Sports

Coogs don't let up on Bearkats

By Emily Davis
The Daily Cougar

They came. They played. They left.

Meekly.

Sam Houston came into town as a struggling tennis team Wednesday afternoon, and the Cougars showed them no sympathy in a 7-0 romp at the John E. Hoff Varsity Tennis Courts.

Lorrie Novosad/The Daily Cougar

"It was pretty much a rout," said head coach Jennifer Hyde, whose team improved to 9-8 on the season. "They had a few hurt players, and we could tell they just werenit in the game."

But UH was, and the Cougars took each match in two sets, with none going to a tiebreaker. The team was coming off a sweep to Tulsa on March 26.

Freshmen Sandra Blajer and Christina Flores stepped up in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions to seal the Cougarsi eighth home victory of the season.

"Those two really got it done for us today," Hyde said. "The five and six positions are always a dogfight, and they stepped in and made the plays."

Sophomore Sarah Flood and freshman Yolandi Terblanche ? the usual suspects in the fifth and sixth singles spots ? were sidelined because of lingering injuries. 

Once again, UH was led into action by freshman Miranda Foley, who beat Tara Shelander 6-2, 6-1, and senior Ani Longoni, who won in the No. 2 singles spot, 6-2, 6-1.

Foley is 9-2 since her 6-4, 7-6, 7-5 win over No. 30 Texas A&M's Roberta Spencer.

"We played well and held our ground," Hyde said. "I think it was pretty intimidating for Sam Houston to come onto our turf and play. It showed."

Flood proved her strength in No. 3 doubles, teaming with Karine Urbin to beat Shanna Elias and Shaneen Ludwig 8-1, while freshman Kami Miller and Longoni won in No. 2 doubles, 8-1.

"These matches were over really fast," Hyde said. "The girls just went in there and got it done. Now we move on to the next team."

That next team will be Texas Tech at 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by Tulane at noon Sunday.

The Cougars close out the regular season with a rescheduled match against Rice at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Theyill then travel to New Orleans to compete in the single-elimination Conference USA Tournament on Thursday.

 Send comments to dcsports@mail.uh.edu