Women’s tennis falls short in LSU upset bid
The Rice women’s tennis team fell just short of an upset of 43rd-ranked Louisiana State University on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La. The match marked the team’s third consecutive loss on the road.
Today the 55th-ranked Owls face 66th-ranked Mississippi State University at 3 p.m. at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium, where they have not played a match since wins against Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and Lamar University Jan. 21.
“It is important to have a home- court advantage after losing three away matches in a row,” head coach Roger White said. “We are really looking forward to playing with a supportive fan base.”
Mississippi State, previously ranked 33rd nationally, is trying to rebound from season-opening losses at the hands of 72nd-ranked University of Houston and 73rd-ranked Troy University
“I look forward to the match,” senior Medeja Egic said, “It’s going to be tough, but after a solid performance last weekend, I am confident that the team is in shape and mentally prepared to compete.”
Against LSU, the Owls dropped all three doubles matches by a score of 8-4 before improving their play in singles. Senior Blair DiSesa provided a highlight win at the first position with a straight-set defeat of Mykala Hedberg, and sophomore Tiffany Lee and Egic won in three sets at the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
However, sophomore Christine Dao lost at the second position, and freshman Alanna Rodgers fell in straight sets at the third spot. The Owls still had a chance for an upset, but LSU’s Camila Caliari defeated sophomore Kimberly Patenaude at the sixth position to secure the win for LSU.
“I think that everyone showed a lot of heart, which is a great stepping stone for the rest of the season,” DiSesa said.
The LSU match should provide valuable experience for the Owls, who now face six straight matches against ranked opponents.
“I think that both teams played fair, and it was a nice opportunity for us to compete,” White said. “But it’s hard to feel the value of a good match when you don’t come home with the win.”
Two weeks ago, Rice lost at UCLA and Pepperdine, ranked 15th and 25th, respectively.
Other sports stories
- GSA takes lead in Premier Division
- Jimoh breaks school record in pentathlon
- Men's basketball defeats Marshall in 78-75 in OT
- Men's tennis splits road dual matches
- Men's track wins medals, sets records at Houston Invitational
- Owls face defending NCAA champion UT
- Sports Notebook
- Women's basketball can still claim C-USA
- Women's basketball falls to UH, beats ECU
News
- Campus power outage causes little disruption
- Masters reject Beer-Bike theme after complaints
- Nobel Laureate Ebadi: Islam misunderstood, misinterpreted
- Rice Engineers Without Borders to host national conference
- Student detains suspected thief after backpack taken at party
- Violinist Perlman helps Shepherd School raise $2.2 million at gala
- Vision Weekend welcomes 130 prospective students to campus
Arts & Entertainment
- Iranian culture, art revealed at film festival
- _Annapolis_: painfully dull, predictable disappointment from capable director
- _Monologues_ addresses squirm-worthy subject with simplistic straightforwardness