Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Bowtell Earns C-USA Weekly Honor
4/21/2021 11:30:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Fourth Owl to be honored this season
Rice senior Anna Bowtell has been named Conference USA's Female Tennis Athlete of the Week for the week ending April 18. All C-USA weekly awards are presented by Surf & Turf Golf.
Bowtell fought off a strong challenge in both sets to deliver the clinch point in Rice's 5-0 win over Houston on Sunday to close out regular season and nail down the second seed for the Owls in the Conference USA Championship.
Her first set tiebreaker allowed the Owls to take five of six first sets in singles as the Owls moved out to a 3-0 lead. Houston was staging a rally on the four remaining courts when a brief rain shower caused a delay. When play resumed, Bowtell slammed the door shut on the Cougar's hopes for a rally, clinching the match with a 7-5 win in the second set. She improved to 10-5 with the win, allowing her to reach double-figures in dual singles for the fourth consecutive season.
This is Bowtell's second honor from C-USA, having also been honored in the shortened 2020 season. She is the fourth Owl to be honored this season. Freshman Federica Trevisan picked up the award in the first week of the season, sophomore Maria Budin was honored on February 8 and junior Diae El Jardi on March 3. In addition, senior Linda Huang was named the Women's Tennis Athlete of the Month in October during the abbreviated tournament season.
Bowtell and the Owls will open play in the 2021 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship at 10 a.m. on Friday when they face the winner of the first round match between Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee. They enter the tournament as the defending champions, having won the last event in 2019 and will be looking to win their seventh of the last eight C-USA tournaments.
Bowtell fought off a strong challenge in both sets to deliver the clinch point in Rice's 5-0 win over Houston on Sunday to close out regular season and nail down the second seed for the Owls in the Conference USA Championship.
Her first set tiebreaker allowed the Owls to take five of six first sets in singles as the Owls moved out to a 3-0 lead. Houston was staging a rally on the four remaining courts when a brief rain shower caused a delay. When play resumed, Bowtell slammed the door shut on the Cougar's hopes for a rally, clinching the match with a 7-5 win in the second set. She improved to 10-5 with the win, allowing her to reach double-figures in dual singles for the fourth consecutive season.
This is Bowtell's second honor from C-USA, having also been honored in the shortened 2020 season. She is the fourth Owl to be honored this season. Freshman Federica Trevisan picked up the award in the first week of the season, sophomore Maria Budin was honored on February 8 and junior Diae El Jardi on March 3. In addition, senior Linda Huang was named the Women's Tennis Athlete of the Month in October during the abbreviated tournament season.
Bowtell and the Owls will open play in the 2021 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship at 10 a.m. on Friday when they face the winner of the first round match between Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee. They enter the tournament as the defending champions, having won the last event in 2019 and will be looking to win their seventh of the last eight C-USA tournaments.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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