University of Houston
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UTEP
Cougars Open Championships With Win Over UTEP
4/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
April 17, 2008
HOUSTON, Texas - In windy conditions under overcast skies and with the threat of rain on the horizon, the University of Houston women's tennis team reached the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championships on its home courts, knocking off UTEP, 4-2, to improve to 16-10 on the season.
The #6 seed Cougars will now face cross-town rival Rice, who is the #3 seed, tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm at the John E. Hoff Courts.
"I thought we could win, so I am happy with the win (over UTEP)," UH head coach John Severance said. "This wind messed things up a bit (and) evened a lot of things out. The scores were a lot closer in a lot of areas.
"But, I'll tell you what, I think we would've played a lot better under better conditions. The bottom line is that we got a win and we're moving on."
Houston gave an indication in the doubles play that it would fight through the conditions and reel in a victory. After Lucy Forward and Jordan McCombs dropped the #1 doubles match to Weronika Bloczynska and Megan Pritchard, 8-5, the #3 team of Leila Salek and Vicky Simpson evened the score with a 8-5 victory over UTEP's tandem of Vicky Michaud and Amber Brightly.
At #2 Lynley Wasson and Joanna Kacprzyk battled back against Marina DeLuca and Ximena Fuentes the entire match, and when Kacprzyk smashed a two-handed backhand that split the UTEP duo, Houston had won at #2 and with the first point of the match.
"I wasn't too shocked (about the comeback at #2)," Severance said. "I thought the match-up was pretty solid in our favor. I actually think the wind helped us in that match, but again, we are stressing singles for this conference. We're not too concerned about doubles. If you look at the score, we would've won four singles matches today. For us, it is all about singles (play)."
In singles play, Simpson put the Cougars up 2-0, quickly working over Michaud at #5, 6-1, 6-2. After Forward dropped a three-set match, 0-6, 6-0, 6-4, to Bloczynska at #1, Neila Starratt blasted her way to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Pritchard at #3, putting Houston just a point away from winning the match with the Miners.
UTEP cut into the lead with a win at #6, as Brightly rallied for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, triumph against Kacprzyk, taking the score to 3-2 in favor of UH. But, on court #2 a rally for the Cougars was coming to fruition, and it just so happened to be the lone UH senior leading Houston to victory.
After dropping the first set, 7-5, against DeLuca, and then getting a pep talk from her head coach, Salek proceeded to win the next two sets, 6-2, 6-0, to move Houston into the next round against the Owls.
Wasson's match at #4 versus Fuentes went unfinished, with Wasson leading, 7-5, 5-1.
"When I talked to (Salek) in the first set, she was a quite bit nervous," Severance added. "I thought that was a little odd for my senior to be nervous. I stressed the fact that `you don't want this to be your last match. This is not going to be your last memory.'
"I told her to just relax, and maybe I messed her up a little bit. But, I tried to calm her down, and just wanted her to be positive even if she wasn't playing well. Things turned around, and not only did she turn it around, but she turned it around in a hurry."
The Cougars improve to 9-3 all-time against UTEP, but face a huge obstacle in reaching the semifinals in squaring off against Rice. The two rivals stand at 15-15 lifetime against one another.
In other tournament action on the day, eighth-seeded East Carolina knocked of #9 UAB, 4-2, and #7 UCF downed #10 Memphis, 4-0. Besides the Cougar-Owl match-up, #1 Tulsa will take on #8 East Carolina and #4 SMU will battle #5 Southern Miss, both at 10 am. The final match of the day will pit #7 UCF against #2 Marshall at 2 pm.
---www.UHCougars.com---
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