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March 4, 2005 > Sports > Women’s tennis rebounds at Tulsa

Women’s tennis rebounds at Tulsa

By Amber Obermeyer | Thresher Editorial Staff

After snapping its recent losing streak with a 5-2 win over 51st-ranked University of Tulsa Saturday, the 41st-ranked women’s tennis team hopes to mimic the start to its season with another prolonged winning streak beginning Mar. 12 against Yale in San Diego, Calif.

But before their win against the Golden Hurricane, the Owls dropped their fourth consecutive match — all on the road against ranked teams — 4-3 to 40th-ranked University of Oklahoma Feb. 25. Rice began the match well, though, as senior Blair DiSesa and freshman Kimberley Patenaude won 8-3 at the top doubles spot and freshman Christine Dao and junior Medeja Egic won 9-8 at No. 3 doubles to give the Owls the doubles point, Rice’s first in six tries against a ranked opponent.

“It’s just a matter of playing with each other and getting used to each others’ playing styles — teamwork is really big,” freshman Dominique Karas said. “As the season goes on, we’ll keep getting better and better, [but to win it] was exciting because it was a huge help in our match.”

DiSesa cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles, and senior Tracie Chong won her sixth consecutive singles match at the third spot with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win, but neither Patenaude, Karas, Dao nor Egic could secure the decisive fourth point, and the Sooners handed the Owls a 4-3 loss. Head coach Roger White said he expects the team to win close matches like the Oklahoma one as the young team — the typical singles lineup includes three freshmen and a junior college transfer — gains experience.

“The reason college tennis is unique is twofold,” White said. ” The environment is much more like a big sporting event with lots of cheering and noise, and then the other significant thing is that no matter what line you’re playing, it’s like playing the finals of a tournament. We have some of the top players from around the world on our squad, so they’re used to having two or three soft rounds before an important match.”

Against Tulsa on Saturday, the Owls continued to be successful in doubles, as Chong and Karas dispatched the Golden Hurricane’s Santie Delport and Lisette Pereira 8-3, while Dao and Egic defeated Timberly Greenly and Kindsay Grimes by an identical margin.

“It’s about time we started winning the doubles point,” DiSesa said. “Our team has definitely had that potential the entire season, but for one reason or another it just hasn’t worked out in our favor. Last weekend was a taste of what’s to come — it showed all the girls that it’s not just something that we can win, but something that we should win.”

Chong again won her singles match — her seventh straight — and Dao added a quick 6-3, 6-1 victory over Greenly at the fifth spot. Egic won in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 at No. 6 singles, and Karas rebounded from her loss in singles against Oklahoma to defeat Delport at No. 4, improving her dual-match singles record to 9-2. The 5-2 win over the Golden Hurricane was the Owls’ first road win of the season.

“For us, playing on the road never seemed like a hump — winning on the road was just something that hadn’t happened yet,” DiSesa said. “It was our first road win, but it’s going to be a stepping stone to much greater things. I don’t think it ever intimidated us mentally, and I don’t anticipate it to be a problem in the future.”

With its win over Tulsa, Rice clearly established itself as no worse than the second-best team in the Western Athletic Conference, as 51st-ranked Tulsa is the third-highest ranked WAC team, ahead of No. 61 SMU. Three-time defending WAC champion Fresno State University dropped from 21st to 31st in the rankings last weekend after a loss to 30th-ranked UNLV. But the Bulldogs’ Jelena Pandzic, who finished second in the NCAA singles tournament last year, has not played at all this year and was ruled ineligible earlier this month because she played with a professional team in Germany last summer.

“Fresno has yet to get into the heart of their schedule — we’ll figure out how tough they are,” White said. “I would give us as good a shot as any to win the WAC— that would be the first time ever a [Rice] women’s tennis team has won a conference championship. That’s what we’re working toward — a postseason bid and a conference championship.”

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