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Sports

Cougars knocked out of tourney in first round

Rice eliminates UH from C-USA championship 
for second straight season 

COUGAR SPORTS SERVICES

The UH tennis team will be headed back to Houston sooner than expected after dropping a 4-1 match to crosstown rival Rice Thursday afternoon in the first round of Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship in Tulsa, Okla.

The loss broke the seventh-seeded Cougars' streak of six consecutive victories in the opening round of the C-USA Championship and prevented the team from making its fourth straight semifinal appearance. 

It also marked the second consecutive season Rice eliminated UH (13-9) in the C-USA Championship.

The No. 10 seed Owls (7-14) will move on to face second-seeded Southern Methodist at 2 p.m. today in the quarterfinals.

"It's disappointing to be eliminated on the opening day of the conference tournament," UH head coach John Severance said in a release. "Our team went down fighting against the defending conference champions. I'm not upset about our effort. I'm upset for our seniors Loli Gomez and Sonja Nikolic because it's their last match."

Rice wasted no time in this match. Owls hitters Emily Braid and Christine Dao claimed an 8-1 win over UH freshmen Neila Starratt and Vicky Simpson at the No. 3 doubles slot. Julie Chao and Tiffany Lee put Rice ahead 1-0 with a 9-8 victory over Gomez and junior Leila Salek.

The Owls went ahead 2-0 after Tiffany Lee defeated Sonja Nikolic 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 3 singles position. 

Dominque Karas kept Rice in the driver's seat with a 6-4, 6-0 win over UH freshman Anna Djanaova in the No. 4 slot.

Salek knocked off Chao 6-3, 6-0 at the top of the lineup to cut the deficit to 3-1, giving the Cougars a last glimmer of hope. However, Braid dashed those hopes after claiming a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory at the No. 6 position that sealed the match for the Owls.

Simpson and Gomez had their matches stopped in the third set. At the time, Gomez was locked in a 4-4 tie while Simpson led 4-2 over her opponent.

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