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| Men's track battles Harvard, UH |
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by Leslie-Anne Carter
The Rice women's tennis team proved its resilience and depth in Saturday's 8-1 win over Lamar University. On Friday, No. 2 singles player, freshman Sarah Borwell, sprained her ankle, forcing the Owls to change their strategy and revamp their lineup. But the abrupt change did not faze Rice, who dropped one doubles match en route to victory. The Owls went into the match against Lamar knowing they had to play well. With Lamar, Assistant Coach Emily Schaefer said, "You have to make sure you're ready to play and get the ball back one more time. They try to frustrate you and stay in the point long enough to end up winning it." Lamar didn't end up winning very many points. They won only one set in singles matches. Senior Vessie Ivanova, playing at the No. 3 position, defeated Caroline Farrar 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. "Vessie had a tough match," Schaefer said. "She was down 3-0 in the second set and then won 12 games in a row to win the match. It was really impressive." Junior Jennifer Velasco filled in for Borwell at the No. 2 position and beat Claire Farrar 6-1, 7-6. "I struggled in the second set," Velasco said. "She came back strong, but I knew I didn't want to go to three sets." Leading 6-0 going into doubles play, the Owls had already clinched the match. But they continued winning, taking two of the doubles matches. Normally at the No. 2 position, sophomores Charlotte Feasby and Elle Lewis pulled out a 9-7 victory against Farrar and Caroline Mins at the No. 1 position. Junior Justyna Gudzowska took Borwell's place in doubles play, teaming up with Ivanova at the No. 2 position. The duo lost 8-5 to Julie Lagarde and Karis Burchette. "We were consistent all the way through the lineup," Schaefer said of the Lamar victory. "We had people who had to come in and play at the last minute who haven't played a lot this year in singles and doubles, and they really came through." With Lamar out of the way, the Owls are looking forward to this weekend, when they will travel to State College, Pa., to face Virginia Commonwealth Saturday and Penn State University Sunday. Virginia Commonwealth is ranked No. 22 in the nation. The Owls know their level of play will suffer some if Borwell remains sidelined with her ankle injury. "It's still swollen, but it's getting better," she said. "I can walk fairly well, but I don't have good mobility left to right. I've been doing everything I can to get better. I should be better by Saturday."
This item appeared in the Sports section of the April 3, 1998 issue. |
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