Rice University
Arizona
Martinez's Clutch Performance Leads Rice to 4-1 Win Over Arizona
1/31/2025 4:01:00 PM | Women's Tennis
HOUSTON - Fernanda Martinez was clutch down the stretch, earning Rice a 4-1 victory over the Big XII's Arizona Wildcats on Friday afternoon at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on the campus of Rice University. The Owls improved to 4-0 with the win while Arizona fell to 5-2.
Action begin with doubles, where the duo of Saara Orav and Francesca Maguina came out to take the first doubles win of the day with a 6-3 decision at court three. The duo of Fernanda Martinez and reigning AAC Player of the Week Darya Schwartzman claimed the doubles point for Rice with a 6-3 victory of their own at court one. At the No. 2 position, Diva Ratkovic and Nithesa Selvaraj led 5-4 before their match was abandoned.
In singles, Francesca Maguina claimed Rice's second point with a 6-2, 6-1 decision at the No. 5 position, played on court three. Schwartzman would not trail far behind, claiming Rice's third point with a 6-1, 6-3 victory to keep her undefeated season alive from the No. 1 position.
With Rice up 3-0, Arizona began to battle back, taking down Allison Zipoli at the No. 4 position (court five) by a score of 6-4, 6-1, to score the first point against the Owls all season.
Each of the final three courts moved into a third set, with Rice needing a win at any of the three remaining courts to clinch the match. After falling early in her third set, Martinez fought back to force the set to go into a tiebreaker. Tied at 8-8 late in the set, Martinez beared down to clinch the victory for Rice, winning 7-6 with a 10-8 tiebreaker and keeping Rice's perfect record in tact.
Rice returns to action on Saturday at 12 p.m. to take on TCU.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
D. Schwartzman/F. Martinez (RICE) def. M. Ostrzygalo/M. Castillo (ARIZ), 6-3
D. Ratkovic/N. Selvaraj (RICE) led Z. Chulak/B. Nevenhoven (ARIZ), 5-4 uf
S. Orav/F. Maguina (RICE) def. T. Tirunelveli/D. Tuhten (ARIZ), 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1
SINGLES
D. Schwartzman (RICE) def. M. Castillo (ARIZ), 6-1, 6-3
D. Ratkovic (RICE) vs. M. Ostrzygało (ARIZ), 6-7, 6-4, 0-2 uf
N. Selvaraj (RICE) vs. D. Tuhten (ARIZ), 2-6, 6-2, 3-3 uf
T. Narendran (ARIZ) def. A. Zipoli (RICE), 6-4, 6-1
F. Maguina (RICE) def. S. Shogreen (ARIZ), 6-1, 6-1
F. Martinez (RICE) def. Z. Chulak (ARIZ), 6-0, 5-7, 7-6 (10-8)
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 4, 6
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,1,4,6
Players Mentioned
