Houston Ends Regular Season with Loss to Rice

HOUSTON - The Houston tennis team's 2021 regular season ended Sunday as it fell to No.37 Rice 5-0 at the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility.  

Houton (14-7, 3-2 AAC) finishes the season with the same exact record as the 2018-19 campaign. The loss continues Rice's (14-5, 2-1 CUSA) dominance in the crosstown match as they have now won seven straight over Houston.  

After the teams split doubles victories in the second and third pairs, attention turned to the top pairs for each squad. Down 5-2 at one point, Mimi Kendall-Woseley and Laura Slisane rallied back to force a tiebreker at 6-6. But the Owls' pair of Diae El Jardi/Maria Budin came out strong in the extra stanza to win the doubles point for their squad.  

In singles action on courts six and three respectively, both Blanca Cortijo Parreno and Laura Slisane fell in straight sets before a brief rain shower forced a pause in action. With four matches in progress, the Cougars still stood a chance before Azul Pedemonti and Mimi Kendall-Woseley lost within moments of each other to secure the 5-0 Rice win.

Belgium natives Phonexay Chitdara and Sophie Gerits were each in the third set at the time of their unfinished stoppage. Gerits' foe was ranked 67th in the nation by ITA. 

A match featuring several tight bouts, there were three separate tiebreakers played on Sunday. 

FULL RESULTS  
   
Doubles:         
Diae El Jardi/Maria Budin (RICE) def. Mimi Kendall-Woseley/Laura Slisane (UH) 7-6 (6-1) 
Phonexay Chitdara/Sophie Gerits (UH) def. Michaela Haet/Federica Trevisan (RICE) 6-3 
Linda Huang/Anastasia Smirnova (RICE) def. Azul Pedemonti/Blanca Cortijo Parreno (UH) 6-4 
   
Singles:         
Michaela Haet (RICE) def. Kendall-Woseley (UH) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) 

Gerits (UH) vs. No.67 Linda Huang (RICE) 3-6, 6-3, 4-2, unfinished

Federica Trevisan (RICE) def. Slisane (UH) 6-3, 6-2 

Chitdara (UH) vs. Anastasia Smirnova (RICE) 6-3, 5-7, 2-2, unfinished

Anna Bowtell (RICE) def. Pedemonti (UH) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 

Maria Budin (RICE) def. Cortijo (UH) 6-2, 6-1 

Order of Finish        

Doubles: 3, 2, 1 
Singles: 6, 3, 5, 1

UP NEXT 

The team heads to Orlando for the American Athletic Championships set for April 22-25. The event is a single-elimination team tournament with no individual portion.  

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