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"The tournament was very, very competitive," Head Coach Paul Blankenship said. "It's what we need to get better."

Four of the other five teams in the field finished last year ranked above Rice, including host Wake Forest University, which finished last year ranked eighth in the nation. And while the Owls didn't come away with any titles, Blankenship said he was still pleased with the results.

Four of the seven competing Owls won their first-round singles matches as sophomore Erin Waters and junior Charlotte Feasby rebounded from disappointing debuts in the Rice Tennis Classic Oct. 2-4. Waters won two of her three matches in flight B, and Feasby won three of her four matches in flight C with the dominating scores of 6-1, 6-0; 6-1, 6-1; and 6-1, 6-1.

"Those two kids struggled but then they turned it around," Blankenship said. "They showed a great deal of improvement. They relaxed a little bit. Last week I think they just wanted it too badly. They've worked very hard during the summer to improve their game and did a really good job," he said.

Blankenship said he was also pleased with the play of the doubles teams. Rice fielded two doubles teams in flight A, and both of them lost close matches to the teams that made the tournament finals. Feasby and junior Elle Lewis held the lead for a while in their match against the University of South Florida before falling 8-6, and freshman Natalie Briaud and senior Jennifer Velasco had a triple-break point to get back on serve 6-7 before falling to the eventual champions, Janet Bergman and Maren Haus of Wake Forest.

"Even though we didn't get a `W' in a lot of those matches, they played really well," Blankenship said.

In addition, Waters and freshman Judith Hagedorn reached the finals of flight B doubles. "We made some progress, but you can't ever quit getting better in doubles," Blankenship said. "I'd like to see us get a higher first-serve percentage so we can get a better first volley."

The high level of competition gives the Owls something to shoot for. Lewis won two of her four matches over the weekend, each against a top-flight opponent. "It was a really tough tournament for being this early in the season," Lewis said. "It makes us work harder and realize what level we need to be at."

The tournament also provided the opportunity for the team's first road trip of the year. "It was cool to see everybody together," Lewis said. "It's the first time we've all been together for a long time, and the team chemistry is pretty good."

Blankenship agrees and hopes to see that chemistry translate into success on the courts. "We have a lot of chemistry and it adds a lot to the intangibles," he said. "Hopefully we'll be able to put forth a team effort that's better than the sum of our individual parts."

This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 16, 1998 issue.