Friday, April 23
Denton, Texas
8 a.m.
Rice University
4
vs
0
Middle Tennessee
Rice Rolls Past Middle Tennessee
4/23/2021 1:15:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Rematch with FIU in semifinals
Denton, TX: The 37th ranked Rice women's tennis team began its quest for a Conference USA Championship in similar fashion to its last title run with a 4-0 win over Middle Tennessee in the quarterfinals. Rice defeated the Blue Raiders 4-0 to open the 2019 C-USA Championship, the sixth in the last seven years for the Owls.
Early Risers: The matches at the Waranch Tennis Complex were moved up two hours to 8 a.m. due to threats of storms in the Denton area and the Owls were able to complete their opening match before their original start time of 10 a.m.
Doubles: Rice grabbed the doubles point by only dropping one game between the second and third lines. Anna Bowtell and Victoria Smirnova improved their career conference mark to 9-0 (4-0 at the conference championship) with a 6-0 win at the third line while Michaela Haet and Federica Trevisan close out the point moments later with a 6-1 win at two.
Singles: Rice maintained its torrid pace in singles by winning five of six first sets and saw its first two wins in singles come courtesy of the two player in the lineup making their C-USA Championship debut. Budin, who was a freshman last year when the season was cut short by the pandemic, finished first with a 6-0, 6-1 win to reach double figures in wins (10-6). Trevisan, the Owls lone freshman, followed shortly after, improving her team-leading record to 13-2 with a 6-1, 6-3 win. Bowtell closed it out, registering her second career clinch point at the C-USA tournament to improve to 5-1 in her career in conference postseason play.
Notable:
Elizabeth Schmidt: "I thought we played a solid match today. I think our team came out ready to go. You saw that in doubles, getting some quick leads on all three courts. It's always good to get this first one under your belt. This is their (Budin and Trevisan) first conference match and I told them before the match, 'let's be grateful, this opportunity went away last year'. Every step of the season, we've been grateful and this is the culmination of that."
Up Next: Rice will face FIU, which defeated the Owls 4-3 in a dual match earlier this season in Miami, at noon Saturday with the winner advancing to Sunday's championship match. This will the fourth time the schools have met in the last five years at the C-USA Championship, with each of the first three coming in the title match. The Owls defeated the Panthers in 2016 at GRBTC and in 2017 Denton to extend their streak to five consecutive titles before FIU snapped that streak in 2018.
Follow the Action:
For the most up-to-date information on Rice Women's Tennis, follow the Owls on Twitter @RiceTennis or Instagram @ricewtennis or like Rice Women's Tennis on Facebook.
Early Risers: The matches at the Waranch Tennis Complex were moved up two hours to 8 a.m. due to threats of storms in the Denton area and the Owls were able to complete their opening match before their original start time of 10 a.m.
Doubles: Rice grabbed the doubles point by only dropping one game between the second and third lines. Anna Bowtell and Victoria Smirnova improved their career conference mark to 9-0 (4-0 at the conference championship) with a 6-0 win at the third line while Michaela Haet and Federica Trevisan close out the point moments later with a 6-1 win at two.
Singles: Rice maintained its torrid pace in singles by winning five of six first sets and saw its first two wins in singles come courtesy of the two player in the lineup making their C-USA Championship debut. Budin, who was a freshman last year when the season was cut short by the pandemic, finished first with a 6-0, 6-1 win to reach double figures in wins (10-6). Trevisan, the Owls lone freshman, followed shortly after, improving her team-leading record to 13-2 with a 6-1, 6-3 win. Bowtell closed it out, registering her second career clinch point at the C-USA tournament to improve to 5-1 in her career in conference postseason play.
Notable:
- Rice is 34-7 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.
- Rice is 14-6 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.
Elizabeth Schmidt: "I thought we played a solid match today. I think our team came out ready to go. You saw that in doubles, getting some quick leads on all three courts. It's always good to get this first one under your belt. This is their (Budin and Trevisan) first conference match and I told them before the match, 'let's be grateful, this opportunity went away last year'. Every step of the season, we've been grateful and this is the culmination of that."
Up Next: Rice will face FIU, which defeated the Owls 4-3 in a dual match earlier this season in Miami, at noon Saturday with the winner advancing to Sunday's championship match. This will the fourth time the schools have met in the last five years at the C-USA Championship, with each of the first three coming in the title match. The Owls defeated the Panthers in 2016 at GRBTC and in 2017 Denton to extend their streak to five consecutive titles before FIU snapped that streak in 2018.
Follow the Action:
For the most up-to-date information on Rice Women's Tennis, follow the Owls on Twitter @RiceTennis or Instagram @ricewtennis or like Rice Women's Tennis on Facebook.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2
#1 Singles Match
123
Lee Barnard / 0 [MTSU]
35UF
640
#2 Singles Match
123
Lidia Burrows / 0 [MTSU]
710
61UF
#3 Singles Match
12
Zani Barnard / 0 [MTSU]
13
66
#4 Singles Match
123
Love-Star Alexis / 0 [MTSU]
320
65UF
#5 Singles Match
12
Muskan Gupta / 0 [MTSU]
22
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Noelle Mauro / 0 [MTSU]
01
66
Order of Finish:
6,3,5
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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