University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
<b> Sam Houston State
Tennis Dismisses Sam Houston State
2/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Feb. 12, 2006
HOUSTON - The No. 72 University of Houston tennis team notched a 5-2 victory against Sam Houston State on Sunday afternoon at Hoff Courts.
Today's match against the Bearkats was originally scheduled January 28, but was rescheduled due to rain.
"It wasn't ideal tennis conditions out there with the strong winds and chilly weather," head coach John Severance said. "We didn't play our best tennis today, but we're happy to come up with the victory."
The Cougars (5-1) started off taking the doubles point. UH has claimed the doubles point in all six dual matches played this season. Kami Miller and Yolandi Terblanche came off the court first with an 8-0 victory in the No. 2 doubles slot.
Down 3-0, Brianna Bateup and Vicky Simpson charged back for an 8-6 win at No. 3, while Loli Gomez and Sonja Nikolic completed the sweep with a strong 8-6 win over a regionally-ranked pair of Irina Sotnikova and Lata Assundani.
Houston went up 2-0 as Terblanche returned to the No. 5 singles slot with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory. The South African native had been in the No. 6 spot the last two matches.
The Bearkats got within 2-1 when Sotnikova knocked off Gomez 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 1 position.
Houston responded with Kami Miller getting back on the winning track with a 6-2, 6-4 over Emma McDougall at No. 3. Miller is now two wins shy of moving into No. 8 all-time in the Houston record book in career singles wins. The Arizona native has won 13 of her last 15 singles matches.
The Cougars clinched the match as Brianna Bateup snapped a two-match losing kid, notching a 7-6, 6-3 victory in the No. 2 hole, while Simpson stayed undefeated during the spring season with a hard-fought three set win at No. 6.
UH will have 13 days off before returning to the courts on Feb. 25 facing off against Conference USA foe, Memphis. The Cougars rolled to a 6-1 victory at Southern Miss earlier this season. First serve against the Tigers at Hoff Courts is slated for noon.
"We've had a brutal schedule to start the season so we're going to use the first week off to get some much needed rest to mentally recharge our batteries," Severance said. "In practice, we're going to sharpen our mental discipline and look forward to playing another conference match."
Houston 5, Sam Houston State 2
Doubles
No. 1 Gomez/Nikolic (UH) d. Sotnikova/Assundani (Sam Houston State) 8-6
No. 2 Miller/Terblanche (UH) d. Janik/Mills (Sam Houston State) 8-0
No. 3 Bateup/Simpson (UH) d. McDougall/Taylor (Sam Houston State) 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
No. 1 Sotnikova (Sam Houston State) d. Gomez (UH) 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 Bateup (UH) d. Assundani (Sam Houston State) 7-6, 6-3
No. 3 Miller (UH) d. McDougall (Sam Houston State) 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 Mills (Sam Houston State) d. Nikolic (UH) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 Terblanche (UH) d. Taylor (Sam Houston State) 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 Simpson (UH) d. Flores (Sam Houston State) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 3, 2, 4, 6
Players Mentioned
