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Sports

UH falls to Rice in C-USA tournament

Houston advances to semi-finals while Miller moves to No. 6 all-time in UH singles history

by MARK SUAREZ
The Daily Cougar

The UH tennis team went into the Conference-USA Women's Championship this weekend looking to capture its first conference title since the 1997-98 season. The Cougars (20-5) got off to a solid start in the quarterfinals defeating East Carolina, but found themselves on the wrong end of a 4-1 decision in the semi-finals against Rice.

On Friday, Houston won its sixth consecutive opening match in C-USA tournament play when it defeated East Carolina 4-1 in quarterfinal action. 

In doubles play, senior Sarah Reimer and junior Sonja Nikolic tallied an 8-3 victory over ECU's freshmen Presley Thomas and Anca Dumitru. East Carolina responded by taking the next doubles match 8-5. Houston would answer and take the doubles point as the senior duo Kami Miller and Yolandi Terblanche notched an 8-6 win over sophomores Mireia Gol and Luiza Borges.

In singles action, Terblanche extended Houston's lead when she defeated Thomas 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 6 spot. Later in the match junior Loli Gomez defeated senior Gillie Bailey 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 2 position. Miller would then seal the win for Houston with 7-5, 6-1 victory over senior Kirstie Buchanan in the No. 4 spot. The win gave Miller her 96th career singles victory and put her in a tie for sixth all-time on the UH career singles wins list.

With the win, the Cougars advanced to the semi-finals of the C-USA tournament for the fourth consecutive season.

However, on Saturday the Cougars were unable to advance beyond the semi-finals as they dropped a 4-1 decision to cross-town rival Rice. 

In doubles action, Houston dropped the first match but answered when Reimer and Nikolic registered an 8-4 victory on the third court. Houston would take the doubles point when Miller and Terblanche emerged from the second court with an 8-6 win.

However, Rice would win four consecutive singles matches to claim its 4-1 victory over Houston. The Owls would advance to the championship match and defeat top seeded SMU 4-1 to win the C-USA tournament.

The Cougars concluded their season 20-5 overall and were 13-0 at home this year. The 2005-06 Cougars posted a 20-win season for the first time since 1989-90. They also joined the 1989-90 squad as the only other team in program history to complete a season undefeated at home.
 

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