Road Test at #43 SMU Closes Out Regular Season

Calendar

No Upcoming Events

In Brief: Rice wraps up the 2022 dual schedule on Saturday when they travel to Dallas to take on No. 43 SMU. First serves are set for 3 p.m. and the match will be available on ESPN+

The Owls: Rice enters the weekend 13-6 and ranked 55^th in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point.

SMU: The Mustangs are 12-8 this season and are coming off a 4-1 win over TCU on Sunday. This is the 42^nd meeting in the dual series dating back to 1982 and the SMU lead the series 23-18. The Mustangs have won the last two, including a 4-2 decision in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend Austin Regional in January. Prior to this season, the last three meetings between the schools were in Houston (2021 at the George R. Brown Tennis Center and 2013 at the University of Houston as part of the C-USA Championship and at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium at Rice in a dual match). This will be the first meeting between the schools at SMU's Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex

Ranked Players:
Rice: Maria Budin and Diae El Jardi #20 doubles
SMU: Hadley Doyle and Jackie Nylander #33 doubles; Claudia Bartolome and Jackie Nylander #88

Notable:

Rice is 12-3 when winning the doubles point… The Owls are 1-3 when losing the doubles, with their win coming at North Texas on 3/13.
Maria Budin and Diae El Jardi have moved up to 20^th in the ITA doubles ranking, the highest ranking for a Rice doubles team since Natalie Beazant and Dominique Harmath finished the 2012 season ranked 20^th… They are 2-1 this season against ranked opponents with wins against Texas A&M's Jayci Goldsmith & Tatiana Makarova (currently ranked No. 2) and Charlotte's Margaux Maquet & Lucia Quiterio (No. 31).
Anna Bowtell is 14-3 overall in singles this year and 91-34 in her career. She is the 10^th Owl to reach 90 career singles wins and is one win from tying Blair DiSesa (92-59) for ninth on the Owls' career list. Her career winning percentage (.728) ranks fifth behind Wendy Wood (.803), Natalie Beazant (.779), Tracie Blumentritt (.773) and Savannah Durkin (.744). She is 12-3 in dual match singles this spring, her fifth consecutive year to reach double figures in spring singles… Six of her singles wins were the first of the match, with five following a Rice doubles win to make the score 2-0 and one setting the stage for a comeback after a loss in doubles (North Texas).
Clinch Points Allison Zipoli (4), Saara Orav & Maria Budin (3), Anna Bowtell (2), Anastasia Smirnova (1).

Up Next: Rice heads to Murfreesboro, Tennessee next week to compete in the Conference USA Championship. First round matches will be held on Thursday with the winners advancing to face the top four seeds on Friday.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results