University of Houston
<b> Tulsa
No. 70 Tennis Guts Out 4-3 Win Over Tulsa
3/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
March 26, 2006
HOUSTON - The No. 70 University of Houston tennis team dug deep and emerged with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Tulsa in a Conference USA match Sunday at Hoff Courts.
The Cougars (14-3, 2-0 C-USA) came back from an early 2-1 deficit to remain undefeated at home this season.
"We had a lot on the line in this match," head coach John Severance said. "The pressure was squarely on us protecting our national ranking, conference seeding and home winning streak. The team gave an outstanding effort against a strong conference opponent."
Kami Miller and Yolandi Terblanche charged out of the gates picking up an 8-1 doubles victory in the No 2 slot, but Tulsa's top-ranked pair of Daniela Muscolino and Kindsay Grimes responded with an 8-4 win over Loli Gomez and Sonja Nikolic. The Cougars regrouped as Brianna Bateup and Vicky Simpson secured the doubles point gutting out an 8-5 win in the No. 3 position.
In singles action, the Golden Hurricane (9-8, 0-3 C-USA) quickly turned the 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage with a pair of straight set win at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively.
Simpson and Nikolic turned the match back in favor of Houston coming away with a pair of strong 7-5 victories in the opening set. Simpson cruised to a 6-1 second-set victory, while Nikolic picked up a 6-3 to put the Cougars ahead 3-2.
"We came out a little sluggish in singles play, but the middle of the lineup really stepped it up this afternoon," Severance said. "With the match at 3-2 and our two seniors on the court in third sets, I was very confident that we were going to get the win."
After losing the first set in a tiebreaker, Miller stormed back for a 6-3 second-set win to even the match. The Glendale, Ariz. native saved her best tennis for last taking the deciding set 6-1. Miller is now five wins shy of moving into the No.7 spot all-time in career singles victories.
At the bottom of the lineup, Terblanche dropped a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 decision for the final margin of 4-3.
Houston opens a three-match road swing at New Mexico State Friday at 2pm before heading to El Paso for a pair of conference matches against UTEP and No. 53 SMU.
"It's another big weekend for us," Severance said. "Anytime you head out on the road there are going to be challenges. We're just going to take each match as it comes."
No. 70 Houston 4, Tulsa 3
Doubles
No. 1 - Muscolino/Grimes (TU) d. Gomez/Nikolic (UH) (8-4)
No. 2 - Miller/Terblanche (UH) d. Delport/Diaz-Barriga (TU) (8-1)
No. 3 - Bateup/Simpson (UH) d. Smith/Westfall (TU) (8-5)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
No. 1 - Muscolino (TU) d. Gomez (UH) (6-4, 6-2)
No. 2 - Delport (TU) d. Bateup (UH) (6-2, 6-3)
No. 3 - Nikolic (UH) d. Smith (TU) (7-5, 6-3)
No. 4 - Miller (UH) d. Grimes (TU) (6-7, 6-3, 6-1)
No. 5 - Simpson (UH) d. Diaz-Barriga (TU) (7-5, 6-1)
No. 6 - Santoro (TU) d. Terblanche (UH) (4-6, 6-2, 6-4)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 5, 3, 4, 6
Players Mentioned
