Rice University
Tulane
No. 2 Rice Outlasts Tulane, Advances to Semifinals
4/18/2025 9:14:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The second-seeded Rice Owls outlasted the seventh-seeded Tulane Green Wave in a quarterfinal match in the American Athletic Conference Championship on Friday night at the Leftwich Tennis Center. The Owls will move on to semifinal Saturday where they will take on the winner of No. 3 Charlotte and No. 6 Memphis.
The Owls found themselves down early in the doubles portion, with the Green Wave tandem at the second court taking a 6-1 victory to start. Divna Ratkobic and Anushka Ashar evened the score with a 6-2 victory on the third court, leaving it up to court one to secure doubles. The Tulane duo took the first court, 6-4, to take a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
Ratkovic was the first to finish singles with a 6-1, 7-5, win at the second line, earning Rice's first point of the day. Allison Zipoli earned Rice's second point and took the lead with a 6-4, 6-3 win at the fifth line. From this point, the Owls would not relinquish the lead to the Green Wave. Nithesa Selvaraj would make the lead 3-1 with a 7-6 (2), 6-2, result at the fifth line. Tulane would make a dent in the lead with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, win at the third line, but Darya Schwartzman would end the match mere seconds after that with a 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-3, victory at the first line, securing the quarterfinal win for Rice.
Rice will return to action on Saturday at 2 p.m., where they will face the winner of Friday's nightcap between Memphis and Charlotte.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
C. Ricci/L. Van Zyl (TUL) def. S. Orav/F. Maguina (RICE), 6-4
S. Chandler/M. Pierce (TUL) def. D. Schwartzman/N. Selvaraj (RICE), 6-1
D. Ratkovic/A. Ashar (RICE) def. N. Fantini/J. Zhu (TUL), 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
D. Schwartzman (RICE) def. C. Ricci (TUL), 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-3
D. Ratkovic (RICE) def. S. Chandler (TUL), 6-1, 7-5
L. Van Zyl (TUL) def. F. Maguina (RICE), 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
N. Selvaraj (RICE) def. M. Pierce (TUL), 7-6 (2), 6-2
A. Zipoli (RICE) def. B. Theis (TUL), 6-4, 6-3
S. Orav (RICE) vs. N. Fantini (TUL), 7-6 (4), 1-6, 3-0 uf
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 4, 3, 1
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,4,2,3,1
Players Mentioned
