PREVIEW: Houston Hosts West Virginia and Cincinnati in Final Home Series

HOUSTON – The University of Houston Tennis team welcomes West Virginia and Cincinnati for the final two home matches of the season.

Due to weather, Friday's match has been moved to Sweetwater Country Club (4400 Palm Royale Blvd., Sugarland, Texas, 77479) and will now begin at 6 p.m. Due to limited courts, singles action will begin first followed by doubles.

Sunday's match against Cincinnati is back at the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility with a regularly scheduled 2 p.m. first serve.

Both matches will be live streamed, and live stats are available here.

PROMOTIONS
Sunday's match is filled with recognitions and giveaways. Houston Tennis great and 2006 Hall of Honor Inductee, Margaret Kitchen Redfearn will be recognized before the match.

Houston will honor its lone senior, Santa Strombacha, for her contributions to the program beginning at 1:45 p.m.

Sunday's festivities are presented by Trust Guss Injury Lawyers and 'Houston Tennis' branded pickleball paddles will be given to the first 50 fans in attendance courtesy of Trust Guss.

The Cougars will wear pink in recognition of breast cancer awareness with FREE pink 'Houston Tennis' shirts given away to the first 50 fans in attendance.

Free pizza and stickers will also be available for fans while supplies last.

ABOUT THE COUGARS
Houston is 3-11 on the season with an 0-8 record in Big 12 play. Sophomore Valeriia Krokhotina leads the Cougars with five singles wins while juniors Sophie Schouten and Gabriela Cortes own four doubles victories to lead Houston.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
West Virginia
West Virginia is 6-13 on the season with an 0-8 mark in Big 12 action. Julie Bousseau and Millie Haagensen lead the Mountaineers with six singles wins on their respective courts.

Laura Villanueva Morillo and Michaela Kucharova pace West Virginia with six doubles wins on court two.

Houston and West Virginia meet for just the third time and first in Houston. The Mountaineers took both the previous two meetings. The two programs met last season as part of the Cougars inaugural season in the Big 12. West Virginia defeated Houston, 6-1 (March 22) in Morgantown.

Cincinnati
Cincinnati enters the weekend 7-8 with a 1-7 record in conference play. The Bearcats won their most recent match against Utah, 4-2. Cincinnati took the doubles point and the Bearcats took singles courts one, two and five to clinch the match.

Zeynep Erman and Sakurako Watanabe each have eight singles wins. Erman and partner Callie Flanagan have a 6-2 doubles record on court three while Watanabe and Morgan Pyrz have six wins on court two.

Houston owns a 3-1 series advantage over Cincinnati with the lone loss coming last season when the Bearcats took a 4-0 victory in Cincinnati (March 24). The Cougars' last victory came with a 4-0 win in Houston (March 16, 2021).

LAST TIME OUT
Houston fell 4-1 to Colorado on Sunday. The Cougars forfeited doubles court three and Schouten and Cortes fell, 6-3, on court one as the Buffaloes claimed the doubles point.

Colorado added to their lead with wins on courts three and two before Krokhotina earned the lone Houston point with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Pia Rebec.

The Buffaloes wrapped up the match on court one as Strombacha dropped a three set match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

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 –

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