Freshman Beazant stars for women's tennis

By Dan Elledge     1/17/12 6:00pm

After a rough 14-10 record last season with which the team could not secure a berth to the NCAA tournament, the women's tennis team was hoping for a fresh start with a trip to the University of Central Florida Invitational to commence the season. Along with Rice and UCF, Texas Tech University was also a part of the three-day invitational.

On day one, the Owls got off on the right note, as they were 5-2 in singles play and split their four doubles matches. Sophomore Dominique Harmath and freshman Natalie Beazant led the way for the Owls as they secured both singles victories and a doubles win against Texas Tech opponents. Junior Katie Gater, sophomore Kimberly Anicete and freshman Stephanie Nguyen recorded wins against UCF foes. Senior Ana Guzman and junior Daniela Trigo won the other doubles match against UCF.

On day two, it was much tougher for the Owls as they only recorded one singles win and one doubles victory thanks to the arm of Beazant. It looked like it might be a shutout for the Owls in singles as Beazant fell into an early one-set hole against Texas Tech sophomore Samantha Adams. Beazant would never say die, as she rallied to win the final two sets to give her the match. The Beazant and Harmath duo stayed unbeaten in doubles as well, recording a win against the UCF doubles pair of senior Alexis Rodriguez and junior Genevieve Lorbergs.

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On day three, it was again the Beazant show as she recorded a victory in singles and two victories in doubles to finish with an unbeaten 3-0 record in singles and a 4-0 record in doubles. Beazant finished the invitational with a singles win over Rodriguez and doubles victories, one with Harmath and one with Gater. With Harmath, Beazant beat the 45th nationally ranked doubles pairing in Texas Tech freshmen Kenna Kilgo and Adams. With Gater, Beazant recorded another doubles victory against Rodriguez and Lorbergs to cap off a perfect weekend.

The Owls will open up their home slate this weekend as they host Lamar University today at 1 p.m. at Jake Hess Stadium along with hosting the University of Louisiana at Lafayette tomorrow at 11 a.m.

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