Rice University
Harvard
Women's Tennis Falls to Harvard, 4-2, in Season Opener
1/21/2024 2:37:00 PM | Women's Tennis
HOUSTON, Texas — Rice won the doubles point and the opening match of singles play but was unable to fend off Harvard in a 4-2 loss on Sunday at AD-IN Tennis.
Doubles: The Owls opened the match in dominating fashion, winning 6-1 at each of the top two positions. Graduate senior Chie Kezuka and senior Federica Trevisan earned the win at the No. 1 position, while sophomore Darya Schwartzman and freshman Divna Ratkovic won at court two. At the third spot, junior Saara Orav and freshman Anushka Ashar had their match suspended while leading 5-2.
Singles: Ratkovic continued Rice's momentum into singles play, earning a 6-2, 6-0 victory at the third position to put the Owls up 2-0. The Crimson then earned victories at the first, fourth and fifth positions to take the lead before clinching the match with a win at the No. 6 spot. At the time of the clinching point, Schwartzman led at the second position, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 4-3.
Head coach Elizabeth Schmidt: "Solid play in doubles. This was our first dual match. We wish we would have been at home but we weren't. So we came here and I thought we played aggressive and took it to them. We tried to keep that up and in some parts, we did in singles. But in some points, Harvard was able to make one more ball than us and was a little more committed to their shots in a couple of matches. You're telling everybody something different because you have five or six matches going on. You're telling them to continue playing disciplined tennis but also step up and be aggressive when you can take your opportunities. We did that well on some courts and on a couple courts, we got a little flustered when things didn't quite go our way, so we need to work on that… The season's a marathon and whether we win this match or lose this match, some of the things that we need to work on remain the same. You always want to win, but we're going to get better from this match."
Up Next: The Owls are set to participate in the ITA Kickoff Weekend against TCU in College Station, Texas, on Saturday, Jan. 27, at noon. Rice will then face off against either Northwestern or Texas A&M on Sunday, Jan. 28, as part of ITA Kickoff Weekend.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,4,1,5,6
Players Mentioned
