DiSesa, Egic capture titles at San Diego State
The women’s tennis team concluded its fall tournament schedule with two players winning the singles championships of their respective draws at the San Diego State Fall Classic last weekend.
The field at the tournament was one of toughest Rice has faced this fall. The Owls played six participants who, like themselves, finished last season ranked in the top 75 of the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll. One of the teams, Georgia Tech University, was ranked sixth in the final ITA poll last year.
“It was a great performance team-wide, especially for the two girls who won their draws,” head coach Roger White said. “The field was very tough. I think [our performance showed] the skill and the depth of the team.”
Senior Blair DiSesa won all of her matches in straight sets in the Red singles draw. She beat Carla Rocha of Long Beach State University 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and won her semifinal match 7-5, 7-6 over Allison Silverio of Georgia Tech. In the finals, she defeated Long Beach State’s Katy Williams 6-1, 7-5.
DiSesa said the team’s persistence in close matches paid off.
“I went into the tournament knowing that the matches might just come down to grit and determination,” DiSesa said. “I was glad that I could stick it out. I think this weekend was one of our best performances of the fall because each one of us had to gut out close matches.”
In the Gold singles draw, senior Medeja Egic won her first two matches in straight sets. In the semifinals, she dropped the first set 3-6 to Lisa Nystrom-Skola of Fresno State University but came back to win the next two sets 6-4, 7-5. Egic also needed three sets to prevail in the finals, where she split the first two sets against Georgia Tech’s Kacie Anson 7-6, 2-6 before winning 10-6 in a super-tiebreak.
Egic said she was able to win because she felt sure of herself on the court.
“It is tough to predict who is going to win,” Egic said. “It depends on how you feel and what kind of day you are having. If you go to the court confident, [it] gives you an advantage — I felt very confident.”
Sophomore Tiffany Lee claimed a consolation championship by winning three matches in a row, including a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Helena Lindstrand of San Diego State, after dropping her first match of the tournament.
“Winning is always a good reaffirmation of doing a good job, “White said. ” Everyone has created a lot of confidence for themselves in their overall performance. ”
The Owls will not compete again until the beginning of their dual-match season in the spring. They will face Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a doubleheader Jan. 21 at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
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