Friday, April 23
Denton, Texas
8 a.m.
Rice University
vs
Middle Tennessee
Owls Open Title Defense on Friday
4/22/2021 12:05:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Face Middle Tennessee in quarterfinals
In Brief: The 37th ranked Rice women's tennis team (14-5) will look to capture their seventh crown in the last eight attempts when they open play at the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championships in Denton, Texas on Friday. Rice enters play as the #2 seed behind Old Dominion and is the defending champion, having won the title in 2019. The 2020 championship was not held after all spring competitions were cancelled due to the pandemic.
The Schedule: Rice will face Middle Tennessee, a 4-2 winner over Southern Miss on Thursday, at 8 a.m. on Friday in the quarterfinals. Friday's winners advance to Saturday's semifinals at noon to determine the finalists who will decide the conference title at noon on Sunday. The quarterfinal matches were moved up in the hope of avoiding the rain showers forecast for the Metroplex.
2021 C-USA Women's Tennis Schedule
Middle Tennessee: Rice is 1-2 all-time vs. Middle Tennessee, winning the most recent meeting 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2019 C-USA Championship. The 10th seeded Blue Raiders are 11-11 after upsetting seventh seeded Southern Miss in the first round of the tournament.
In the Championship: Rice is 33-7 at the C-USA tournament and has won seven championships since its first appearance in 2006 (2006, 2013-17, 2019). The Owls have appeared in the last eight championship matches, tying Tulsa (2007-14) for the longest streak in conference history.
In Denton: Rice is 4-0 all-time at North Texas' Waranch Tennis Complex. The Owls defeated the Mean Green in a dual match in 2010 and then swept three matches en route to the 2017 C-USA title.
Seedings: The top two seeds have met for the C-USA title in each of the last nine championships. The last championship match to not feature the top two was in 2010 when #2 Tulsa defeated #4 Marshall. A team other than the top two seeds has only won the title twice since the event began in 1996. Houston won the title in 1998 as the third seed, while Rice brought home the trophy in the school's first appearance in 2006 despite coming in as the seventh seed.
Career records vs. C-USA and at the C-USA Championship (singles/doubles):
Anna Bowtell (7-2/8-0; 4-1*/3-0)
Maria Budin (3-0/3-1; 0-0/0-0)
Michaela Haet (6-3/3-2; 4-1*/2-0)
Linda Huang (2-0/1-1; 0-0/1-0)
Diae El Jardi (3-1/3-1; 0-1/0-0)
Anastasia Smirnova (4-1/3-0; 1-1/2-0)
Victoria Smirnova (6-0/8-0; 3-0/3-0)
Federica Trevisan (1-1/0-1; 0-0/0-0)
Ranked Rice Players:
Owls Notables:
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 on Facebook.
The Schedule: Rice will face Middle Tennessee, a 4-2 winner over Southern Miss on Thursday, at 8 a.m. on Friday in the quarterfinals. Friday's winners advance to Saturday's semifinals at noon to determine the finalists who will decide the conference title at noon on Sunday. The quarterfinal matches were moved up in the hope of avoiding the rain showers forecast for the Metroplex.
2021 C-USA Women's Tennis Schedule
Middle Tennessee: Rice is 1-2 all-time vs. Middle Tennessee, winning the most recent meeting 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the 2019 C-USA Championship. The 10th seeded Blue Raiders are 11-11 after upsetting seventh seeded Southern Miss in the first round of the tournament.
In the Championship: Rice is 33-7 at the C-USA tournament and has won seven championships since its first appearance in 2006 (2006, 2013-17, 2019). The Owls have appeared in the last eight championship matches, tying Tulsa (2007-14) for the longest streak in conference history.
In Denton: Rice is 4-0 all-time at North Texas' Waranch Tennis Complex. The Owls defeated the Mean Green in a dual match in 2010 and then swept three matches en route to the 2017 C-USA title.
Seedings: The top two seeds have met for the C-USA title in each of the last nine championships. The last championship match to not feature the top two was in 2010 when #2 Tulsa defeated #4 Marshall. A team other than the top two seeds has only won the title twice since the event began in 1996. Houston won the title in 1998 as the third seed, while Rice brought home the trophy in the school's first appearance in 2006 despite coming in as the seventh seed.
Career records vs. C-USA and at the C-USA Championship (singles/doubles):
Anna Bowtell (7-2/8-0; 4-1*/3-0)
Maria Budin (3-0/3-1; 0-0/0-0)
Michaela Haet (6-3/3-2; 4-1*/2-0)
Linda Huang (2-0/1-1; 0-0/1-0)
Diae El Jardi (3-1/3-1; 0-1/0-0)
Anastasia Smirnova (4-1/3-0; 1-1/2-0)
Victoria Smirnova (6-0/8-0; 3-0/3-0)
Federica Trevisan (1-1/0-1; 0-0/0-0)
Ranked Rice Players:
Singles: Linda Huang 92, Federica Trevisan 95
Owls Notables:
- Four members of the Owls have won C-USA's Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors this season: Federica Trevisan (Jan. 10), Maria Budin (Feb. 10), Diae El Jardi (March 3), Anna Bowtell (April 21). In addition, Linda Huang won the monthly award in October during the shortened tournament season.
- Rice is 13-6 so far this year in the doubles point (13-0 when winning the point)… Rice registered its first win when dropping the doubles point in 12 matches when the Owls stormed back to defeat Wichita State on February 26.
- Budin and El Jardi were 13-4 at the first doubles line, the best mark by an Owls first doubles team since Natalie Beazant and Dominique Harmath were 20-6 in 2013.
- Trevisan (12-2) leads the Owls in dual singles wins and has won 11 of her last 12 decisions.
- Bowtell has reached double figures in dual singles for the fourth consecutive dual season (10-5) which includes a 10-1mark in the shortened 2020 campaign. She has a combined singles record in tournaments and duals of 76-27 and is 11 wins from matching Elle Lewis (87-64) for 10th on the Owls career chart.
- Clinch points: Trevisan (5), Anna Bowtell and Diae El Jardi (3), Michaela Haet (2) Maria Budin (1).
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 on Facebook.
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