Women's tennis extends winning streak into the double digits

By Nicollete Chamberlain 4/4/13 7:00pm

The Rice University women's tennis team won its 10th straight match Sunday, defeating Santa Clara University in Northridge, Calif. The Owls have not lost since Feb. 20, when they were defeated by then-No. 21 Texas Tech University. In the subsequent months, Rice has moved up to the No. 20 spot in the country. With a 15-4 record and only two regular season matches left, the team is looking for a strong finish to its winning season.

"We are just focusing on one match at a time," sophomore Natalie Beazant said. "Even though we are on a winning streak right now, every match is different and has different challenges, so we just want to make sure we keep focusing on every match as it comes."

Beazant in particular has adopted this mindset, boasting a 12-match winning streak at No. 1 singles. The No. 62 sophomore's latest accomplishment was defeating Santa Clara University's Katie Le (No. 26) in straight sets (6-3, 6-0).

"She [Beazant] was very focused, played within herself and really set the tone early in the match," Head Coach Elizabeth Schmidt said.

Ten of Beazant's 12 consecutive wins have been in straight sets; three of the 10 have been against ranked players. In addition, the No. 17 ranked doubles team of Beazant and junior Dominique Harmath pulled ahead late in the match to take their 13th consecutive win. Harmath contributed a win at No. 2 singles, along with freshman Solomiya Zinko's No. 4 singles win (6-2, 6-1).

Not only are the Owls moving up the ranks, but they also continue to improve on their weaknesses. According to Schmidt, doubles play has been a focus for the team and a source of development.

"I think our doubles [play] has improved throughout this season," Schmidt said. "We are playing more disciplined. We have cut down our unforced errors and also continue to be aggressive."

The team demonstrated its improvement this weekend with a doubles sweep. Beazant and Harmath took the No. 1 spot, while the senior Daniela Trigo/Zinko pair won at No. 2 doubles 8-6. Senior Katie Gater and sophomore Stephanie Nguyen left their match unfinished at 8-8 after the Rice victory had already been decided. Schmidt and the team look to continue to progress through the final stretch of the season.

"I think the team has been doing a really nice job staying focused on each match and paying attention to the things that they can control," Schmidt said. "That is coming to practice every day ready to work and competing hard from start to finish on match day."

The Owls will take on No. 49 Southern Methodist University in a conference matchup Saturday, April 6 at 11 a.m. in Jake Hess Stadium.

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