Tennis ready for battle

By Marie Walsh     3/29/12 7:00pm

It was a fantastic end to the week for the women's tennis team on Thursday, March 22. The Owls started the day off with a 6-1 victory against Texas State University at Jake Hess tennis stadium. Doubles pairs freshman Natalie Beazant and sophomore Dominique Harmath, senior Ana Guzman and junior Katie Gater, and sophomore Kimberly Anicete and freshman Stephanie Nguyen swept the doubles matches to gain an early 1-0 lead. They then won five out of their six singles matches to capture the victory by a score of 6-1. The Owls almost swept, but Gater dropped her match.

The team traveled to New Orleans this past Sunday, and the excitement continued with a win against Tulane University. Gater and Guzman were responsible for the first point of the day in doubles. They started the team off to a day of grueling matches to take home the win against Tulane 5-2.

Guzman was incredibly pleased.

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"I felt really good about the win against Tulane this past weekend," Guzman said. "It was a total team effort, and everyone showed a lot of heart. I felt good about my performance in doubles. Gater and I were able to pull out a good victory after starting down 5-1."

Beazant and Harmath won with a solid 8-4 match against their competitors in doubles while Anicete and sophomore Leah Fried, who stood in for injured Nguyen, were not able to capture a win against their counterparts.

This weekend will be hectic for the team, which will play the University of Missouri on Saturday, followed by the University of Tulsa on Sunday. Tulsa, which is ranked 29th in ITA National Rankings, falls only one spot behind Rice, which will no doubt make for an interesting match. Both matches will take place here at Rice, so the women are hoping for a lot of support against their conference rival.

Guzman is ready for the challenge this weekend as the Owls have a chance to crack the Top 25 for the first time in school history.

"We are ready to go this weekend against Missouri and Tulsa," Guzman said. "I'm really excited to play."

Rice is currently 12-4 this season, and Tulsa is 13-3.

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