University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
<b> Illinois
Tennis Edges Illinois
3/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
March 19, 2007
HOUSTON - Neila Starratt came through with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory at the No. 4 singles position to lift the University of Houston tennis team to a 4-3 win over Illinois Monday afternoon at Hoff Courts on the UH campus.
"Neila did a tremendous job in a pressure situation with the match on the line," head coach John Severance said. "There was a little anxiety and nerves in the tiebreaker. However, Neila dug deep to gut out the win. This is the type of match that will help her confidence down the road. She is the type of player I want out on the court with the score tied 3-3."
After falling behind 2-1 in the tiebreaker, Starratt fired back with next three points to grab a 4-2 advantage. Ahead 6-5, the Canada native won a 12-ball rally and forced her opponent into a backhand error to secure the 7-5 win.
"I knew it was only a matter of time before I could grind out the points necessary to win the match," Starratt said. "You're going to slow the ball down if you're playing not to lose. I went out, hit my shots and played to win the match."
In doubles action, Loli Gomez and Leila Salek fought back from an early 3-2 deficit and won six of the last seven games to claim an 8-4 victory at the No. 1 slot. The Fighting Illini charged back to even the tally at 1-1 behind an 8-4 win by Momei Qu and Kristina Minor over Vicky Simpson and Rebecca Franzi at the No. 3 spot.
All eyes turned to court two where Anna Djananova and Sonja Nikolic turned away a pair of match points down 7-6. The Cougars got a critical break on Alejandra Meza Cuadra and Shivani Dave to go ahead 8-7 aided by two Meza Cuadra double faults.
A forward winner by Nikolic at 40-30 clinched a hard-fought 9-7 victory along with the critical doubles point to put Houston up 1-0.
"I was proud that Anna and Sonja showed fight and determination after being down a couple of match points," Severance said. "Doubles ended up being a key part to today's victory."
The Cougars (11-5) went ahead 2-0 as Vicky Simpson emerged from singles action first with a 5-2 win in the No. 6 hole.
Illinois (2-7) charged back to knot the score at 2-2 notching a pair of straight set wins at the No. 1 and No. 5 spots by Megan Fudge and Meza Caudra.
Salek swung the momentum back to Houston with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win in the No. 2 hole, but the Fighting Illini answered right back to draw even again at 3-3 with a 7-5, 6-1 win by Dave at the No. 3 slot.
The Cougars face off against East Carolina Friday morning at 11am in a pivotal Conference USA match. The match will be played at a neutral site in Charleston.
"This is a crucial win for our confidence to take on the road with us to Charleston this weekend," Severance said. "East Carolina is an important match, and they're going to be ready to play us after we knocked them out of the conference tournament last season."
