The University of Houston women’s tennis team secured a 4-0 victory over West Virginia on April 10 in Morgantown, opening the final weekend of regular season play at the Mountaineer Tennis Courts.
This match marked an important step for Houston (17-5, 7-5 Big 12) as they prepare for postseason competition. The Cougars took control early by winning the doubles point. Juniors Valeriia Krokhotina and Iva Sepa won their match against Lyla Byers and Sosanne Malaak with a score of 6-0 on court three. Although West Virginia (7-12, 1-11 Big 12) evened the doubles competition when Julie Bousseau and Audrey Moutama defeated seniors Sophie Schouten and Chems Doha Zeghlouli, juniors Elizaveta Morozova and Petja Drame clinched the doubles point for Houston by defeating Lucia Tognoni and Laura Morillo, 6-4.
In singles play, Schouten recorded her fifteenth win of the season by beating Malaak in straight sets, doubling Houston’s advantage. Sepa followed with another straight-set victory over Byers on court four. Drame then secured the overall match win for Houston with two consecutive set victories against Tognoni on court five.
Several singles matches remained unfinished after Houston clinched the necessary points to secure victory. The team now looks ahead to its final regular season matchup against Cincinnati at Trabert-Talbert Tennis Center on Sunday morning.
Following Sunday’s matches around the Big 12 Conference, Houston will learn its seeding position for next week’s Big 12 Tournament at USTA National Campus in Orlando.
