Rally Sends Owls to 10th C-USA Championship Match

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Denton: Five weeks after fashioning an improbable rally for a 4-3 road win over Charlotte, Rice found a way to top that effort by shaking off the loss of the doubles point to storm back to a 4-2 win over the 49ers and earn a berth in the Conference USA Women's Tennis championship match for the 10^th time in school history.

Doubles: The loss in doubles proved to be the crucial point in Rice's win on March 18 and much as the Owls had done that day, Charlotte made a strong early statement by taking the point with 6-2 wins at the first two lines.

Singles: In need of four points to win for the second time this year after losing doubles, the Owls started fast with three first-set wins, but Charlotte earned a split by taking a 9-7 tiebreak win at the fourth line along with wins at the third and sixth lines. Maria Budin's swift win at the fifth line allowed the Owls to tie it, and Federica Trevisan answered a Charlotte win at three with a straight-set win at the second line to even the score at 2-2. At that point, the momentum in the match swung heavily in the Owls' favor as both Darya Schwartzman and Saara Orava forced their matches to third sets and took commanding leads. Schwartzman shook off the tough 9-7 loss in her first set tiebreak to win 12 of 14 games over the next two sets to give Rice a 3-2 lead, Orav matched that effort in her last two sets to provide the clinching point.

Of Note: The 58^th-ranked Owls won for the first time against a Top 45 opponent after losing the doubles point since they defeated #31 Clemson in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Championship. They had not won at the Conference USA Championship after losing in doubles since 2012 when they defeated Tulane in Memphis. They improved to 13-8 on the year and 37-9 all-time at the C-USA Championship.

Up Next: Rice will take on #38 FIU at 10 a.m. on Sunday, looking to claim an eighth Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship in its final year as a member of the league. The Owls defeated the Panthers 4-2 at GRBTC on April 2 , snapping a three-game winning streak for FIU in the series. Rice leads the overall series 6-4, but they have split four previous matches at the C-USA Championship, including three championship matches. Rice won in 2016 & 2017 while the Panthers snapped Rice's five-consecutive conference title streak in 2018. Rice re-claiming the crown in 2019, defeating ODU. After the cancellation of the 2020 championship due to CoVID, FIU returned to the championship match in 2021, falling to ODU. FIU won the most recent postseason meeting, 4-2 in the 2021 C-USA semifinals. They have split two previous postseason meetings in Denton, Rice winning the title in 2017 and losing in the semis in 2021.

#58 Rice 4, #41 Charlotte 2

Singles competition
1. Schech,Ruxi (CLT) vs. Allison Zipoli (RICE) 4-6, 6-3, 3-5, unfinished
2. Federica Trevisan (RICE) def. Quiterio,Lucia (CLT) 6-4, 6-4
3. Maquet,Margaux (CLT) def. Diae El Jardi (RICE) 6-4, 6-3
4. Darya Schwartzman (RICE) def. Petruzelova,Lucie (CLT) 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 6-0
5. Maria Budin (RICE) def. Wilkins,Emma (CLT) 6-0, 6-4
6. Saara Orav (RICE) def. Sawhney,Kaavya (CLT) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. Maquet,Margaux/Quiterio,Lucia (CLT) def. Diae El Jardi/Allison Zipoli (RICE) 6-2
2. Sawhney,Kaavya/Schech,Ruxi (CLT) def. Maria Budin/Federica Trevisan (RICE) 6-2
3. Petruzelova,Lucie/Wilkins,Emma (CLT) vs. Saara Orav/Darya Schwartzman (RICE) 5-3, unfinished

Match Notes:
Rice 13-8; National ranking #58
Charlotte 22-6; National ranking #41
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (5,3,2,4,6)
2023 Conference USA Women's Championship

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