Buffs Fall To No. 23 Rice

HOUSTON – On Sunday, Colorado's women's tennis team took on their first ranked opponent of the season, and in their second match of the weekend the Buffs lost their match against the No. 23 Rice University Owls 7-0 here at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.

Colorado earned a split over the weekend, having taken down UTSA on Saturday, and the loss drops their record to 8-3 on the season. As for the hosting Owls, their record improves to 7-2 and they hold serve on home court winning both matches they played over the weekend.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Facing a tough doubles opponent, the Owls haven't dropped any doubles points this season, the Buffs lost the point and began behind in the match 1-0.

At the No. 3 position CU's grouping of senior Nuria Ormeño Ruiz and junior Kyra Wojcik fell behind early and were unable to stay with the Rice pair of Savannah Durkin and Fernanda Astete, losing the match 6-2 to give the Owls a win in the first doubles match.

Rice wrapped up the doubles at the No. 1 position when the duo of Lindsey Hodge and Wendy Zhang, nationally ranked No. 44, defeated CU's pairing of junior Louise Ronaldson and freshman Chloe Hule 6-3.

Starting singles down 1-0, the Buffs were unable to recover from the deficit they fell into and singles play would result in a victory for Rice.

Quickly adding to their score at the No. 4 position, Rice's Alison Ho defeated CU's Hule, who was fresh off a three-set marathon the day before, in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.

Rice's next point came at the No. 5 spot when Durkin defeated CU's Wojcik in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 to give Rice a commanding 3-0 lead in the match.

The clinching point for Rice came at the No. 6, when Priya Niezgoda defeated CU sophomore Ilana Oleynik in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 to give the Owls overall victory on the day.

Even though the match had been decided, the Buffs were determined to finish the day on a positive note as the final three matches would all need superset tiebreakers to be decided.

At the No. 3 CU sophomore Annabelle Andrinopoulos put up a great fight after dropping her first set, winning the second set 6-3. But Rice's Astete was a bit too much for Andrinopoulos as she would pull ahead and take the superset tiebreaker 10-6 and the match 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.

Playing in their own superset tiebreaker at the No. 2, Rice's Zhang outlasted CU's Ronaldson 5-7, 6-0, 10-5. Ronaldson took the first set but she couldn't keep her energy up and Zhang, coming on strong in the second set, would catch and pass Ronaldson for the win.

The final match of the day was decided at the No. 1 when Rice's Hodge took down CU's Ruiz 2-6, 7-6(6), 10-6. Ruiz started strong taking the first set, but Hodge dug in deep during the second set to force a tiebreaker that she won 7-1.

Following the second set breaker, Hodge finished off the superset tiebreaker 10-6 to wrap up the day and give the Owls the 7-0 victory.

NEXT UP: The Buffs continue their five-match road stretch by starting conference play in the desert, visiting Arizona on Friday, March 10 (1:30 p.m. MT) before heading to Arizona State to take on the Sun Devils on Saturday, March 11 (12:00 p.m. MT). On Tuesday, March 14, the Buffs will conclude their road stretch by heading to Greeley, Colorado to face the Northern Colorado Bears at 2:30 p.m. MT.

No. 23 Rice 7, Colorado 0
February 26, 2017 at Houston, Texas (George R. Brown Tennis Center)
Singles:
1. Lindsey Hodge (Rice) def. Nuria Ormeño Ruiz (CU) vs. 2-6, 7-6(6), 1-0 (10-6)
2. Wendy Zhang (Rice) def. Louise Ronaldson (CU) vs. 5-7, 6-0, 1-0 (10-5)
3. Fernanda Astete (Rice) def. Annabelle Andrinopoulos (CU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)
4. Alison Ho (Rice) def. Chloe Hule (CU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Savannah Durkin (Rice) def. Kyra Wojcik (CU) 6-0, 6-3
6. Priya Niezgoda (Rice) def. Ilana Oleynik (CU) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 6*, 3, 2, 1
Doubles:
1. No. 44 Hodge/Zhang (Rice) def. Ronaldson/Hule (CU) 6-3
2. Oleynik/Andrinopoulos (CU) vs. Ho/Niezgoda (Rice) DNF
3. Durkin/Astete (Rice) def. Oremño Ruiz/Wojcik (CU) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1*

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Players Mentioned

Annabelle Andrinopoulos

Chloe Hule

Ilana Oleynik

Nuria Ormeño Ruiz

Louise Ronaldson

Kyra Wojcik