Schmidt: "I liked that our team took care of business today. Everyone brought attitude and energy. If something wasn't working, they tried to find solution and if something was working, they stuck with it. That's important to do, match in and match out. We're continuing to work hard and get better. When we get knocked down, we get back up and when we're doing something well, we put our foot on the accelerator. That's what Priya and Anna have been doing a nice job of in singles. It's been great to see Priya's evolution as a senior. She's really been stepping up on and off the court. As a freshman, Maria is already having a big impact on the team, not only with her play but with her attitude and positive energy. She brings it every day.
"It was nice to be back home and start this nice long homestand with a win. We're hoping that Sunday will be a really great environment and get a lot of fans out to watch both us and the men's program against LSU."
Up Next: The Rice men and women will join together on Sunday for the first of two simultaneous dual matches as both squads will face LSU at a 11 a.m. The 40th ranked Tigers defeated Houston on Friday and are the first of four nationally ranked opponents in the next five matches for the Owls. This this is the third time the schools have held a combined dual match. The first was in 2016 at George R. Brown Tennis Center and the second was last year at the LSU Tennis Complex. The two Rice tennis teams will also host a second combined dual match on March 1 when the women host Baylor and the men host SMU
Tennis Match Results
Texas State vs Rice
2/21/2020 at Houston, Texas
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
Rice 6, Texas State 1
Singles competition
1. Israel-Lewis, R. (TXST) def. Michaela Haet 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-5)
2. Victoria Smirnova def. Kvapilova, Hana (TXST) 6-4, 6-2
3. Priya Niezgoda def. Cassara, Josefina (TXST) 6-0, 6-2
4. Anna Bowtell def. Fuchs, Andrea (TXST) 6-2, 6-2
5. Linda Huang def. Gonzalez, Renata (TXST) 6-2, 6-0
6. Maria Budin def. Israel-Lewis, C. (TXST) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Israel-Lewis, R./Kvapilova, Hana (TXST) def. #40 Priya Niezgoda/Anastasia Smirnova 7-6 (8-6)
2. Michaela Haet/Linda Huang def. Israel-Lewis, C./Cassara, Josefina (TXST) 6-1
3. Anna Bowtell/Victoria Smirnova def. Fuchs, Andrea/Murcia-Rodriguez, S. (TXST) 6-0
Match Notes:
Texas State 4-3
Rice 5-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,4,6,3,2,1)
T-2:26 A-45
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
123
Israel-Lewis, R. / 0 [TXST]
631
360
#2 Singles Match
12
Kvapilova, Hana / 0 [TXST]
42
66
#3 Singles Match
12
Cassara, Josefina / 0 [TXST]
02
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Fuchs, Andrea / 0 [TXST]
22
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Gonzalez, Renata / 0 [TXST]
20
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Israel-Lewis, C. / 0 [TXST]
02
66
Order of Finish:
5,4,6,3,2,1
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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