University of Houston
West Virginia
West Virginia Escapes Houston Tennis, 4-3
3/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
March 20, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Houston tennis team dropped a close match to West Virginia Saturday by the score of 4-3 at the Green Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Missouri. The setback drops the Cougars' record this season to 8-5.
"West Virginia played the big points in the match better than we did today," head coach John Severance said. "It was a matter of points, not games."
The day's action began with the Mountaineers taking the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and 2 doubles matches. Houston's duo of Elena Kazakova and Laura Ring collected the lone UH win in pairs play as they defeated Veronica Cardenas and Emily Mathis 8-3 in the second doubles match.
In singles play, the Cougars got a win from freshman Bryony Hunter in the top singles match as the Harlow, England, native downed WVU's Stephanie LaFortune in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
Houston also got singles wins from Kazakova in the No. 4 match and senior Neila Starratt at the No. 6 position. Kazakova defeated Mathis 6-2, 6-1 while Starratt dispatched Ashley Pilsbury in consecutive sets, 6-3, 6-4.
Houston's Ring and Maja Kazimieruk fell in straight sets in the No. 3 and 5 singles matches, respectively, while junior Joanna Kacprzyk nearly flipped the score into a UH victory. The Polish native, playing in the second singles position, battled back after dropping the first set to claim a 7-6 win in set number two to even the match. Kacprzyk, however, could not complete the comeback as she dropped the third set and the match to Monique Burton.
"All of our losses this season have been in really close matches," Severance added. "We have a young team that has to learn how to pull out those big points of the match so we can turn these close losses into victories."
UP NEXT
Houston will conclude its season-high, nine-match road trip Sunday when it faces Missouri in an 11 a.m. match at the Green Tennis Center.
Players Mentioned
