The Rice women’s tennis team lost a close match, 4-3, to No. 46 San Diego on March 28.
The match was decided in the final moments of both singles and doubles play. The No. 54 Rice Owls now hold an overall record of 11-6 and are 5-2 on the road this season.
In doubles competition, Darya Schwartzman and Uma Bakaityte gave Rice an early lead by defeating Anni Moll and Hannah Read, 6-1. San Diego evened the score when Vilma Krebs-Hyllested and Maria Shmakova beat Francesca Maguina and Ema Mravcova, 6-2. The Toreros clinched the doubles point with Charlotte Keitel and Kristina Nordikyan’s narrow victory over Divna Ratkovic and Daniela Chica, winning a tiebreaker for a final score of 7-6.
Singles play saw Maguina put Rice on the board with a straight-set win over Ines Leon (6-3, 6-0). Hannah Read of San Diego responded by defeating Ratkovic (6-2, 6-2), while Bakaityte won her match against Krebs-Hyllested (7-5, 7-5). Mravcova kept Rice in contention with a victory over Shmakova (6-2, 7-5). Ultimately, San Diego secured the overall win when Schwartzman fell to Keitel in three sets: 6-4, 3-6, and a tight tiebreaker in the third set at 7-6.
Looking ahead, Rice will return home to host South Florida for Senior Day at George R. Brown Tennis Center on Friday, April 3.
