Rice University
South Florida
Women's Tennis Readies for AAC Championship Quarterfinals
4/18/2024 10:55:00 AM | Women's Tennis
In Brief: Rice women's tennis heads to Dallas, Texas, for the AAC Championships, beginning in the quarterfinals against the winner between North Texas and South Florida on Friday, April 19, at noon (CT). The Owls finished the regular season at 11-9 with a 6-1 record against AAC opponents and enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed.
The Schedule: Friday - Quarterfinals vs. North Texas/South Florida - Noon (CT)
Match Info: The AAC Women's Tennis Championship is being hosted by SMU at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex. Live video and live results will be available for every match of the Championship.
The Owls: Rice is 11-9 this season after posting a 4-0 sweep of Prairie View A&M on Senior Day in the team's regular-season finale. The Owls celebrated the careers of Federica Trevisan and Chie Kezuka prior to the match. Rice dominated the match from the outset, winning the doubles point with a pair of 6-0 wins at the second and third positions and also leading, 5-0, at the top spot when the point was clinched. In singles play, Trevisan concluded her home career with a straight-sets win at the first position, her 13th victory at the No. 1s this season. Junior Saara Orav and freshman Divna Ratkovic followed soon after with straight-set wins of their own at the fourth and second positions, respectively, to clinch the sweep. Kezuka and freshmen Nithesa Selvaraj and Anushka Ashar also led at the third, fifth and sixth positions, respectively, at the time the match was clinched.
Championship History: The Owls are competing in their first-ever AAC Championship. Rice won seven conference titles as part of Conference USA, including six of seven titles between 2013 and 2019, and compiled a tournament record of 37-10 as members of C-USA. Last year in the conference championship, Rice defeated current AAC foes North Texas and Charlotte en route to the C-USA championship match before falling to FIU.
The Opposition: Rice is 14-5 all-time against the Mean Green and has won eight straight in the series, including a 4-2 win at the George R. Brown Tennis Center earlier this season. Rice and North Texas met in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Championship last season, resulting in a 4-0 win for the Owls. The Mean Green are 12-12 this season and are seeded 12th for the tournament. North Texas defeated No. 13 East Carolina, 4-1, in the opening round to reach the quarterfinals.
The Owls are 8-4 all-time against South Florida and have won eight of the last nine meetings, including a 4-0 win earlier this season in a neutral match in Miami, Florida. The win avenged a 4-3 South Florida victory last season in Houston. The Bulls are ranked 59th in the latest ITA rankings and are the No. 5 seed entering the AAC Championship. South Florida is 11-10 on the year and has four wins over ITA-ranked opponents.
Players Mentioned
