PREVIEW: Houston Welcomes Prairie View A&M and #55 UCF

HOUSTON  – The University of Houston Tennis program welcomes Prairie View A&M and #55 UCF starting Thursday at the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility.

The Cougars (1-13, 0-8 Big 12) face the Panthers (5-15, 4-2 SWAC) at 1 p.m., Thursday followed by a matchup against the Knights (6-10, 3-5 Big 12) at 1 p.m., Saturday.

Leading Houston in singles with three wins each are seniors Blanca Cortijo Parreno and Laura Slisane, and sophomore Sophie Schouten. In doubles, sophomore Sonya Kovalenko and Schouten lead the Cougars with five wins.

Prairie View is led in singles by Francesca Duca with four wins, three of them coming on court two.

Sophia Biolay and Noel Saidenova lead the Knights in singles with 14 wins. Doubles partners Anique Kattenburg and Saidenova have compiled seven wins on court one.

LAST TIME OUT
The Cougars fell to #71 West Virginia, 6-1, in Morgantown on Friday. Junior Maria Dzemeshkevich recorded the lone Houston point as she defeated Maya Bordereau 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7).

In Cincinnati, Ohio, Houston fell to the Bearcats, 4-0, on Sunday. The Cougars forced a third set in four of its six singles matches.

SERIES VS PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
Houston leads the all-time series, 21-0, and has only surrendered one point to the Panthers.

The last time the two teams met, the Cougars swept the doubleheader, 7-0 and 4-0. In the first match, Schouten and junior Elena Trencheva took the doubles win on court one, before Dzemeshkevich and partner Azul Pedemonti clinched the doubles point. Schouten, Trencheva, Dzemeshkevich, Cortijo Parreno and sophomore Gabriela Cortes all tallied singles points for the Cougars.

In the second match of the day, Houston allowed just one point across three doubles matches to take the doubles point. Cortes, Kovalenko and Cortijo Parreno scored the singles points for the Cougars (Feb. 3, 2023).

SERIES VS UCF
Houston narrowly trails the series against UCF, 4-5, but has dropped its last three matches against the Knights.

The last time the Cougars knocked off the Knights was in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship in Memphis, Tenn., when Houston won 4-0 to advance to the championship match (March 21, 2016).

HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats for both matches are available here, with a live stream available here.

UP NEXT
Houston is set to host #1 Oklahoma State at 1 p.m., Friday, April 5, and #65 Kansas State at 11 a.m., Sunday, April 7, for senior day at the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility.

Admission is free for all home Houston Tennis matches.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Tennis by supporting Linking Coogs – UH's very own NIL collective, and by joining the Center Court Club, which provides financial support directly to Houston Tennis for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarTennis on X, formerly known as Twitter and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at UHCougarTennis or on the team's Instagram page at @uhcougartennis.

– UHCougars.com –

Upcoming Events

Recent Results