Women find success within friendly confines of Galleria
Judging by the women's tennis team's home victories this weekend, playing indoors is the way to go for the Owls (5-3). After two tough losses in California last week to No. 12 University of California-Los Angeles (7-1) and Pepperdine University (3-3), Rice swept No. 54 University of Arizona and Texas Tech University in what proved to be a bounce-back weekend for a squad looking for traction.
The team started their winning weekend off last Friday against Arizona (6-1). Rice had lost to then-unranked Arizona 4-3 last year and looked to reverse the outcome this time around.
"We were extra-motivated to get some revenge," senior Rebecca Lin said.
It turns out that revenge is a dish best served indoors. The Wildcats, undefeated before this match, were unprepared to handle the Owls' aggressive offensive maneuvering, and Rice came out on top 5-2.
Adjusting easily to playing inside at the Galleria, a consequence of inclement weather, Rice began the match well. The No. 3 doubles team of Lin and junior Rebekka H?nle defeated their opponents 8-1 to start off the doubles slate. After falling at the No. 2 doubles spot, the doubles point came down to the match at the No. 1 position between the team of senior Julie Chao and sophomore Ana Guzman and the Wildcats' Alexandrina Naydenova and Natasha Marks. Down 6-3 early in the match, Rice surged and came back to win the match 8-6.
With the tone set after the doubles point, the Owls came out strong and were up early on nearly every court. This week, unlike previous times, the team was able to stick with its early leads and convert them into points.
Head Coach Elizabeth Schmidt came away impressed by her team's play.
"We did a better job of, when our opponents were down, keeping the pressure on them, which we didn't do as well the week before against Pepperdine," Schmidt said.
Since the Galleria has only five available courts, freshman Danny Trigo had to wait to play her match at the No. 6 position.
H?nle finished her close No. 1 match not long after Trigo took the court, which decided the match in Rice's favor. Breathing a little easier, Trigo flourished in only her third collegiate match, winning 6-3, 6-1.
Two days later, the Owls faced Texas Tech (3-2). The Owls came into the match confronting the fear of deflation - after all, the team's losses to UCLA and Pepperdine came following a pair of wins - but that fear proved poorly founded. Firing on all cylinders, the women's tennis team easily defeated the Red Raiders, a team that has been in and out of the rankings all season, by a score of 6-1.
Rice came out strong, winning all three doubles matches, a feat that had only happened twice previously this season. The 44th-ranked doubles team of sophomore Alex Rasch and junior Jessica Jackson was the first doubles team to finish, winning 8-5, followed closely by Chao and Guzman, who also won their match 8-5 to clinch the doubles point for the team.
In singles, the team played with energy and went up early at the Nos. 2 and 3, which helped to scratch away at the psyche of the opposing team.
"[Being down early] can kind of dishearten your opponent a little bit," Schmidt said.
H?nle and Chao finished their matches first, playing at the the top two positions. Guzman, Jackson, Trigo and Lin rounded out the completed matches. The team's one loss came from Trigo, who lost 6-4, 6-2 for her first defeat of the season.
In these past two matches, the team has proven that they are a mentally tough group. After the losses in California last week, the team turned around to dominate two very good opponents. Schmidt pointed to the wins as a demonstration of the character and determination of the squad.
"They are a team that has shown they can bounce back from hardship and that they are resilient," Schmidt said.
The team will play No. 17 University of Arkansas tomorrow at 11 a.m. at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium, in their third home match in a row. The Razorbacks (6-1) are a consistently well-ranked team and last year's NCAA Championship runner-up, so they will provide the toughest test yet for the Owls on the young season.
With this test comes an excellent shot at a jump in the rankings, which will be updated Tuesday. While Rice is expected to be ranked this time around, that is not the focus of the team at the moment.
"We try not focus on the rankings - we try to focus on the next match," Schmidt said.
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