Thursday, April 21
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Noon
Rice University
vs
UTSA
Owls Open Pursuit of C-USA Title on Thursday
4/20/2022 3:46:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Face UTSA in first round
Houston: The 57th ranked Rice women's tennis team (13-7) will look to capture their seventh crown in the last nine attempts when they open play at the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championships in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Thursday.
The Schedule: Rice will face UTSA at noon on Thursday in the opening round of action with the winner facing the winner of the FAU-Middle Tennessee match at 1 p.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 10 a.m. on Sunday.
2022 C-USA Women's Tennis Schedule
UTSA: Rice is 22-0 all-time vs. UTSA, including a 5-0 win in Houston earlier this year. This will be the second time the schools have met in the conference tournament, with Rice winning 4-0 in 2017.
Live Video (UTSA)
Live Stats (UTSA)
In the Championship: Rice is 34-8 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 eight of the last nine championship matches.
In Murfreesboro: Rice is 3-0 all-time at the Adams Tennis Complex, with all three wins coming at the 2016 C-USA Championship as the Owls defeated Southern Miss, North Texas and FIU on their way to the title.
Seeding: Rice enters the championship as the No. 4 seed and will be playing in the opening round for the first time since Rice hosted the 2009 championship. Defending champion Old Dominion is the top seed while FIU is seeded second and Charlotte is seeded third.
The Field: Rice is 4-1 this year against C-USA opponents and has faced two of the top three seeds. The Owls dropped a 4-3 decision to FIU on April 2 and defeated No. 3 Charlotte 4-0 on March 12. Rice opened its conference slate with a 4-3 win over FAU (fifth seed in the championship) in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Austin Regional on January 29.
Elizabeth Schmidt: "We had a challenging regular season and have been tested against high-level competition and that has prepared us well for the postseason. We had a tough match (4-3 loss at SMU last Saturday) but we came back to training on Monday morning with our heads up and went right to work. We know what we are capable of and I can't wait to see us back on the courts tomorrow."
Career records vs. C-USA and at the C-USA Championship (singles/doubles):
Anna Bowtell (12-2/10-0 overall; 5-1/4-0 at the championship)
Maria Budin (7-1/7-2 overall; 2-0/0-0 at the championship)
Diae El Jardi (3-2/7-2 overall; 0-1/0-0 at the championship)
Saara Orav (2-1/0-1 overall; 0-0/0-0 at the championship)
Anastasia Smirnova (6-3/5-0 overall; 1-2/2-0 at the championship)
Victoria Smirnova (7-0/10-1 overall; 3-0/4-0 at the championship)
Federica Trevisan (4-3/4-2 overall; 2-0/2-0 at the championship)
Allison Zipoli (3-1/2-0 overall; 0-0/0-0 at the championship)
Ranked Rice Players:
Maria Budin and Diae El Jardi #16 doubles
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 UTSA at noon on Thursday in the opening round of action with the winner facing the winner of the FAU-Middle Tennessee match at 1 p.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 10 a.m. on Sunday.
2022 C-USA Women's Tennis Schedule
UTSA: Rice is 22-0 all-time vs. UTSA, including a 5-0 win in Houston earlier this year. This will be the second time the schools have met in the conference tournament, with Rice winning 4-0 in 2017.
Live Video (UTSA)
Live Stats (UTSA)
In the Championship: Rice is 34-8 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 eight of the last nine championship matches.
In Murfreesboro: Rice is 3-0 all-time at the Adams Tennis Complex, with all three wins coming at the 2016 C-USA Championship as the Owls defeated Southern Miss, North Texas and FIU on their way to the title.
Seeding: Rice enters the championship as the No. 4 seed and will be playing in the opening round for the first time since Rice hosted the 2009 championship. Defending champion Old Dominion is the top seed while FIU is seeded second and Charlotte is seeded third.
The Field: Rice is 4-1 this year against C-USA opponents and has faced two of the top three seeds. The Owls dropped a 4-3 decision to FIU on April 2 and defeated No. 3 Charlotte 4-0 on March 12. Rice opened its conference slate with a 4-3 win over FAU (fifth seed in the championship) in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Austin Regional on January 29.
Elizabeth Schmidt: "We had a challenging regular season and have been tested against high-level competition and that has prepared us well for the postseason. We had a tough match (4-3 loss at SMU last Saturday) but we came back to training on Monday morning with our heads up and went right to work. We know what we are capable of and I can't wait to see us back on the courts tomorrow."
Career records vs. C-USA and at the C-USA Championship (singles/doubles):
Anna Bowtell (12-2/10-0 overall; 5-1/4-0 at the championship)
Maria Budin (7-1/7-2 overall; 2-0/0-0 at the championship)
Diae El Jardi (3-2/7-2 overall; 0-1/0-0 at the championship)
Saara Orav (2-1/0-1 overall; 0-0/0-0 at the championship)
Anastasia Smirnova (6-3/5-0 overall; 1-2/2-0 at the championship)
Victoria Smirnova (7-0/10-1 overall; 3-0/4-0 at the championship)
Federica Trevisan (4-3/4-2 overall; 2-0/2-0 at the championship)
Allison Zipoli (3-1/2-0 overall; 0-0/0-0 at the championship)
Ranked Rice Players:
Maria Budin and Diae El Jardi #16 doubles
Owls Notables:
- Rice is 13-7 so far this year in the doubles point (12-3 when winning the point)…
- Clinch Points Allison Zipoli (4), Saara Orav & Maria Budin (3), Anna Bowtell (2), Anastasia Smirnova (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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