Women's Tennis Rallies for 4-2 Win Over North Texas

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HOUSTON, Texas — Rice women's tennis posted their second-straight victory over a conference opponent, defeating North Texas, 4-2, on Friday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.

Doubles: In a back-and-forth affair to begin doubles play, the Owls jumped out in front as graduate senior Chie Kezuka and senior Federica Trevisan closed their match on a 3-0 run to win at the first position, 6-4. At the third spot, freshmen Divna Ratkovic and Anushka Ashar also used an early 3-0 run in the match en route to a 7-5 victory to clinch the first point for Rice. Junior Saara Orav and sophomore Darya Schwartzman had jumped ahead to a 6-5 lead at the second position when the point was clinched.

Singles: The Mean Green rebounded to start singles play with victories at the third and sixth positions to take a 2-1 lead. Trevisan then tied the match at 2-2 with a straight-sets victory at the No. 1s, 6-2, 6-3, extending her singles winning streak to four matches and improving to 9-4 in singles matches on the year. Orav matched the straight-sets win at the fifth spot with a 6-3, 6-4 victory to put the Owls on the precipice. Needing only one additional point for the win, both Schwartzman and Kezuka were pushed to third sets at the second and fourth positions, respectively. The duo each posted 3-0 bursts to take control of their matches, however, with Schwartzman winning the race to the clinching point with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory. Kezuka was serving with a 5-3 lead in the final set when the deciding point was reached.

Head coach Elizabeth Schmidt: "It was a good win. We got the doubles point. We controlled the doubles point on all three courts, but North Texas didn't go away. I was glad that when our team faced a little pressure and got down on a couple of courts, we stepped up and got it done. In singles, we got off to a fast start. And credit to North Texas for digging back in during the second sets and fighting really hard. I'm pleased with the way we stepped up as a team in the end. That was pretty clutch there with Darya and Chie. When everything's on the line, they both really had good focus and played solid. But overall just a really good team win.

We've had a couple of battles with (Charlotte) the last few years and they're having a good season. They play tough aggressive tennis and we've got to be ready to go. Hopefully, we can use this experience of pulling out this tight one today and take it and use that momentum going into the next match."

Up Next: Rice concludes its homestand against No. 42 Charlotte on Sunday, March 31, at 11 a.m. (CT). Rice will also host a neutral match between North Texas and Charlotte on Saturday, March 30, at 11 a.m. (CT).

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