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February 8, 2008 > Sports > Seminoles sweep women to end win streak

Seminoles sweep women to end win streak

By Rhodes Coffey | Thresher staff

If last week’s Super Bowl was any type of foreshadowing, the women’s tennis team probably realized the difficulties in attaining perfection. After a pair of road losses to Florida State University and Texas A&M University, Rice’s hope for a perfect season came to an end. However, the team did not come away winless on its road swing, beating No. 75 Jacksonville University last Sunday.

Looking ahead to this weekend, Rice travels to Starkville, Miss., today to face Mississippi State University at 1:30 p.m. and the University of Alabama Sunday at noon. Although both squads are unranked, the Owls will have to contend with No. 67 Renee Joseph, who is the top player for the Bulldogs.

Since Rice faces so few ranked opponents in its upcoming schedule, head coach Roger White said the Owls will need to capitalize against their soft opponents.

“Just believing that [winning] is doable is a huge thing,” White said. “We don’t have as many big bites at the apple this year at the top-tier teams. We really need to take advantage of it.”

The toughest stretch of the season started last weekend as No. 74 Rice was swept 7-0 by No. 21 FSU. The 21st-ranked Seminoles came out strong, capturing all three doubles matches to earn the first point. Maintaining that momentum, FSU made quick work of the Owls and finished all singles matches in straight sets.

While the Seminoles played well, Rice came into the match shorthanded, having only seven available players on the roster. Senior Christine Dao and freshman Varsha Shiva-Shankar have both suffered minor injuries in the past couple of weeks and have traded off playing time to recover. Dao tried playing against FSU but withdrew after the Seminoles clinched the win.

Despite the lopsided loss, the Owls focused on trying to salvage a victory in the Sunshine State. On Sunday, the team started quickly against Jacksonville with an 8-0 victory in doubles by sophomore Julie Chao and junior Dominique Karas. Senior Tiffany Lee and sophomore Rebecca Lin then followed suit with an 8-3 triumph to seal the doubles point.

In singles, Chao and Lee demolished Lena Willi and Tatiana Soldatova, respectively, by scores of 6-1, 6-1. Lee and junior Emily Braid, who was studying abroad in the fall, then prevailed to give the Owls a 5-2 dual match win.

Having split road matches against their Florida opponents, Rice returned home Wednesday to face 27th-ranked Texas A&M. The Owls looked sluggish against the tough Aggies, dropping the doubles point with victories in the first two matches.

Singles did not fare much better. Dao had to withdraw after re-aggravating her shoulder injury, and Braid dropped her match 4-6, 0-6 to put the Owls in a tough spot.

But the contest was not over. Karas, Lee and Lin all notched key victories to tie it up. Chao, ranked 99th in the nation, took on Anna Blagadorova, who was ranked as high as No. 23 in the fall. Blagadorova honed in and focused on hitting spots, grazing the line multiple times to pick up momentum-shifting points.

Chao managed to come from behind to take a 5-4 lead in the first set, but could not pull off crucial points in long rallies and ended up dropping the set. Blagadorova then picked up steam in the second set and took the match 7-5, 6-1 to clinch the victory for the Aggies. The loss dropped the Owls to 3-2 on the year, while Texas A&M moved to 3-0 this season.

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