Women's tennis conquers foes

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by Angela Arnold

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The visiting teams participating in Rice's first home tournament of the year were Northeast Louisiana University, Louisiana State University and Purdue University.

Junior Paula Myslivecek thought the fact that the tournament was held at Rice helped the team focus.

"Away tournaments give you time to focus, but the Classic is a good chance for the freshmen to learn how to deal with the distractions of home," she said. "Plus it is a great advantage to play on your own court."

In Flight A singles, Myslivecek made it into the championship round. She won the first set 6-3, but she couldn't keep up the momentum and ended up with a second-place finish to Mary Beth Maggart from Purdue.

After losing to Maggart in her first match, sophomore Jessica Gagnon moved into the consolation bracket of Flight A.

She didn't have much success, though, as she lost her final match 6-2, 6-4 to take sixth place.

The most successful individual of the weekend was sophomore Vessie Ivanova.

She easily swept through her first rounds of Flight B singles. She won her semifinal match 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the championship match where she defeated Eva Eguiguren from Northeast Louisiana.

Jennifer Velasco faced stiff competition in her first match.

Velasco lost to Eguiguren, but rebounded by storming through the consolation bracket with 6-1, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-4 wins to gain fifth place.

In Flight C singles, Olga Limón and Erin Talton both won their first matches, thereby setting up a semifinal confrontation between the two.

Limón had won her first match 6-0, 6-1, and she defeated Talton 6-1, 6-2.

Limón ran into some trouble in the championship match, though, and finished with a second-place finish.

Talton went on to have a close match for third place but was defeated 6-4, 6-4.

Justyna Gudzowska ended up in the consolation bracket after losing to the eventual winner in her first match.

She finished sixth in Flight C with a 6-1, 6-0 loss in the final round of consolation.

The Flight D singles were played in a round-robin format.

Jane Trinh advanced through three matches without dropping a set and took first place.

The Flight A doubles came down to an all-Rice match. The duos of Myslivecek-Velasco and Ivanova-Limón lost their semifinal matches which sent them to battle it out for third place.

Myslivecek and Velasco won the first game, but Ivanova and Limon continued their winning ways and finished up 6-1, 6-2.

Flight B doubles were played in a round-robin format, which allowed for another all-Rice matchup.

Trinh and Talton won all their matches, including beating Gagnon and Gudzowska, to come out on top of the flight.

In all but three instances, the women finished in the top half of their flights. It was a good showing for the first home tournament.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 27, 1995 issue.

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