University of Houston
C-USA Championships
Houston tennis finished third at C-USA Championships
4/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
April 18, 2004
HOUSTON - The No. 3 University of Houston tennis team capped off their best season in seven years with a 4-2 win over fifth seeded Louisville, for third place, at the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship in Louisville Ky Sunday morning.
The third place match with Louisville was a rematch of the 2003 third place match, which the Cardinals won 4-3. This year Houston grabbed the win, living up to it's No.3 ranking.
"I'm very proud of the team right now," head coach Jennifer Hyde said. "We knew it would be a tough match going into it since it was a rematch of last years third place match. We just had bigger hearts today. We fought and fought and fought. When we got down we didn't give up and it was an incredible way to finish up the season."
Houston clinched the win at No. 1 singles, outlasting Louisville's Michele Spiess for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win. At No. 2 singles Biljana Dimovska cruised past Paige Eber for a 6-1, 6-0 win while Kami Miller continued her strong play with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Christina Gogol at No. 6.
The Cardinals played tough on their home court though; claiming the No. 3 and No. 4 singles positions. Taylor swept Martin, 6-3, 6-2, while Hierl claimed a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Terblanche at No. 4.
The Cougars clinched the doubles point after winning at No. 1 and No. 3. Miranda Foley and Biljana Dimovska defeated the Louisville team of Michele Spiess and Julia Hierl, 8-4. Yolandi Terblanche and Diana Miller notched an 8-2 decision over Paige Eber and Christina Gogol at No. 3.
"All tournament long I was amazed at the heart this team showed," Hyde said. "Throughout the entire season this team battled and showed a lot of heart. You can't teach people to have heart like that."
The 15 wins mark the most for a Cougar tennis team since the 1997 team tallied 19, and is the most wins Houston has picked up under the direction of Hyde who came to the Cougar program in the 1999-200 season. The level of play Houston faced this season is also the toughest they have ever faced.
""I'm proud that this team has the footprints on the best year of my career," Hyde said. "All season long we have had a lot of heart. I've never been around a team that has as much heart as this group does. We had a player leave the team early in the season that would have been a middle of the line up player, and this team came together and still finished with the best record Houston has had in a long time."
The Cougars will now wait two weeks to find out about individual singles and doubles post-season invitations.
Conference USA Championship Results
Singles
1. Miranda Foley, HOU def. Michele Spiess, LOU, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
2. Biljana Dimovska, HOU def. Paige Eber, LOU, 6-1, 6-0
3. Kelly Taylor, LOU def. Diana Martin, HOU, 6-3, 6-2
4. Julia Hierl, LOU def. Yolandi Terblanche, HOU, 6-3, 6-2
5. Natalie Laszkowski, LOU vs. Karine Urbin, HOU, DNF (6-3, 4-6, 5-3)
6. Kami Miller, HOU def. Christina Gogol, LOU, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
1. Foley/Dimovska, HOU def. Hierl/Spiess, LOU, 8-4
2. Taylor/Laszkowski, LOU def. Martin/Urbin, HOU, 8-5
3. Terblanche/Miller, HOU def. Eber/Gogol, LOU, 8-2
