Cougars Capture Conference USA Championship
Hopes were high as Houston began the 1998 spring season with the Cougars sporting proven players such as senior Susanne Andersson and junior Luciane Kelbert as well as an incoming class led by sophomore Galina Seliounina. The beginning of the season was bittersweet for UH, as Houston convincingly defeated Texas-San Antonio, 8-1, in its first dual match of the season, but lost the services of Seliounina for the next nine matches as she went down with a broken wrist.
Houston's luck took a turn for the worse when Joanna Cunliffe broke her left foot while rehabbing her injured shoulder in a swimming pool in mid February. Cunliffe would be forced to miss the majority of the season recovering from her injury.
With one of their top players sidelined, the Cougars fought on, but Houston won just three of nine dual matches without Seliounina.
Seliounina returned in time for the dual match against Arkansas State on Mar. 14. Houston won convincingly, 7-2, and Seliounina easily disposed of her opponent, 6-2, 6-1. More importantly, for the first time since the season opener, the team was near full strength.
The Cougars headed into the Conference USA Championships after splitting their final eight regular season matches, with wins coming at the expense of Georgia Tech, Utah, New Mexico State and crosstown rival Rice.
With the C-USA Championships being played on its home courts, Houston began its quest to win the C-USA title by knocking off No. 6 seed Southern Miss, 5-2. Kelbert, Mette Sigmundstad, Seliounina and Jane Brown won their respective singles matches, and the team of Sarah Bolle and Brown won its doubles match to clinch the win.
The third-seeded Cougars were next pitted against No. 2 Marquette in what would be the most electrifying match of the season for UH. Houston fell behind early, losing the top three singles matches and the number one doubles match to teeter on the brink of elimination. Wins by Seliounina, Bolle and Brown kept the Cougars' hopes alive going into the final two doubles matches with Marquette.
With the number one duo of Andersson and Sigmundstad having lost, Houston's hopes of reaching the title match was on the shoulders of the number two team of Seliounina and Kelbert and the number three pair of Bolle and Brown. Seliounina and Kelbert made quick work of their opponent, winning, 8-4. In the decisive match, Bolle and Brown triumphed, 8-6, to send UH to the title match the next day.
With only one win separating Houston from its goal of being crowned C-USA champions, Houston won four of six matches in singles and the lone doubles match to clinch the 1998 C-USA championship, 5-2, over No. 4 UAB.
With one goal achieved, it was on to the NCAA Tournament, where the Cougars looked to continue their magic ride. A No. 6 seed, Houston traveled to Baton Rouge, La., to face its first round opponent, No. 3 Texas A&M, in a rematch from earlier in the season. In the teams' first match the Aggies had pulled out a victory, 6-3, in College Station. This time, the Cougars were as healthy as they had been all season.
Houston's top three seeds all won their singles matches to give UH a 3-0 lead. The teams of Seliounina and Kelbert, and Bolle and Brown won their doubles matches to defeat Texas A&M, 5-3.
Houston's run came to a halt the next day as the Cougars were handed a 5-0 loss by Arkansas, the No. 1 seed and eventual champions in the Southwest Regional.
The loss did little to damper the exhilaration the Cougars felt about what they had accomplished on the season. The team captured the C-USA title and finished as the No. 52 ranked team in the nation. For her efforts, Mosvold was named C-USA Coach of the Year and Sigmundstad was awarded the team MVP.
Not only did Mosvold's goals of winning a conference title and earning the right to be considered one of the best teams in their region come to fruition, the 1998 Cougar team carved a place as one of the top tennis teams in the school's history.
The Road to a Championship 1998 C-USA Championships, Houston, Texas First Round - Bye Quarterfinals - (#3) Houston 5, (#6) Southern Miss 2 Semifinals - (#3) Houston 5, (#2) Marquette 4 Championship - (#3) Houston 5, (#4) UAB 2Spring 1998 Final Results
Singles Dual Overall C-USA SW Player #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Record Record Record Region Susanne Andersson 9-14 1-0 10-14 20-19 0-4 13-9 Luciane Kelbert 14-8 14-8 27-14 1-3 16-4 Galina Seliounina 1-0 3-2 4-4 8-6 20-8 3-0 12-5 Mette Sigmundstad 16-6 1-1 17-7 20-8 3-1 8-6 Joanna Cunliffe 1-1 1-2 1-0 3-3 3-3 0-0 2-2 Jane Brown 1-0 5-8 5-2 11-10 13-11 4-0 6-7 Sarah Bolle 0-7 0-3 4-9 4-19 4-26 2-2 1-15
Doubles Dual Overall C-USA SW Player #1 #2 #3 Record Record Record Region Sigmundstad/Andersson 10-6 10-6 10-6 0-2 5-1 Seliounina/Andersson 0-1 0-1 9-3 0-0 5-1 Sigmundstad/Cunliffe 1-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 Brown/Bolle 3-2 7-0 10-2 10-2 4-0 3-1 Bolle/Kelbert 1-4 1-4 4-7 0-0 3-3 Brown/Cunliffe 3-2 3-2 3-2 0-0 2-1 Seliounina/Kelbert 8-1 8-1 8-1 1-0 4-0 Bolle/Cunliffe 1-1 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1
Record Playing With... Player Andersson Bolle Brown Cunliffe Kelbert Seliounina Sigmundstad Andersson - - - - - 9-3 10-6 Bolle - - - 1-1 10-2 - - Brown - 10-2 - 3-2 - - - Cunliffe - 1-1 3-2 - - - 1-0 Kelbert - 4-7 - - - 8-1 - Seliounina 9-3 - - - 8-1 - - Sigmundstad 10-6 - - 1-0 - - -
*Overall Record includes 1997 fall results.
1998 Spring Results Overall Record 13-11 C-USA 3-1 Home 10-4 Away 1-5 Neutral 2-2 vs. SW Region 6-5
Date Opponent Results 1/29 Texas-San Antonio W, 8-1 1/31 Arkansas L, 3-6 2/9 Oklahoma State W, 6-3 2/11 at Texas A&M L, 3-6 2/13 at Oklahoma L, 2-7 2/15 at Tulsa W, 5-1 2/21 SMU W, 6-3 2/22 Texas Christian L, 2-6 3/3 Marquette L, 3-6 3/9 at Florida State L, 2-7 3/14 Arkansas State W, 7-2 3/23 at Baylor L, 0-9 3/25 Georgia Tech W, 6-3 3/27 Utah W, 5-1 4/3 at Texas-El Paso L, 4-5 4/4 vs. Fresno State L, 3-6 4/5 vs. New Mexico St W, 7-2 4/9 Rice W, 6-3 4/11 New Mexico L, 3-6 4/17 Southern Miss W, 5-2 4/18 Marquette W, 5-4 4/19 UAB W, 5-2 5/15 vs. Texas A&M W, 5-3 5/16 vs. Arkansas L, 0-5