by Andrew J. Ferraro
Staff Writer
Although it has been said that history - time after time - repeats itself, the University of Houston women's tennis team is out to prove that it doesn't.
In the early '90s, the Lady Cougars had a plethora of talent, but failed to apply it during the postseason and did not advance past the Southwest Conference Championship Tournament.
In 1990, UH went 23-2 during the regular season only to fall to Texas Christian University in the first round of the SWC tourney.
In 1997, the Cougars posted the second-best record in school history with a 16-4 mark, and they say they are not about to bow out as easily as Houston teams have in the past.
The South Florida Bulls, hosts of this year's postseason tourney, received the No. 1 seed and will face the winner of No. 8 seed Southern Miss vs. No. 9 St. Louis.
The Cougars are seeded second and will play at 9 a.m. Friday against the winner of No. 7 Alabama-Birmingham vs. No. 10 Cincinnati.
UH defeated the UAB Blazers 8-1 on Feb. 15 in the midst of a four-game winning streak.
The Marquette Golden Eagles, ranked No. 73 in the country, received the No. 3 seed and will play the winner of No. 7 Louisville and No. 11 UNC-Charlotte.
Tulane will get the final bye as the No. 4 seed and will square off Friday against the winner of No. 5 DePaul vs. No. 12 Memphis.
But no matter what happens in the quarterfinal or semifinal rounds, the Cougars say they are ready to play USF in the championship on Sunday and that winning the whole thing can completely satisfy the goals set at the beginning of the year.
"It's going to be exciting, and I'll be ecstatic and basically speechless if we win," senior Kristen Paris said. "What a way to close out your senior year and tennis career."
Despite having a better record than the Bulls, the Cougars are willing to accept the fact that USF has a higher ranking (No. 31 in the current International Tennis Association polls) in the country, and in the tournament as well.
"They deserve to be higher," Paris said. "They're ranked higher that we are, and I think that being No. 2 gives us the proper motivation to go out there and prove that we can beat them."
UH's only other senior on the team, Julie Stone, said playing in Tampa will be a little tough, but it goes without saying that playing on the road is more difficult in any situation.
"I really don't think it'll bother us all that much," Stone said. "They'll have their fans out there, but when you get down to it, I don't think that it'll affect us."
According to the two seniors, the key to winning the championship is doubles play.
Both agree that sweeping doubles in Monday's 6-3 win over Texas-El Paso gives them momentum to do the same in the tournament.
"Any time you sweep doubles, it gives you a lot of confidence," Stone said. "Going in, we know we can win a lot of doubles, hopefully sweeping and winning the match."
Although coach Stina Mosvold agreed doubles are important, she said she believes getting the job done in singles is the key and can set the tone of the match.
"We need to definitely split or be leading the match heading into doubles play," Mosvold said. "We need to concentrate on being ready to play right from the first point.
"I want to get into the final match and play well enough in the early going of the tourney to give ourselves the opportunity to get into the championship," she said. "Then, it's just a question of execution, and I think that's exactly what we're going to do."